Question about my tank..

jp80911

Dovii
MFK Member
Mar 7, 2008
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iloveyouDIE;3844149; said:
Oh well then this one is definitely a girl. We noticed her getting some darker spots and black on her face!

Thanks guys, for the info.
when rbps are ready to breed both male and female will get dark, not just female. when it comes to caribes, they could be completely black. the thickness may caused by other factors such as food intake amount and genetic, etc. in general if you have a breeding pair that the female will be thicker than male but in a shoal the thicker fish doesn't automatically make it a female.
the only ways to be certain that the female is indeed a female is either watch it lay eggs or cut it open to see if it has female organs.

to give you an idea how dark they get during breeding
 

iloveyouDIE

Feeder Fish
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Jan 29, 2010
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Thanks for the info.

I tried taking pics of the fish but it's not keen on being photographed. Since the fish isn't gonna tell me if its a boy or a girl, I think I'll call her a she anyway. She's a little more shy than the other two and has more curves! Might as well be a lady!
 

jp80911

Dovii
MFK Member
Mar 7, 2008
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whatever floats your boat :)

I call my big guy (could be a big girl) Ares but I'll never know unless maybe he(???) lay eggs then I'll change the name :)
 

408smokin

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2008
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Zander_The_RBP;3837411; said:
to successfully add a new piranha to the shoal you may want to move some decoration around (to break up established territories) do a water change, and feed the fish about an hour before adding the new p (feeding them an hour before will make sure they are full yet still not in "feeding mode")


good luck with your p's


what size is the tank btw ?
totally agree!!
 

iloveyouDIE

Feeder Fish
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Jan 29, 2010
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Would there be a problem to mix species of piranha? We still haven't gotten any additions to the tank but I was wondering if adding another species with a similar disposition would be okay? I know people do have mixed species tanks.

Also any compatible species would be helpful. I've been going through ALOT of info online and feeling slightly overwhelmed. I just want to branch out a bit.
 

jp80911

Dovii
MFK Member
Mar 7, 2008
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you can mix any pygocentrus with your rbp (aka pygocentrus nattereri).
piraya and caribes are the other two species of pygocentrus that you can add to the tank. you can also try an other variant of pygocentrus nattereri, we call it ternetzi in the hobby. it gets bigger than rbp and has a yellow belly instead of red.
look up the piranha information in the sticky to get a basic idea on them.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50148
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50151
with your tank size I wouldn't recommend piraya unless you are willing to upgrade down the road. all the pygos mentioned will get bigger than your rbp so keep that in mind when you select the amount of fish to add if you don't plan to upgrade in the future. general advised rule of thumb is you need about 20 gallon of water per pygo when you doing a shoal.
 

iloveyouDIE

Feeder Fish
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Jan 29, 2010
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As any MFKer.. I am always willing to upgrade! Haha

But thank you so much for the info. You've been a huge help jp!
 
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