My brave Firefish became extremely shy. Help/advise needed.

[wartooth1]

Hello all, I've had a Firefish in my tank for almost a month now and he has always been a very visible fish, always hovering still in the middle of my tank, just above where my cleaner shrimp likes to keep his cleaning station. During this time I had crushed coral sand as my substrate, but about a week ago I replaced the CC sand with good quality live sand. Ever since I changed sand, my Firefish has been hiding under a rock in the back of the aquarium, only poking his head out slightly. He can be under this rock for days without ever being seen (doesn't even come out when there's food in the tank). And when he is out, the slightest little thing will send him off back under a rock... another fish swims by too close, it goes under the rock. A person walks past the aquarium or gets too close to it, it goes under the rock. So what can I do to encourage him to come back out more often?

 

[btldreef]

I might be mixing you up with someone else, but didn't have you more than one up until recently?
Anyways, firefish by nature are shy/skiddish fish.
To help make fish more trusting on you near the tank, you can try feeding only when you have your hand in the tank. It's worked great with my fish, now when I come in the room they all swim to the front glass and beg like little puppies.

 

[1guydude]

Try watching but being very still and calm lol......he's prob gettting used to the new floor bed! Give him time and he will come out more

 

[flower]

Consider the event from his point of view....A giant creature he had never seen before reached into his world and scooped out all the substrate, then added new....I'm sure you scared the scales off of him and it will take time for him to feel safe again. He has no idea if the big creater is going to return and maybe scoop him up the next time. Or maybe he has seen that creature before and it moves rocks too, he most likely thinks he ran for cover just in time to avoid death.