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Unread 09/03/2020, 10:10 PM   #1
djryan2000
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Making fish more friendly

I currently have 4 fish in QT that I got from my LFS - a yellow coris wrasse, flasher wrasse, longnose hawk, and a banggai I cardinal. I purchased the two wrasses and then added the other two to see if having fish out would entice the wrasses to come out.

All four fish are extremely afraid of me. When I add food I have to sit across the room for anyone to come out and eat. I occasionally will see one of the wrasses out, and they’ll dart into hiding if they know I’m around. Same thing with the cardinal and hawk fish. Is there anything I can do, besides adding food to the tank regularly, to make them like me?


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Unread 09/03/2020, 11:24 PM   #2
jeremy007
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How soon are you feeding after the lights have been on? Have you found their favorite foods yet? It takes time and patience but they will get used to you.


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Unread 09/04/2020, 02:55 AM   #3
Tastee
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Just live your life and interact with the tank. The fish will soon get used to the ‘new normal’ and as long as they are not getting picked on by other fish become less timid. They will also start to associate movement with food and come looking for you when they recognise the movements and time of day.


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Unread 09/05/2020, 07:32 AM   #4
Timfish
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Spend time sitting at eye level with the tank. Many fish are curious and if you are patient you may be able to get them to follow your finger around the glass. WIth time and patience fish can get to be very interactive.

https://youtu.be/D5jHklmdfa8


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Unread 09/05/2020, 11:35 AM   #5
Sk8r
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^This. Also a 'dither' fish, like one silly blue chromis---both colorful,l, fairly dim-witted, and always out and on the move if there is no shark. His presence out in the open assures the others there are no sharks, because he'd have been eaten first.


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Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low.

Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.
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Unread 09/09/2020, 05:26 PM   #6
Michael Hoaster
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Four fish in QT is three too many, in my opinion. QT is best when fish are alone. There's much less stress. All they have to focus on is themselves, with no competition from other fish. Plus each fish could have a different malady, turning your QT into a death trap. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way…


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Unread 09/09/2020, 11:10 PM   #7
djryan2000
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster View Post
Four fish in QT is three too many, in my opinion. QT is best when fish are alone. There's much less stress. All they have to focus on is themselves, with no competition from other fish. Plus each fish could have a different malady, turning your QT into a death trap. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way…

Funny that you post this.. I ended up having a similar experience. One of the two fish I picked up to make the others more friendly had a parasite and 3 of the four died. I only have one left that’s on medication.


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