Hiding Zebra

[Jgeezer1986]

So i have seen this happen before , but never understood why. I bought 5 zebras a month ago to cycle my tank. They are all doing wonderful still , except one.

On the intake of the filter in my tank, there is a box about 2x3 that contains the motor. Well Zippy has been in hiding behind it for the last two weeks. He only comes out to feed, stays out for about 5 mins afterwards , then goes right back up there. He is swimming just fine, has no abnormal coloring in his gills, no obvious parasites, he looks just fine only smaller than the rest. when he is up there, he just swims in the current around the filter.

Whats weird is as soon as i open the lid for feeding , he is right there with the rest of them waiting for food. None of them seems to be picking on him. He schools with them when he is out, then wonders off to his spot..

Anyone seen this before? Anyone know why he might be doing this? I tend to think he feels threatened by all the larger fish , and feels safe there?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Yeah, ive seen this with some of mine. Do you have plenty of hiding spots? i have built some rock caves with plants set behind them about 2 inches and some of mine tend to hang out in there. If he's eating then that means he'll get bigger which means he shouldnt be in hiding mode too much longer.

Plus when your water param's get right he'll feel less stressed.

 

[lake_tuna]

It just might be a transient thing. I had a zebra danio that would stick around the bottom for a couple of weeks chasing away any fish that got near it. He eventually got bored and joined the rest of the crew at the top of the fish tank.