# My Cichlids are very timid



## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

My African Cichlids are incredibly timid. They'll hide if someone enters the other side of the room...which is like 10metres from the tank. They've been in my tank for around 2months, but they are still young. My electric yellows are 3-5cms and the demasonis would be 3cm max.


Is the general set up -http://i.imgur.com/zWJPLQA.jpg The brown tinge is just the drift wood still leaking some tannins.


Water should be all fine. I ran out of nitrate test, but I do 50% a week in my 190L. Hardness is around 260ppm (about 12-13 on the GH scale I believe) and they're in low light. pH is around 8.

Would they still be settling in, or could something be bothering them?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

how many fish in the 50gal (190L)? Small cichlids do tend to be timid while big ones are bold. You have plenty of hiding places. Hardness and pH are good. Not sure I'd do driftwood in an African tank just because it will try to lower your hardness/pH. Java fern are one of the plants that do okay in my Malawi tanks. 

Look for injuries, check color (pale or uneven is bad, blackish stripes in yellow labs are stress), ich spots, white fuzz, look at bellies (should be round, not sunken). Check the temp and go slow when refilling after water change (it can stress them).

Have visitors come and feed these fish. Give a measured amount so they don't get overfed, but teach them that all people mean food. Soon you should only see begging fish and no other behaviors.

You could also try floating some hornwort in the tank.


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

Yeah it's pretty much 50Gallons. There's 12 Pseudotropheus Demasoni and 5 Electric Yellows. I am aware the wood will lower the pH, but I really like the look of it and so far it the water is staying stable at ~8.

I actually have trouble finding my fish, they really only come out when I'm feeding them, but I havn't seen any signs of illness or injuries.

I'll get people to give them a few pellets whenever they want to look. Hopefully they end up coming out more often.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

demasoni are know as "secretive", esp. the females. They love to disappear into the rocks. Yellow labs should be a bit bolder unless they are intimidated by the demasoni. They should all get bolder as they get bigger.

You could try floating plant or a top-dwelling dither fish to make them feel safe. But timid Malawians are kind of unusual.


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## OhYesItsMe (Oct 1, 2011)

I've never had that problem with mine, even some of the smaller ones. Sometimes when strangers come over, they get terrified, but now that I've had the tank set up for almost 2 years, they are fine. They should get used to you, especially the yellow labs.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

One they reach maturity, you should at least see males displaying.


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

Well the tank they were in started leaking around the silicon seam. So I had to buy a new tank. They seem to be more active in this one, it is around 15cm taller so maybe they feel safer in deeper water.

The yellows aren't getting harrassed, theyre the first to come out when I feed them. Theyre at least starting to come out when Im feeding them. Ill look into some floating plants, my budget is a little ruined, hadn't factored in tank breakages lol


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## kcrunch (Aug 17, 2012)

Not to worry soon they will warm up to all visitors unless shocked by vibration or amount of light. If the door is being slammed they are going to jet to a neutral safe zone mine do it and I know it is very natural. Try feeding regularly at the same time of day then skip a day and start feeding every other day. See the reaction you will be surprised.


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