My fish are always hiding behind a rock. What do i need to do make them come out without scaring them. What will i need to do or add to my aquarium to keep my fish happy while people who come can also see the fish. Thanks!

What kind of fish do you have and how long have they been in the tank? Sometimes when they are new, they just need some time to get used to their new surroundings....

look at his signiture, it shows what fish are in there, its the 15 gallon,
he's my friend and i've been wondering the same thing

Is it in a high traffic area?

no its in his room , just him and the fish

sorry i'm repling for him but he's right beside me

Do they all hide or is it just a few, could your shark be chasing?

my shark doesn't chase most of them hid

Basically I would say the tank is a little overstocked. You should check your water quality. You have 16 fish for 15 gal. and they will get bigger for the most of them.

With that many fish you need to keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels and do water changes at least weekly.

Your fish are under alot of stress and also might be getting poisoned due to the tank being undersized, and also haveing goldfish and oscars in it, for all those fish to be happy and live you need a tank of at least 125g+. Oscars are a Territoral Fish and for one oscar a 55g is a min for them as they get to 12"+. Oscars claim 55g's of water to them selfs once they hit 8" and then after that they wont let any fish in that tank no matter what, you your self will have trouble putting your hand in that tank without it attacking you, at the moment my right hand is all cut from mine attacking me.
Goldfish are ment for ponds really, they get massive and the rule is one goldfish per 10g of water.
Goldfish and Oscars waste ALOT and need huge filters, so your tank might be filled with Ammonia and this will cause stress on the fish and kill them.

You should read this topic of mine, it will help you understand tank sizes a bit better. Hope it helps :)

http://tropicalfishchat.net/index.php?showtopic=5

Vip you are right on with this info. but he is talking about his 15 gal. which is overstocked also

:banghead:

Don't beat yourself silly on this one. I wanted to comment on it also, but decided to just answer on this one. He has several threads here already and been trying to give him advice in each one, just hope it helps.

what was to happen if i added some plants to the tank?

I also posted under your other thread Fishy_guy, IMO VIP is still spot on. See if you can get a 125g, move you 40G residents into it, then move your 15g's residents into the 40g without adding anymore fish. Give them time to settle & you should be cooking with gas! They'll be a lot happier & alot more active as a result. HTH's mate! :)

icic thanks

u have a stereo in ur room? u have friends over? do u enter the room in a hurry/rush? these are all things that make fish skitz out...maybe dull ur lighting a bit...that will help!