LoL, i always get comments on how i can take pictures of my kapampa fronts when they are suppose to be the most reclusive front there is with so many opportunities to hide in my tank. When i am in the fishroom, it seems many of my fish, tangs in particular come out.
It is hilarious, i can take full tanks shots of my frontosa tank with 18 adults in it and you can see and count every one in the picture, then when ever anybody else comes in my fishroom, it is like "don't you keep any fronts?" LOL On the Floor Laughing On the Floor Laughing

anybody with the same sorta thing going on? fishy fishy fishy

Brad

I Honestly feel that my Cichlids know who I am.They come out freely when I go into the fishroom but if someone is with me they bolt!They also dont like it when I have my camera out.They dart to hide behind the rocks but afterward they seem to relax and join in the fun

So your not alone

Derek

I guess I am lucky, because mine come out all the time when folks are in the room. My 3 year old is constantly dropping trains and cars and balls into the tanks. He constantly has his hands in the tank and thinks it is fun when the fish nibble on his fingers. I think he has made it to the point where the fish are happy to see anyone except him. :D

My tangs knew me and they would come out, but when someone else approached the tank, they would hide. So yes, I experienced relatively the same thing during my tang days.

-Joel

So, maybe we just need to "borrow" Dave's 3 year old to help "train" our fish??? (Sounds like a good deal for you, Dave...Just ship him to our house first, then we'll send him on to Brad's...)

I don't have Tangs, other than that wacked out little goby I can't catch to get rid of, but my mbuna are the same way. Pete and I are usually the only ones around, so I don't think much of it until someone else comes in and wants to see the fish that apparently don't even exist! Once they sit down, the fish will come out, but if they stand in front of the tanks, they can forget it.

Steph was here the other day and every single creature in our saltwater tank came out to take a look at her! It was actually kind of funny. I think they fell in love! Wiggle it just a little bit!

Kim

Most of mine hide too...at least the tangs to...except the tropheus, they hide at first, but come out quickly when someone other than me comes near the tank. The SAs don't seem to be as shy.

At my office I find that when people walk rapidly up to the tank with sharp movements they tend to shy away. When people slowly approach and are smooth and subtle they tend to behave normally.

When I'm at my computer they patiently keep an eye on me to see if I'm about to feed them. If I reach for a paper in the direction of the tank they cluster for action. Drooly

I'm just like everyone else here...most of my fish hide when new people come, but beg at other times...dunno why, and haven't figured out the trick yet!

Kim...your fish are in love with me? Blush Gosh I don't know what to say, but they were all pretty cool...although I was sitting back...think that's why?

Steph, I think the salt water tank has a thing for you...You never see all those guys at once, and every single one of them came out to take a look!

Or maybe they were in love with Peanut's baby!

Kim

So here's a follow-up question:

I'm planning on adding a couple of tanks (somewhere in the 90G-160G range) to my office this fall, and putting Mbuna in one and Haps/Peacocks in the other. I need to do more learning on the Malawi front before I start taking on Tangs.

I'm planning on placing them in area-divider locations where they would be open on both sides, and one side would probably be fairly busy with people walking by.

Is this idea ill-considered? Will they just hide in the rocks and not come out? Or will they eventually adapt?

Don, I find that you can "force" mbuna out in the open by going with minimal rockwork in the tank. In reality, I think we over-do the rocks sometimes. It might be more natural looking, but it also provides them places to hide, and all it takes is one dominant fish being skittish and it looks like you've got an empty tank.

You might set it up initially without any caves, and let them adjust to the traffic first?

Kim

My fish are always out.... people here or not. They don't care. BUT... they usually don't show their best colors when people are here.

I dont have a "Fish room" per say. All of my tanks are either in the living room or scattered around the house in different areas. And with the three Mongolings, who are kin to the Energizer Bunny, none of my fish hide until you come at them with a camera.