Timid Tetras

[Codefox]

I have to say I've never experienced this before with a fish, especially schooling fish. My bleeding hearts are /extremely/ timid. The tank is moderately planted with plenty of cover for them...and they make good use of it. Currently there are 6 in my 55g (and nothing else at the moment). I plan to have between 10 & 12 which I'm hoping will encourage them to stop hiding so much.

They don't even come to the surface to eat...the food has to drift down to them and they voratiously eat anything that drifts their way but won't go above the mid point of the tank for anything. I'm worried that when I add rams & angels they will simply never come out.

Is this normal behavior for Bleeding Hearts?

 

[justrelax]

are they fairly new to the tank? when i added my black skirts i noticed similar behavior for the first week or two they were in there. i started with four and added three more over time. after a while they all became more active and showed themselves more. after 4 months they still eat mostly from the middle, i guess they're just lazy... lol

 

[Codefox]

Yeah, they've been in for just a week. I expected this behavior for a day or two. I'm just used to my fish "warming up" to the tank by now since food tends to make them happy