# rummy nose wusses



## colindoug (Mar 16, 2006)

I have a 20 long with an eclipse 3 hood. 9 or 10 rummy nose tetras, 2 oto cats. When the lights come on they go into hiding and don't swim as much. I feed when lights are on, just because that's what time I am home. They come out of hiding in the plants a little, but don't swim up to the top to get the food. They stay low in the tank. When the lights go out they start schooling through out the water column again. My girlfriend and I are losing interest in the tank because they aren't swimmy unless the lights are out. Are they sensitive to light? Are the lights giving off electrical current to the water? Ideas/suggestions?
Cheers!


----------



## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

Mine just started acting this way. They will hide out under the filter. I worry that they are not getting enough food. The light never used to bother them, I am wondering what changed.


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

How many hours are the lights on in your tank? Do you have any floating plants? Some fish get jumpy when there are shadows moving around. My shrimp were all really jumpy as well as my guppies. But after a week of 10-12 hours of a light a day, they learn that if they don't come out, they don't get food.


----------



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I've got a couple dozen under metal halide lighting in a 180g tank. They come out and swim all over the place. My guess is that you need some other "dither" fish to draw them out. Something benign that is active out in the water column would do the trick. Danios, rams, or maybe one of the livebearers would do the trick.


----------



## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

The fish do not come out because they do not feel secure.
This can be caused if an aquarium is to open. This can be corrected by placing a dark background on three sides of the aquarium.
This can be caused if the light is too intense. This can be corrected by using lower lighting when you are around the tank and higher lighting for the plants when you are away. 
As already mentioned, dither fish can help fish gain a little bravery.
Fish have a memory. So, if you scare them even once they can become very shy. This behavior does vary based on the species.


----------



## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

Thats funny because someone once told me that fish have no memories. Though I haven't read up on it I argued they did. Until you keep fish for a while and learn each one's behavior, I guess you don't see that.


----------



## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

I would go with guaiac_boy's suggestion. It always worked for me.


----------



## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

_How long have you had the rummy nose tetras_? or _Have you made any recent changes to the tank?_... They are very shy sensitive fish and it takes them a while to adjust.

Their faces are a very good indication to their health and stress levels. The face should be nice solid red color. If the face is pale or splotchy then they are stressed for one reason or another.


----------



## colindoug (Mar 16, 2006)

The lights don't seem too intense to me. I am using a planted aquarium bulb I believe from home depot, and a 10k from zoo-med. I will try another bulb combination to see if that helps. I have had these guys for probably 5 months and they've been like this for a while, it just seems like it got worse. I don't have any floating plants other than a few small pieces of duckweed, hardly noticeable. Lights are on for roughly 6 hours. Their color seems normal, not like they are stressed.
I think I will try the dither fish method. Would a dwarf gourami be a good idea? I like the way they look and as far as I know they are active swimmers. Thanks for your help!


----------



## JESTERX626 (Sep 18, 2006)

Skelley said:


> Thats funny because someone once told me that fish have no memories. Though I haven't read up on it I argued they did. Until you keep fish for a while and learn each one's behavior, I guess you don't see that.


You're correct on fish memory. Fish such as goldfish have an attention/memory span of I think a very short range of time. Fish such as piranha's however have a memory span of a few months. Either way all fish can remember things, short or long duration.


----------



## mott (Aug 6, 2006)

My dozen rummys are my most active fish, very playfull not scared of anything and are the first to the top of the tank for food.they will eat from my hand also.

I have 4x65 watts of 6700k and they dont mind at all.
I did get them from dr.foster&smith tho paid an arm and a leg for em but worth it
they were very heathy from the get go.


----------

