Adding Quarter sized Red Bellies to a already established Red Belly Shoal

Richard8oh8

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2016
47
14
13
30
Honolulu, Hawaii
Could you give me some suggestions of fish fillets. I am currently working out of Shanghai China, and i don't know really what to get.. I'm Chinese but i can't speak or read the language atm . It's a gamble at times when it comes to choosing things . Also what are some good pellets to give them? they don't seem to like some of the ones i give them.
Please disregard my Previous reply! It was stupid.
Thank you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Deadliestviper7

tomojsg

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2011
2,536
752
150
大韓民國 (서울) Korea
that tank is too small for a shoal of 10 rbps...
i never seen so inactive p's before lol... when
i had my shoal that were always active shoaling
together around the tank...
 

Richard8oh8

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2016
47
14
13
30
Honolulu, Hawaii
that tank is too small for a shoal of 10 rbps...
i never seen so inactive p's before lol... when
i had my shoal that were always active shoaling
together around the tank...

Okay. I'm definitely going to leave it as is. My P's are very timid during the day. Im thinking of using some amazon black water to recreate their natural habitat a little more. My light may also be bit bright for them as well. During the night around 7:00pm-8:00pm is when they are most active and shoaling around the tank. Do you have any tips on how to make them less timid an more active during the day?
 

B. Hizzle

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Oct 1, 2016
102
138
51
2up 2down
Please disregard my Previous reply! It was stupid.
Thank you.
Nah man, not stupid at all. I like the tank, you got a nice set up. But personally I would not try to add any more, your tank is tall vs long, and I don't think an extra 4 reds will have the space needed. They will kill each other if they don't have their elbow room.

As far as food, man pretty much anything in the frozen fish section. But try to stick with fish with white flesh, you can do salmon, tuna or red/darker fish but just every once in a while because it will foul your water really fast. Mine like mussels too, so you can try that. There are vids out there with people feeding mice to their p's but that's dumb imo, mice are not a part of a fish's natural diet. But I have fed very thin sliced red meat a couple of times but certainly not regularly basis. They go nuts, I think because it has such a strong bloody scent compared to a cut up fish fillet. Also you can soak the food in vita chem and/or stuff some pellets in the flesh before tossing in the tank for added nutrients.

If you do add black water, they'll like it, that and keep the lights dim. They're still young, just give them some time to mature and you'll be straight.

You can always add a school of neons to the tank if you want more action.
 

Richard8oh8

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2016
47
14
13
30
Honolulu, Hawaii
Nah man, not stupid at all. I like the tank, you got a nice set up. But personally I would not try to add any more, your tank is tall vs long, and I don't think an extra 4 reds will have the space needed. They will kill each other if they don't have their elbow room.

As far as food, man pretty much anything in the frozen fish section. But try to stick with fish with white flesh, you can do salmon, tuna or red/darker fish but just every once in a while because it will foul your water really fast. Mine like mussels too, so you can try that. There are vids out there with people feeding mice to their p's but that's dumb imo, mice are not a part of a fish's natural diet. But I have fed very thin sliced red meat a couple of times but certainly not regularly basis. They go nuts, I think because it has such a strong bloody scent compared to a cut up fish fillet. Also you can soak the food in vita chem and/or stuff some pellets in the flesh before tossing in the tank for added nutrients.

If you do add black water, they'll like it, that and keep the lights dim. They're still young, just give them some time to mature and you'll be straight.

You can always add a school of neons to the tank if you want more action.


Sounds good man! I am going to try a random white filet first, then do a salmon and or red Ahi as a special treat. Their like baby sharks haha.. I will definitely look into the mussels as well. Lol i have seen plenty of the mice videos on youtube.. pretty savage tho. I might try it just once for fun :p. I have gone through about 30 Tiger Barbs and 15-20 Neon Tetras and they end up being little snacks for my p's. Once the lights shut off on my timer the hunt begins haha.. its super trippy to watch their behavior change so quickly. My P's don't respond to pellets. is there a way for me to make them like it ? Also if you don't mind telling me some pellet recommendations ,that would be awesome brutha!!!
 

tomojsg

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2011
2,536
752
150
大韓民國 (서울) Korea
i had 18 in a 8x3x2 that was heavily planted with large drift woods,
with lights on timers & rotations. didn't do anything special... i wanted
a nice heavily planted tank and some predators for it so went with p's.
b/c of the large weekly wc i used ferts and tabs for plants. didnt use
black water treatment, like my tanks to be crystal clear and pristine/
pristine looking.

shoal
18x 4.5-6" (was this size when i sold em)

tank & stand
8x3x2 glass sitting on powder coated steel stand.

filtration
5x2x2 sump (bio only), 4 canisters (mech only) & in-line uv.
75% wc every sunday. fed twice daily since from day 1 at 1"

light cycle
12am-5am soft blue actinic lights on till 5 then shuts off.
5am-8am lights dimmed down to 30% on.
8am-7pm lights were on at 100%. (fed in between)
7pm-10pm lights were on at 55-60%.
10pm-12am lights were on at 30%. (fed in between)
X repeat.
 

tomojsg

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2011
2,536
752
150
大韓民國 (서울) Korea
Check it out.

as i said before tank is too small you want length and width for p's
to swim and shoal back and forth and around and what not. my shoal
kinda swam in a messed up figure 8 motion with zigzags. also with
p's if you want to add to the shoal it has to be the same size or very
similar in size give or take a .5-1". ive experienced most smaller fish
even of the same species will get killed or eaten when newly introduced.
so if u want to add to the shoal i suggest u get a specimen thats the
same size or at least a in bigger.
 

Richard8oh8

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2016
47
14
13
30
Honolulu, Hawaii
as i said before tank is too small you want length and width for p's
to swim and shoal back and forth and around and what not. my shoal
kinda swam in a messed up figure 8 motion with zigzags. also with
p's if you want to add to the shoal it has to be the same size or very
similar in size give or take a .5-1". ive experienced most smaller fish
even of the same species will get killed or eaten when newly introduced.
so if u want to add to the shoal i suggest u get a specimen thats the
same size or at least a in bigger.

Great information! I love it man. Thanks allot! after gaining some knowledge decided to not add to the shoal and leave it as is. Unfortunately i am unable to switch out tanks so i gotta make do with what i have! Should i remove the Malaysian wood from the tank to create more space?
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store