Cockatoo Cichlid

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phaze5ive

AC Members
Apr 18, 2009
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Hey guys,

I need some advice. I just got a cockatoo cichlid from a friend sometimes last week. He's beautiful, but apparently very shy. For as long as he's been in my 29 gallon, all he does is hide inside my hollowed-out log. My tank is stocked with dalmatian mollies, swords, neon tetras, and zebra danios so I don't see why he's intimidated.

Now the problem is I haven't seen him eating anything. As a new fish keeper, are fish smart enough to come out and find food when they need to or will he likely starve to death in there? Also, I have counted my tetras and they're all there, but should I be worry that when he does get hungry, they'll go missing?
 
They are shy. Lots of plants make them feel more secure. Some Apistos (for he is one) are slow to get onto dried food and you may need to offer him some live delicacies at first.
 
KarlTh said:
They are shy. Lots of plants make them feel more secure. Some Apistos (for he is one) are slow to get onto dried food and you may need to offer him some live delicacies at first.
Click to expand...
What kind of live delicacies? I'm new and have only dealt with freeze dried food.
 
I had one I got from a friend a few months ago also acted like yours. She did not come out of her cave when I was around. She did not eat for almost a week, but when I got her, she was big (around 4"), and healthy. Roughly about 8-10 days later, she joined the crowd and has been eating like ... crazy since.
I think eventually, your fish will come out and eat when it becomes really hungry.
It also helps if you feed them some thing that stay afloat for a while. It might come out and eat after you leave.
Peace,
SM
 
Must have been a different fish; these cichlids don't get larger than 2", possibly 2.5 in the case of males.
 
most of the problem is likely due to the fact that you have only 1
 
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