Do fish get lonely?

[Hitchhik3r]

I had a quarantine tank that had a royal gramma , purple fire fish and 2 banggai cardinals. They have been together for close to 30 days but for reasons that will not be approved by this forum, I transferred the fire fish and Cardinals early to my main tank. Strangely ever since then, my royal gramma who used to swim actively around the tank has been cowering in a hiding spot and NEVER coming out. She peeks her head out during feeding to nip at the food that comes her way but otherwise stays in the hiding spot the entire day. This has been going on for close to a week now. She has just completed a copper Treatment and now currently undergoing a prazipro treatment (prophylactic). Is she just lonely or scared after her tank mates got taken away? Or should I be worried about something else?

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I find, that behavior definitely can change. For example, in my 10g, I had a bunch of frags and a lawnmower blenny in with my two clown fish. when I finished my 40g, I transferred the frags and my Blenny into the forty. Before the clownfish were aggressive eaters, swimming all over the tank to get food. Now a pellet has to almost come to them, because they are hesitant to leave their RBTA.

 

[Alexopora]

I had a quarantine tank that had a royal gramma , purple fire fish and 2 banggai cardinals. They have been together for close to 30 days but for reasons that will not be approved by this forum, I transferred the fire fish and Cardinals early to my main tank. Strangely ever since then, my royal gramma who used to swim actively around the tank has been cowering in a hiding spot and NEVER coming out. She peeks her head out during feeding to nip at the food that comes her way but otherwise stays in the hiding spot the entire day. This has been going on for close to a week now. She has just completed a copper Treatment and now currently undergoing a prazipro treatment (prophylactic). Is she just lonely or scared after her tank mates got taken away? Or should I be worried about something else?

Im not sure ab Royal Gramma, havent had a chance to have them in my tank but my YWG (Yellow Watchman Goby) definitely changed once I added a Randall’s pistol shrimp. It was alot more outgoing and would no longer flinch and flee everytime I go near the tank. And adding a few damsels really brought its outgoing side out of it. My YWG dares to perch on live rocks or my frag rack now. And would eat directly from my forceps.

 

[Steve and his Animals]

This is an example of the concept of dithering. The royal gramma was more relaxed when there was other fish in the area because it indicates everything is okay in this habitat. When other fish are missing from the area, most fish assume the reason is there's a predator nearby. Applies to a lot of shy fish.

 

[DaJMasta]

There definitely are some that are more social and act markedly different when apart (I've got a pair of banggais that act pretty different when separated), but as said above I think this is more of a dither (or lack thereof) effect. Having other fish around, especially if they're similar in habits, encourages other fish to think that it could be safe and they can be more out in the open.

It's an effect that definitely applies broadly to groups of any fish, but I've seen certain fish that are shy even in a group be emboldened by another fish of their species to be out and about.

There is also some impact of just changes - fish settle into their environment and the habits of things around them, and disrupting that, even when in the same space, will throw them off, at least for a bit. This goes for almost any kind of change, including adding or removing livestock, other livestock changing behavior, food/lighting/tank setup, and even things like your interference and what comes of it. When I put a net in my tank, a lot of my fish don't really care and even will swim by it without much of a second thought, because I tend to leave nets in for a while before a catch and try to focus on minimal movement and speed, just relying on corraling them into a catch. But if you do catch something, the next time the net goes in, it will be more wary. I haven't run into any of my fish explicitly hiding from me when I work in the tank, but the opposite - them coming out and swimming up - definitely happens when it's the right time of day and I take the mesh cover off to feed them.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I definitely think they do and there is some science behind it. However, I think it depends on the species. For example a schooling vs non-schooling fish as some fish and other marine animals naturally live in solitary.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I had a quarantine tank that had a royal gramma , purple fire fish and 2 banggai cardinals. They have been together for close to 30 days but for reasons that will not be approved by this forum, I transferred the fire fish and Cardinals early to my main tank. Strangely ever since then, my royal gramma who used to swim actively around the tank has been cowering in a hiding spot and NEVER coming out. She peeks her head out during feeding to nip at the food that comes her way but otherwise stays in the hiding spot the entire day. This has been going on for close to a week now. She has just completed a copper Treatment and now currently undergoing a prazipro treatment (prophylactic). Is she just lonely or scared after her tank mates got taken away? Or should I be worried about something else?

That would be the opposite of how I would expect a gramma to behave in the absence of other fish.

Fish don't get "lonely" like mammals do. They do sometimes react to the presence of other fish, but not always in a positive way. A clownfish might just "chill" when kept alone, but will swim around excitedly with another clown - but that is usually aggression or mating interest.

Jay

 

[Latte]

I would second Jay's comments. From what I understand some fish definitely benefit from being kept in a group, they may feel safer or many other reasons, but I don't believe most (if any) fish feel loneliness in the way that we might experience it.

 

[Alexopora]

I to agree that its more of the Royal Gramma feeling more secure to roam with presence of other fish (especially reef dwelling species).

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a quarantine tank that had a royal gramma , purple fire fish and 2 banggai cardinals. They have been together for close to 30 days but for reasons that will not be approved by this forum, I transferred the fire fish and Cardinals early to my main tank. Strangely ever since then, my royal gramma who used to swim actively around the tank has been cowering in a hiding spot and NEVER coming out. She peeks her head out during feeding to nip at the food that comes her way but otherwise stays in the hiding spot the entire day. This has been going on for close to a week now. She has just completed a copper Treatment and now currently undergoing a prazipro treatment (prophylactic). Is she just lonely or scared after her tank mates got taken away? Or should I be worried about something else?

Cant say they do but it sure appears that fish are more active when there is a tankmate or two in with them

 

[Hitchhik3r]

That would be the opposite of how I would expect a gramma to behave in the absence of other fish.

Fish don't get "lonely" like mammals do. They do sometimes react to the presence of other fish, but not always in a positive way. A clownfish might just "chill" when kept alone, but will swim around excitedly with another clown - but that is usually aggression or mating interest.

Jay

So you think something else might be going on. How do I find out? She has done her 30 days of copper and is on her 2nd week of prazipro treatment.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So you think something else might be going on. How do I find out? She has done her 30 days of copper and is on her 2nd week of prazipro treatment.

Excessive shyness in a fish that hasn't shown that before can be a symptom of an issue, but it is a generalized symptom, and not related to any one disease. As long as it is eating well, I wouldn't worry about it - perhaps it was the activity of the other fish that kept it curious and alert? I wouldn't expect that, but not all fish listen to me (grin).

Jay

 

[doubleshot00]

I have a tang in QT right now for gill flukes. He showed signs in the main tank but not in the QT tank. In the QT tank hes not the same fish. Very shy, and hides in one spot. No swimming around at all. But he is eating so IDK.

 

[Hebrewhammer]

Idk about lonely but my clownfish is almost always with my royal gramma when it's daytime and during the night they split. My cardinalfish just minds his own business.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

When I had only 2 firefish in my 40G tank, they were hidden almost continuously. Then I added 2 pajama fish, and they started coming out a lot more. 2 weeks ago I added 2 small scissortail dartfish. To my stupefaction, the scissortail did not as expected ,dart to a hole, but stayed in the middle of the tank and started exploring immediately. Now they are always out, except when they go to sleep. I guess that the presence of non threatening fish in the tank helped. I am still stunned though because even a sixline and an hippo tang first went in hiding when I first introduced them to my large tank.