cichlid lover needs fish psychotherapist

you've all been incredibly helpful as i've got my tank up as a first-time cichlid guy. thanks for all the great tips. whoever told me to turn off the light while feeding my catfish was a genius because now he comes straight out and chows on shrimp pellets like a wild animal, which he is.

i have my 75 gallon tank running over two months, all fish healthy, water clean, etc. the only "problem" i'm having right now is that my fish seem more shy than when i first got them. when i feed them it takes a minute to coax them out. once they're out they're skittish - if they see my kids they disappear instantly, or if someone walks nearby they take off. even when not feeding, most of the time they are hiding and i don't even get to see them swimming around the large open space of my tank when i'm sitting on the couch prepared for awesome fish action. relevant info:
- i have five malawi mbunas and one catfish. the mbunas are all 2-3 inches except one dominant one about 4 inches. i don't see any outright hostility, but the big guy is definitely the boss.
- they have tons of places to nest and hide (rock wall, fake coral reef, flower pots, fake plants) so they are not exposed or should have reason to feel stressed from lack of cover. they each have their own local turf.
- they are well fed and healthy
- water quality seems very good

are my cichlids introverts? what gives? how do i get them to swim out and around in the open like free fish should? should i buy more? i purposely bought fewer fish because i'm new at this, i didn't want to have to clean the tank as much and i thought more space per fish would mean less stress so they'd live longer, but now i'm thinking about buying 4-5 more. i want my fish to be the confident, powerful fish i know they are. please help.

boobaloos

First you probably want to test your water. High levels of nitrite/ammonia or possibly nitrate might cause skittishness. You may have checked this already.

The big guy might be keeping everyone in hiding. I notice I see my less dominant fish rather than my more dominant fish.

You could try adding some yellow labs. They stay a little closer to rocks than haps and peacocks, but are a little more open water than most mbuna. I would get the yellow labs from someone in the club, and still quarantine them.

I am going with Verbal on this one in thinking that it is a water quality issue. More than likely it is nitrates, since most fish-keepers know to test for ammonia and nitrite. When checking the Ph, be sure to also check the Kh. This will let you know how stable the Ph is. Any fluctuation in chemistry can result in skittish behavior.

Most local Fish/Pet stores will test your water for free

verbal said:

First you probably want to test your water. High levels of nitrite/ammonia or possibly nitrate might cause skittishness. You may have checked this already.

The big guy might be keeping everyone in hiding. I notice I see my less dominant fish rather than my more dominant fish.

You could try adding some yellow labs. They stay a little closer to rocks than haps and peacocks, but are a little more open water than most mbuna. I would get the yellow labs from someone in the club, and still quarantine them.

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I agree with Dr. verbal on all 3 counts. Sounds like your fish are on their way to psych health.

Since others mentioned water quality, you said your water quality is good, and 75 gallons is a pretty big tank for 5x 2-3in mbuna, I'll come at this from another angle fwiw.

I started with 3 pretty small mbuna in a 36 gallon tank. (Not for long -- went to 75gall very quickly since that's what they need longer term.) They were also somewhat reclusive. A certain amount more fish in the tank might help them feel safer and come out because of a sense of security in numbers and interact with each other more. Especially if you have a lot of rock (which is the best thing in the long term) right now it's probably creating line of sight breaks between them that make them feel alone. I keep 3 different species clusters in my 75 gallon and right now have ~20 3-6in fish in it.

If you are comfortable with the water parameters, you could slowly add a few more fish. Since if I recall right you have red zebras, you might put in 3 more of those, or something along those lines. If you like how that goes, add another species or add a few more of something you've already got. You can step into it. I would think red zebras in particular should get the tank moving -- they are very boisterous fish in my experience, mine are the most active fish in my 75. If you find that longer term they don't seem happy or social, you probably ultimately do want to try to balance the gender out to harem type ratios (one male to a few females) -- in each cluster that I've rebalanced, the fish end up very noticeably happier as a result.

Then again, there are some fish whose temperaments are just shy. My lab/demasoni tank is more skittish than the 75gall; that's just how they are.

I'm maybe a bit of a contrarian on getting yellow labs. I have found that stock quality is very uneven; getting them in the club should help with that but I still find their personality to be meh. Mine have gone through phases where they were suuuuuuuper shy, and anyway with red zebras they're quite likely to hybridize and you may end up having to cull some survivor fry (sad!).

WendyFish said:

Since others mentioned water quality, you said your water quality is good, and 75 gallons is a pretty big tank for 5x 2-3in mbuna, I'll come at this from another angle fwiw.

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What made me think water quality or aggression is that their has been a change in behavior. However if things check out, more fish(especially active ones) will increase the activity in the tank.