Hi Joseph.
What a lovely set up you have. If only we had the summer heat (scotland)to be able to have fancies outdoors then i would do this myself.
Ok, back to fishie.
As you havent had him long then yes he may well be settling in and is a bit anxious about being on his own, it could take several weeks for him to settle or not even until he has grown somewhat and feels less vulnerable.. I would say get another fantail from the same tank if you can and he may feel more secure with another fish. If you do go down that route get a fish that seems more in your face when you choose one and maybe it will be more bold in the barrel. Also with it being in the barrel all the fish can see is whats above and will make him more skitish to anything moving, again this should go in time.
The filter will need to go through a cycle and you really do need those test kits. Try to just get ammonia if you cant afford the others just now. If and when you do get any ammonia, try and keep it well under one if you can and then buy a nitrite kit as well.
Plants dont use any ammonia or nitrite and only use nitrate to feed on.
just as a side note, the filter needs to be able to turn over 10x the capacity as they are incredibly messy fish.
I think thats everything as i cant see the post once i'm typing. Good luck with him and just be a bit more patient, he will come round.

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