Red Terror

Question
I have a Red Terror in a 55 Gallon aquarium, and almost the entire time since I have had him he's remained in a cave, refusing to come out even for food in most cases.  I just lately decided to rearrange my tank, removing this cave and my Red Terror has been acting strange since, floating near the top of the tank in the bubbles and etc.  I was wondering if I should put the cave back in and if so if there was something I could do to get him to come out more often.  Also I noticed the coloring of my Red Terror was less bright and lacking the stripes of many red terror images I have seen on the web and I wondered if I could do something about this too.

Thanks Karen  

Answer
Dear James,
Sounds like your red cichlid is stressed. This could be from bad water quality, or he could be mentally stressed. I know this sounds funny. But cichlids are very sensitive creatures. They know if something has changed in their enviroment and will often react with uncertainty. Has he previously been removed from the company of other Red s or other fish? Is he small and just recently added to the aquarium and is alone?

When baby cichlids are added to a totally new aquarium, they will surely shy away and hide as much as they can. They feel insecure and vunerable. Often not coming out to eat. What doesn't help (even though it may be a desperate attempt to get him out and swimming) is removing his currently hiding place. This only worsens it. What will help is plenty of hiding places so he does feel secure, maybe enough to come out of hiding for a while.
Other fish in the aquarium help to greatly build a cichlid's confidence if the so-called "dither fish" are bravely swimming out in the open. Then Mr,/Miss cichlid knows it must be safe out there and comes out in the open at last. Some decent dither fish you could try are tinfoil barbs. But I would prefer you not keep them in a 55gal Long term. The boys I have have grown vastly too large for all but at least an 18 inch (in width) aquarium and is at the very least 4 feet long. Their schooling behavior also requires at the very least of 3 Tinfoil barbs for them to be at their best. This is one option for you. But it isn't longterm unless you can update to a larger aquarium in a year or sooner. If your cichlid is small, a school of black skirt tetras are bold enough to bring out most fish. Most are fine with much larger cichlids but overly aggressive ones (just depends on the individual fish) can be a danger to them.

Putting in much more hiding places (but don't overcrowd) in his aquarium should help him greatly. Baby cichlids take a long time to adjust to their new aquarium and company can help them along the way. They all should eventually become use to the enviroment and routine around them and will come out eventually and swim in the open.
Let him have his cave back, he will thank you for it. And more hiding spots will make him feel much more secure if there aren't very many besides his cave.

Lastly, make sure the aquarium isn't polluted. I doubt it would be but you never know. Testing your water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrite is best. And always, when in doubt do a 30% water change. Remember to always make the replacement equal in temperature to that of his aquarium and always properly dechlorinate it.

Paler coloration also indicates he is frightened and stressed, so is floating near the bubbles. He needs his cave back and much more caves and some plants if you wouldn't mind.

Just be patient James, with time your little cichlid will come out as long as he feels safe and secure.

Let me know if you have anymore questions or concerns.

Best wishes and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~