Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram) (01/22/88)
I have a school of five neon tetras which seem to be doing great except for
one little thing. When the aquarium light goes out (assuming there isn't
too much light in the room outside), the tetras are ok for about 15 seconds,
then school breaks up and they scatter and dash madly all over the place,
faster than I've ever seen them move. This continues for about half a
minute, then they stop wherever they might happen to be (anywhere from down
at the bottom to right up at the top an inch from a curious angelfish's
nose).
It looks like it takes them about two or three minutes to become oriented to
the sudden darkness. None of my other fish do this. I don't know if it's
something to worry about, but it sure is weird.
Any explanations? Is this normal neon tetra behavior?
-- Ashwin Ram --
ARPA: Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu
UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,harvard,cmcl2,...}!yale!Ram-Ashwin
BITNET: Ram@yalecsrichard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (01/25/88)
In article <21756@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram) writes: > >I have a school of five neon tetras which seem to be doing great except for >one little thing. When the aquarium light goes out (assuming there isn't >too much light in the room outside), the tetras are ok for about 15 seconds, >then school breaks up and they scatter and dash madly all over the place, >faster than I've ever seen them move. This continues for about half a >minute, then they stop wherever they might happen to be (anywhere from down >at the bottom to right up at the top an inch from a curious angelfish's >nose). > >It looks like it takes them about two or three minutes to become oriented to >the sudden darkness. None of my other fish do this. I don't know if it's >something to worry about, but it sure is weird. > >Any explanations? Is this normal neon tetra behavior? This happens from time to time, with some species. They are freaking out vecause of the sudden change in light. Either that or they are complete wimps, and you should buy them a night light. -- "...and before too long I might, see those flashing red lights" richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {ihnp4!scgvaxd!cadovax, philabs!cadovax, codas!ddsw1} gryphon!richard
kent@xanth.cs.odu.edu (Kent Paul Dolan) (01/28/88)
In article <2270@gryphon.CTS.COM> richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: >In article <21756@yale-celray.yale.UUCP> Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram) writes: >> >>I have a school of five neon tetras which seem to be doing great except for >>one little thing. When the aquarium light goes out (assuming there isn't >>too much light in the room outside), the tetras are ok for about 15 seconds, >>then school breaks up and they scatter and dash madly all over the place, >>faster than I've ever seen them move. This continues for about half a >>minute, then they stop wherever they might happen to be (anywhere from down >>at the bottom to right up at the top an inch from a curious angelfish's >>nose). >> >>It looks like it takes them about two or three minutes to become oriented to >>the sudden darkness. None of my other fish do this. I don't know if it's >>something to worry about, but it sure is weird. >> >>Any explanations? Is this normal neon tetra behavior? > >This happens from time to time, with some species. They are >freaking out vecause of the sudden change in light. > >Either that or they are complete wimps, and you should buy them >a night light. Richard! For shame! Think about the situation. These are schooling fish. In the wild, at night, light dies down imperceptibly slowly. Here, when the light goes out, the instinctive reaction would be that something has come between the school and the surface. OK, no biggie. But, when the light stays gone, then that something has to be on a course either toward or away from the school (or sitting still, but it just moved to block the light, so...), making it a 50:50 chance the school is under attack, and time for evasive maneuvers. Like every film or video you've ever seen of schooled fish under attack, the school explodes in random directions, hoping to confuse the aggressor. Now, it is evry fish for itself, so they dart to some preprogrammed safe distance, (possibly limited by the tank size) and freeze to avoid detection. After a while, the individual fish not having been eaten, its flight reflex dampens out, and it goes on about its business, perhaps adjusted now to the new light levels. The big question is, why haven't you seen other schooling fish do the same thing? Kent, the man from xanth.