making tetras less shy

[ffmurray]

I have a small school of neon tetras. They are shy. There is a piece of rootstock in my tank that has about a 3/4 inch tall gap underneath it that is big enough for all the tetras to swim in. They are often in this area or in the back corner behind my swords.

Is there anything that I can do to make them more comfortable in the tank? Ive heard of tetras blackwater extract, but this seems like it could go wrong and be difficult to manage. On the other hand I have read some good things about it. The drop in ph would not hurt my tank either. my water runs at 8.2 out of the tap and with some diy co2 it has gotten down to 7.8. the fish have acclimated well and have been in the tan for a couple of weeks. I see no problems except for the neons always hiding, they come out and are very active when its feeding time

tank currently has

10 neons
3 hatchetfish
3 otos
2 mystery snails
...pond snails.......

 

[zendx]

With my neons I just had to wait it out for about a week. Once they knew I was the food lady they were totally okay with me... for my family it took longer for them to warm up. Had a bit of the same when we moved them to the new 20gal long! But as soon as they saw me they knew they were going to get a treat (bloodworms) lol.

 

[ktrom13]

If possible dim the lights. They seem much less nervous so to speak when you have dim lighting.

Second suggestion is just to wait. Overtime they SHOULD warm up to you and know you as the food delivery.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[vwill279]

If possible dim the lights. They seem much less nervous so to speak when you have dim lighting.

Second suggestion is just to wait. Overtime they SHOULD warm up to you and know you as the food delivery.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

I agree with ktrom. Neons are blackwater fish and too much light stresses them out. It is probably why they are hiding under the rootstock, it's nice and dark down there. I would recommend getting a good cover of floating plants to diffuse the light and maybe adding some aquarium safe leaves for tannins (turn the water brownish). I have 30 neons in my 45g tank and have both surface cover and tannins in the water and they are always out in the open sparring and looking for food. They only hide or school when a stranger walks near the tank. I also always recommend giving new fish at least a week to recognize that people near the tank means food and not scary predators.

 

[psyche]

Just in my non-objective observation, my neons came out more with time, with larger group size of neons and of other fish, with addition of tall and floating plants, and I think with extra water movement (air stone). Once they learned feeding time they would always come out for that.

 

[tanker]

I too agree with all the above. I have a larger tank with a bigger school and they are always out. Softer water with a lower PH does stress them less (I have noticed). It makes them much more colorful. Darker water and shade should make them come out more ofter, until they get less shy.

PS--How big is the tank??

 

[ffmurray]

Its a 36g tank with 10 neons in it right now, I plan on adding maybe 5 more. Its a planted tank, so pretty bright lighting, This may be one of the causes. The tank is nog filled out yet, so there is not as much shade as there will be.

Thanks for the information guys