Copella arnoldi

[M.ramirezi]

Hi,

I've got 6 Copella arnoldi (2 males and 4 females, could be 3 males and 3 females though).
I bought the first 3 about 3 weeks ago, and the others last week.

They look very healthy, eat like pigs and show really great colors.
The problem is, that they're always near the bottom of the tank, never at the surface.

The tank is 80x40x40, normal fluence. It is blackwater inspired so there are no plants (mostly because my lights are to weak), only alot of twigs and leaves.
Other fish are 20 Paracheirodon simulans and 2 Apistogramma agassizii.

Both the simulans and agassizii aren't shy at all. The Apistogramma aren't agressive eather.

I really have no idea what makes them that shy...
It's an open tank by the way (looks like a riparium, but with fake plants).

Does anyone have an idea what could be the problem here?
I'm positive they aren't shy because of the open tank, or because of any movements outside the tank. The tank is in my bedroom, and when I'm there, I'm lying on my bed so there's nothing to be scared of...

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I had a group briefly and they were always in the floating plants near the surface. They grew really quickly and coloured up brilliantly, but then the trouble started.

It's an open tank by the way

They can leap huge distances when they are spawning and both males and 3 females managed to jump out through tiny gaps in the tank hood, despite the fact that I kept lowering the water level.

They were in this tank

cheers Darrel

 

[M.ramirezi]

Hm... I asked a couple of people if they would jump out.
As long as I provided them with plenty of plants, they probably wouldn't really jump out of the tank.

Based on you're second image, I have alot more plants above the tank.

Anyway, I've added some Pistia stratiotes, and they are indeed less shy now.
I might add some more Pistia or Salvinia natans.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Based on you're second image, I have alot more plants above the tank.

I think that might be the answer, I only had emergent Limnobium, Hygrophila corymbosa and Anubias. I get some more, I'm going to try them in a riparium style lay-out with much shallower water and Ficus benjamina, Begonias, Bromeliads, Ferns and Aroids planted above the water line.

cheers Darrel

 

[M.ramirezi]

I hope so
Don't want mine to jump out of the tank...

I've added a huge Nymphoides ezannoi and 3 Echinodorus uruguayensis.
Hopefully these will help them getting a bit less shy.

 

[M.ramirezi]

Mhm... They still aren't confident enough to swim near the surface.
Due to the weak lights, all of the Pistia and Salvinia has died, unfortunately the Echinodorus are slow growers, also the Nymphoides ezannoi hasn't got that many leafs yet.

Could small oak twigs be a good alternative for the Pistia and Salvinia?
I could place them right under the surface, and also above it.

 

[gerald]

Yes, dense branching twigs might give them the surface cover they need. Or how about potted houseplants on a shelf beside the tank with their roots hanging in the water? Syngonium, Pothos, Philodendron, Spathyphyllum, etc might work. (Assuming you can rig up enough light for low-light houseplants). Or fake floating plants ...

 

[M.ramirezi]

Just added some twigs with the leafs still on it.

Real plants will be a bit difficult, due to all the fake ones taking up alot of space, I can't place real ones.
Also my LED's take up quite some space.

 

[M.ramirezi]

Sigh.... I've changed the setup a little bit, there are more hiding spaces near the surface now.
The Copella are still extremely shy though.

The only thing I notice, is that 2 of 3 (probably the same ones) Copella occasionaly swim for about 2 minutes near the surface.
After that, they go hiding again in the darkest part of the tank.

I'm thinking of trading them in for a group of Nannostoms marginatus, because it's becoming really annoying, and because of the following.
In shop 1 (where I bought the first group) all the Copella were acting exactly the same. All fish were swimming about 5 cm above the bottom of the tank. The tank had the same lighting as mine.
In shop 2 (where I bought the second group), the tank had much more light above it. There, the entire group was in the back (darkest place) of the tank.