new fish in hiding? how long is normal?

[AnnetteG]

I just got the red spotted lawnmower blenny last night. I spent 3 hours acclimating him, then released him into the tank after lights out. He sat on the glass for a few minutes looking at me and then I walked away and left him alone. He was gone when I came back by on my way to bed. He hasn't shown up yet this morning. It's pretty normal for a new fish to hide for a while, right? I can't help worrying, he's gorgeous and my husband is PO'd at me for spending $30 on a fish. :uhoh: So if I spent $30 on a fish that died as soon as I put in my tank, he's REALLY not going to be happy with me.

:confused: cross your fingers my fish decides to show his face soon!

[Ace25]

Ya, it is very normal for new fish to hide for the first few days in a tank. After they get used to it though they will be out all over the place, at least I think your blenny will. I have one fish, a pseudo, that I have had for 6 months and I still only get to see it for 2 seconds a day out of the hours I spend staring at the tank. It just loves living in the rocks and not coming out.

[AnnetteG]

In the SUMP! :eek3: My poor fish! He must have gone over the overflow and then into the new durso the hubby just installed, down that and landed in the left side of the sump with the pump going to the skimmer!!! :eek: He was sitting in the bottom just kindof hanging out. I put him on into the main tank and he's sitting in the bottom under some rocks now. Poor little guy.

We have to find something to put in there to stop fish going thru the slats or over the overflow. He's the second one to end up down there. One of my smaller blue green chromis was hanging out in the fuge yesterday morning, which was the first day after the hubby had put the durso in. Which means that little guy made it by the skimmer pump and up and over the next waterfall and down into the fuge!

Okay, any suggestions for what to do to block the overflow?

[Catpicklesdog]

I've had quite a few end up in the sump via the overflow - 2 chromis, cleaner wrasse, 2 mandarin dragonets, 2 crabs and 1 snail!!!! I tried putting some plastic meshing around mine but it does restrict the flow a bit, I'm finding that once I chuck them back in the main tank they've learnt not to go via that route again (unless chased by a nasty sixline wrasse!!!)

[Grins]

Gutter guard works. Although oddly my shrimp never got into the overflow box..until I put the gutter guard up. Now I have 3 peppermints down in the sump. They were stuck in the overflow so I had to remove the gurglebuster and let the ride the flow down. Unfortunately I can't retrieve them in the section of the sump they are so there they stay until they figure out a way to get into the fuge section.

[Catpicklesdog]

Oh yeah - forgot my 2 peppermints as well!!!

[AnnetteG]

OMG, this is hilarious, I have to share! The new guy has backed himself into the diamond goby's main den. He is sitting there looking out and checking things out. The diamond goby is sitting in the front giving me the evil eye. Look! I can't even believe I managed to get a pic of this. Don't you just love fish that sit still for the camera? :grinyes:

[Ace25]

First lesson in taking aquarium pictures.. don't use the flash. ;)

Also, with your overflow thing, ya, happens to us all now and again. I put some course plastic screen materiel like you do for a screen door over my overflow pipe. I just recently found these (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~plumbing_parts_fittings_ bulkheads_strainers.html) at Marinedepot (scroll down to the bottom of the page) and I am kicking myself because I have been doing this for years and I just now see someone made them for sale.

[Batmanjay28]

I just got a lawnmower blenny this last week and I haven't really seen it. New fish are passive in their new home and it takes time for them to get use to their new home. Hope everythings going great!

[AnnetteG]

Re: flash - if I don't use it, everything is blue because of my lights. 20K MHs and actinic HO T5s. Haven't replaced the bulbs yet with what I want. Won't for a while most likely. Looking at the tank, it doesn't bother me, but pictures don't look good.

Also, I read some of the tips in the photography forum and it actually does recommend using a flash, but it turns out better when the camera is against the glass. I have one part of my camera perfectly tuned to taking really good aquatic photos, catching the fish even when they're moving, etc., but for some reason it's not working with the batteries I have at the moment. It takes it too long to process the picture. Anyhoo, that's all for another forum!

Here's an example though from when it was working & my fast moving fish:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2344304661_d6e9391c52.jpg
you know an angel is a hard one to get a picture of

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2344304385_28205d0f79.jpg
this guy never stops moving, so even though it's not perfect, it's pretty good for a pic of a fast damsel, taken by an amateur.

and my wiggly clown:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2085/2272942147_b83bf3671a.jpg

and my tank without the flash:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2345129336_219bb17cc9.jpg

okay, sorry I hijacked my own thread, but there ya go. :)

[AnnetteG]

oh yeah, and I had come back because I have to laugh at my lil stinker diamond goby. The blenny came out of the hole and went just far enough away that the goby said "I'll show you!" and filled it back in with sand! What a funny little snotty little thing he is! :lol2:

[Ace25]

ok, didn't realize you had 20k MHs going. Still, most cameras have an "auto white balace" feature that you can point at the tank, get a reading, and it will adjust the white balance for you so your "blue" tank doesn't come out blue in the pictures.

I don't even have a flash on my camera and you have seen my pics posted. It took me a couple years (because I wasn't a shutterbug at first) to figure out my camera, but the day I did find out the right settings to get great looking pictures I can't stop taking them now. I have my camera on a tripod next to my tank at all times now ready for pics. :)

I understand with the angel, it is hard to get a picture of them.. but the great thing about digital cameras is you can just sit there at take 100 pics in a row, sort throw them, and you will end up with a few good ones. That is my secret anyway. Take 50+ pictures of the thing I want a picture of, then get on my computer and see which of the 2 or 3 came out clear and not blurry.

[AnnetteG]

I guess I need to get my camera book out again. I *think* it's still a good camera. 5mp sony cybershot. It's a few years old though, so I'm sure newer ones have more and better settings. I can't get it to take a good macro shot no matter what I try. And it's got the little flower so it's supposed to do it. I dunno. I'll keep trying!

And yes, your pics are awesome! Now stop teasing me with your Rics! :silly: ;)

[Ace25]

LOL.. seriously, my pics looked TERRIBLE, way worse than your did until I just started playing around with my camera and one time a few pics came out awesome. Unfortunately, I was playing with all the settings and couldn't quite remember the exact one I did to get the good pics, so it took me a few more days of playing around until I got the right combination down again.

On my camera, in macro mode, the flower is white until you zoom in a little, then it turns yellow to let you know your within a good macro shot range. If you zoom it to far it becomes white again and the pic comes out blurry. Your camera is capable of taking great pics, as good as mine does. My camera is only a 5mp camera as well. It is a nikon though, little better, but not something most amature photographers would notice.

A tri-pod is a must with macro mode pics as I have found out. Also, at first, use a tripod or steady surface and use the timer mode and step away.. take a dozen pics like that, playing around but make sure not to touch the camera once the timer starts. Once you get those pics coming out really good, try without the timer and be very gentle touching the picture button so you don't shake the camera. Wal-Mart/Best Buy, etc sells cheap tri-pods for like $20-$30 that work great.