Why are they still scared of me

[chrissyoscar]

First a little something about how I got to were I an today. I've had discus for about 18mths now.
For most of that time I only had the one tank which had 4 discus. Two Red Turqs a Snake Skin and a Pigeon Blood.
After waking up one morning and seeing that my female Red Turq and male Pigeon blood had paired of and layed eggs I decided to get them there own 29g tank.
About 5 mths ago I decided to give breeding a go and since I was short on space the garage was were it was all going to happen. I now have both the Red Turqs in a breeding tank ( I split the Pigeon blood and Red Turq) as I'm sure the other Red Turq I had was a male. I also got 6 young discus 4 mths ago ranging from 6-8cm. From these I now have a pair which have laid once in the community tank and are now in there own breeding tank.
The problem I have is that I have 4 discus in one tank which hate me, every time I walk in the garage they hide. The young pair I have are the same they want nothing to do with me. The Red Turqs are different they always great me and beg for food.
I've had the Red turqs from the start and they've spent most of that time in the house so got to see me all the time.
The others are different they've always been in the garage and only see me for an average of 30min to 1hr a day spread out over 4-5 visits.
I've had them for 4mths and hate the fact that they're still scared of me. I can't enjoy them if I can't see them :-[.
I'm not sure if it's because I'm not with them very often so they can't get used to me of if it's because they're young and need time. Water seems okay so I don't think that's the problem.
If I walk in slowly they're full of color and swimming fleely but the minute they notice me they hide and darken up.
Anybody have the same problem?

Oscar

[Ryan]

Hi Oscar,

It could be because of the limited exposure to you, but I would think after four months that they should at least be familiar with you.

Are your tanks covered with anything? Discus can be jumpy if there are shadows, or reflections. My young discus were seeing shadows on the wall once, and for weeks they'd dive for cover everytime I came into the room. I decided to fix that by putting a background on the tank. The only problem was that the background was one of those glossy blue ones from the LFS, and the discus were still skittish.

I posted this on a forum and was told that maybe the discus saw reflections in the shiny background. So I took it off and painted the back of the tank light blue. Viola! No more skittishness.

Check to see if there are weird shadows/vibrations/reflections that might be startling the fish. Our garage is noisy and even something as simple as opening the door to the house causes there to be vibrations in the garage.

Ryan

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Ryan

I did have a MH light over the main tank but took it down about a week ago due to strong shadows. I put a twin fluro up and that produces a much softer shadow. The main tank is painted with a nice soft blue color but the young pair are in a 40 gallon breeding tank that isn't painted. The breeding tank that my Turqs are in is also painted and that's always had a fluro (might be why they aren't scared of me).
I'll paint the 40g breeding tank on the weekend and hopefully they'll settle down soon.
Thanks for the good advise you gave me Ryan.

Oscar

[Ryan]

Sometimes skittishness is caused by factors dealing with your water, but if all your fish are in the same water it doesn't make sense why some are shy and some are not. Sometimes a crashing pH can cause discus to be skittish. Also, if you have something shorting out in your tank that causes an electrical current, the fish may become jumpy. Is your heater okay? Any other devices in the tank (submersible pumps, etc.) that may have this issue?

Ryan

[Carol_Roberts]

Be sure to feed them a little every time you go into the room. Soon they will equate you with food and run to greet you ;D

[chrissyoscar]

Thanks Carol

Yeah I normally give them something when I'm in there but it hasn't been working. I think Ryan might be onto something with the shadows and reflections. About two weeks ago I was having a coffee and just sitting down quietly watching them and waiting for them to come out of hiding. All of a sudden when one did he/she was spooked by the shadow of a moving Amazon leaf. That's why I took the MH down and got a fluro setup instead as the shadows from the fluro are softer. I'm going to try and spend more time with them and see if that helps but sometimes it's hard. My wife told me if I want to spend more time with the fish then I have to spend less time on the computer >:( not fair.

Oscar

[1977]

Discus are very jumpy. I've found that when I'm having this problem, switching them up a bit can shake things up and lesson the problem. Also the more you have in a tank the more confident they get, of course you can run into overcrowding too. It could be any little thing causing the problem. I think you have to be really consistent with your routine to earn their trust

[DarkDiscus]

I actually find that my discus are less jumpy than a lot of other cichlids I have had...

As long as:

1.) There are no shadows (as mentioned) discus HATE shadows crossing over the tank. Mine actually respond differently to me if I wear a black shirt than if I wear a white one! I noticed that right off. This also includes lights going on and off - they get surprised and it makes them jittery.

2.) Water parameters are normal and constant. They get jittery as waste levels increase or if there are big changes.

3.) You spend a lot of time with them. Their jumpiness is inversely proportional to the time spent in and around the tank.

4.) Vibrations are limited - they don't like sudden, jolting vibrations like a furnace popping on nearby or a person jumping up and down.

This actually holds true for most fish.

John

PS. Oh yeah, keeping your father in law from tapping on the glass helps, too!

:P

[Cosmo]

lol... keeping your father in law from tapping on the glass too helps... geez, can I relate that that :)

How about "hey kids (to the 4 yr old grandkids) come over here and lets look at the fishies.... uh oh, don't tap on the glass, ohhh, now you've done it , look, they're all hiding "

GGEEEEZ, can I relate that!

Told him, jokingly of course, that the next time I hear him talking like that I'd break his arm... but it was just a joke .... kind of

Jim

[jaydoc]

my discus are very skittish if the tank lights are off and the room lights are on. If the tank lights are on, I can walk right up to them and they swim to the glass looking to be fed. Does this support the shadow theory? you be the judge.