# Cichlids afraid of everything!



## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

This is a 47gal cichlid tank with Jewels, acei, & yellow labs and every one of them swim and hide at the slightest movement in the room. It's gotten so bad that they are afraid of their pellets and won't eat them. They are timid of flakes but at least "try" to eat that. The pellets just sit at the top of the water going to waste and I end up scooping them out.

I have had this tank/community for 6mo and they weren't always like this. I don't know what is going on. I have two other large tanks and the fish are
not like this. My severum, leaf, gourami, shark, barbs, angels, etc, etc. will come to the glass when I visit. The tanks are fairly close in proximety so I can always see what's going on and no one has tapped or hit on the glass which is the only thing that I can think of. They are just no fun because they hide all of the time, I'm thinking of rehoming them. What to do you think about this??


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Any aggression noted by the acei towards the yellow labs? How long have they been in that tank? How much rock cover is there for them to feel secure?


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

The only aggression in the tank has always been from one jewel towards every other cichlid, there is no other aggression. Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not certain what you mean by rock cover. I have rock at the bottom, and two hiding places-one on each side of the tank (caves) and lots of plants if this is what you mean. What would they need to feel secure from? They use to feel good in this tank.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

IronDoll said:


> I have had this tank/community for 6mo and they weren't always like this...


When did they start behaving as they currently do?


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

kay-bee said:


> When did they start behaving as they currently do?


I'm not 100% certain but I think that it started about 4 months ago when I started feeding them pellets. I bought them as juvenilles roughly 6 mo ago and gave them flakes but a few months later I wanted to get them on pellets but discovered the pellets where too big for their mouths so I waited and continued with the flakes. Two months ago I tried again and they just seemed to really freak out about it. Then day by day, they became frightened of different things. First the siphen, then it got worse and they scattered when movement just 5 feet away from them freaked them out now it's so bad that they are scared when I feed them flakes or pellets. Even the tank bully swims and hides. I compare this behavior to the other tanks and I just don't understand. The only difference is the pellets.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

What's the total number of fish in the tank?

Is the fish tank located in a 'high traffic' area of the home?

What the average duration and regularity that you spend near the tank and are they reclusive the entire time that you are near the tank?

African cichlids should be very active swimming fish highly motivated by food.


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

There's 9 fish in the 47gal. 

Yes, it is in a high traffic area of the home but there are two other tanks that are even higher traffic than this one with no problems noted like this. We have a small home.

When feeding I am 1 foot away until all food is eaten, maybe five min. The rest of the day, someone (usually a kid) might be 10-15 feet away sitting on the sofa. We homeschool so we are always here. I have a 27gal next to my desk and I am always here because of school, literally 2 feet away nearly 10hrs/day with no problems in this tank.

These fish use to eat like piranahs but like I said just a few months ago, everyone of them swim low, in one spot and hide when you get 5 feet away as well as frightened of the food. 

I can't believe that activity 5-10 feet away from them is the problem as nothing like this is going on in the other tanks, it must be something else other than being in close proximity to their tank.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A couple things come to mind. If there aren't enough 'hidey holes', they may be afraid of 'losing their spot' to other fish if they come out of them. The other is that they don't feel good. When I feel like crap, I don't want to come out of my room, even to eat. Check the water quality and look for symptoms of disease. I have one tank where fish acted weird at feeding time and they started to get sunken bellies from parasites. Also look for dead fish, count fish and move decor. When there is one or more dead fish in the tank, the fish may be afraid of being eaten.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Toxicity often causes this, so maybe a big gravel cleaning and water change could help. The other things already mentioned are also good to check, and add one more thing: stray current. If one of your appliances has developed a frayed wire or something, you might have electricity in the water, and that freaks fish out like crazy, giving symptoms exactly like the ones you're seeing. A tiny cut on a finger is a good test for this. If dipping that cut finger in the tank results in a harsh tingle, then you've found the problem. New equipment or a _titanium grounding probe_, made just for this, should fix it.


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

emc7 said:


> A couple things come to mind. If there aren't enough 'hidey holes', they may be afraid of 'losing their spot' to other fish if they come out of them. The other is that they don't feel good. When I feel like crap, I don't want to come out of my room, even to eat. Check the water quality and look for symptoms of disease. I have one tank where fish acted weird at feeding time and they started to get sunken bellies from parasites. Also look for dead fish, count fish and move decor. When there is one or more dead fish in the tank, the fish may be afraid of being eaten.


OK, I'll buy another cave for them, I have two and one is very large. But they use to follow my hand on the glass and now they scat. They have been with these caves for months before they started to act this way.

I check water every Sunday and it always checks out perfectly. No dead fish so far they've all been healthy. As far as not eating, they "attempt" to go up to get the food. They go as fast as they can like a bullet then hide. Then do it again. So they are hungry. The pellets they won't even go up for ever just the flakes.


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> Toxicity often causes this, so maybe a big gravel cleaning and water change could help. The other things already mentioned are also good to check, and add one more thing: stray current. If one of your appliances has developed a frayed wire or something, you might have electricity in the water, and that freaks fish out like crazy, giving symptoms exactly like the ones you're seeing. A tiny cut on a finger is a good test for this. If dipping that cut finger in the tank results in a harsh tingle, then you've found the problem. New equipment or a _titanium grounding probe_, made just for this, should fix it.


Funny you should mention this as I wondered the same thing and did just this on Sunday. I am meticulous about water quality, changing and checking.

Hmmm, electricity...I put my hand on the glass and it feels "hummy". Strange way to explain it but it's just so minor, I didn't think anything of it and thought I was imagining things. OK, maybe we're on to something. I'll check this out later today. New equipment is a bummer, oh how I wish the economy was better. OK, stay tuned on this idea.


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

Hey TheOldSalt, I didn't cut my finger but my husband just happened to have a tester and narrowed a problem down to the light fixture. The light is definately adding a charge to the water. I thought that we had a problem with the outlet and it turns out that we don't so this is a good update.

Besides adding a ground probe, which we are still considering, we will lower the water level. The tank water is too close to the light fixture, it seems to be inducing electricity. The way it was explained to me is the light fixture is poorly designed and that is why I don't have this problem with the other tanks.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

This is exactly why you always use a GFO plug. It has saved my life twice already with my SW tank. You can still get electrocuted though, just not the fish...


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## IronDoll (Nov 8, 2010)

Funlad, what's a GFO plug and what does it do?


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