My fish are afraid of me!

[JNevaril]

Ok, so my once doting cichlids are now hiding.


all the time.


if i walk up to the tank, they hide.

if i walk away, they come out....sort of.


can a water change traumatize them THAT much??????????

 

[svetlana]

I am not an expert. I'd only say that i learnt from cichlid-forum.com - the hiding might be first sign of disease such as malawi bloat.
You need to watch closely for their appetite and poop (white stringy one is no good).
Stress after WC passes fairly quick, i do not think tht they can keep painful memory for a long time, they usually forget about everything after very first meal.
My JD, after his occasional freak-out (sometimes i do not even know what caused it), can go sulking for long 15 minutes but his curiosity and hunger usually drive him out very quickly.

 

[LongTime]

Same here with the quick recovery time after a water change or anything else. I do notice they sometimes seem more skittish when a storm is approaching. It seems all it takes is for one to get strange and then the others join in. It also appears the strength of the nervousness depends upon the pecking order of the tank. Its like "If the those above me are scared then I'd better be scared too!"

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Have they been doing this since you got them? Or just started after this W/C?

Sometimes, a lot of times....W/Cs will freka fish out. Especially some of my africans. It takes a while after its settled again for them to get their normal color back and come out of the rocks.

 

[phOOey]

also theyre could of been a change intemperature in the tank after the water change, and this could cause them to act weirdly.

 

[JNevaril]

matt---they've always been really personable. Always interested in what is going on in the room....greeting EVERYONE who walks by....always scooting around in view.

Now, if I walk into the room....they ZOOM into hiding.

maybe it's because i've been off of work, and haven't been wearing makeup.

I don't know.

They still get SUPER excited when it comes time to eat.....

and..there are a few that are holding eggs. I would expect them to hide, but not the BOSS of the tank...he hides the most.