Why does my Black Tetra keep hiding? I have a shelve thing in the tank and he is in there with a glassfish. Whenever I feed the tnak, I always have to tap the side of the tank to get him to come out and see his food. I've had this fishy for about 5 1/2 years now and I want to see how long he will live. I enjoy watching him swim around when he does. But, that is rare. My glassfish does nothing but swim around. Does anyone know why he does this?

Can you give more info about your tank? (size, fish in there, filter type, plants, etc)

One thing that comes to mind if you have just those two, is that you Need a small school of them for them to be happy and comfortable with coming out. The black skirt is a schooling fish that will really darken if he has other buddies. I'd suggest a minimum of 3 for both types of fish.

I have a school of 5 and they're always out looking for munchies

~Kim~

Unfortunately, I won't be getting new tropicals for a long time. I want to get guppys. My tank is a 23 gallon and his only other tank mate is a glassfish. Sometimes they will travel with each other. I have a Top Fin overhead filter and I don't have live plants. They never worked out.
If you want to see my tank and the fishies, this is the direct location on my website. http://www.geocities.com/astra_faerie/fishies.html

I would still suggest to get at least two more skirt tetras for him to school with. The problem is that he's showing that he's not comfortable \stressed by hiding from you. He's telling you that there's something wrong. If you got two or more for him, then he wouldn't feel so vulnerable and you would see him more often.
In that size of a tank, you could still get two more tetras, two more glass fish, and have enough room for your guppies. The tetras will also help with keeping your tank from becoming overpopulated.

That's all I can really suggest. Tetras can be very sensitive when they don't have others of their own kind. They get very insecure and timid without others, and that can lead to stress and illness.

~Kim~

I used to have three tetras but the smallest one died off quite quickly and the other commited suicide. I really don't want to get anymore fish right now. Will not having other tetras in there for him make him have a shorter life? I am quite agaisnt getting a nother. I would have to find someone to take him in a cpouple of years. Otherwise I would have to put the -new- one into a 2 or 5 gallon tank by himself.
I will not be getting guppies for a very long time and the way I will be keeping the population down is by feeding fry to my boyfriends goldfish.
May there be any other suggestions?

I do understand your reluctance to add more black skirts.....I felt pretty much the same way with my black neons. I've had these fish for over 5 years and wanted to do something different with the tanks, but at the same time I didn't want to give up the fish either. When it got down to the last black neon, I didn't buy anymore and the fish died about six months later. Can't say for sure if it would have died even if I had bought more buddies for him. Just keep up your water quality and go ahead and add the guppies. The new fish just might perk him up a bit....with all the activity in the tank, it might encourage him to come out more often.

He will die prematurely if he doesn't get more buddies to school with. How prematurely is a question. it could be anywhere between six months or he could live another few years.
Why will you have to get rid of them in a few years?
If you live near Michigan, I will take them after that time is up if you do manage to get a few more. Or, people are generally ok with taking a small school of the same kind of fish. It saves them the trouble of trying to make the school themselves.

As I said, the hiding is because he's stressed and feeling vulnerable. So instead of swimming happily, he's hiding from whatever might get him since he doesn't have others to help keep watch.
All you would need to make him more comfortable would be 2 more.

~Kim~

I just wanted to clear up any misunderstanding that I might have caused. It isn't that I'm callous towards the welfare of the fish, it's just that like many people, I've gotten to the point where I can't give up, sell or trade fish anymore......it simply isn't an option for me. I feel so bad afterwards, even when I know the fish have a good home.....I'm at the point now where if I buy a fish, it is to have a home with me for all of it's life.
So when the black neons started dying off one by one after 4 years or so, my reluctance to buy more was based on the fact that, in effect, I would end up with an endless round of black neons as I would have to keep replacing any fish that died, to keep the fish in a proper school.
I just try and keep them in the best water possible, with compatible tankmates and let nature take it's course.

JMO