True piraiba aka Brachyplatystoma filamentosum

[thebiggerthebetter]

P paroon shark I am grateful for the info, thank you. I hope to keep in touch as our piraibas continue to grow. My big issue is whether our 5 young piraiba are indeed from Brazil (as alleged by seller) or maybe the impostors from Peru. I don't want the Peru because the Peru piraiba is a small one, doesn't break 3ft in captivity ever. I need to replace our 5ft and growing piraiba we lost a year ago.

 

[Texasrockwell]

Growth on my 2 has seemed to slow down. Both of mine are around 8" now. I had intended to grown them out to 12" before I moved them into a community tank, but unfortunately they are so skittish, that they have been running into the glass and one of them is starting to show signs of its snout curving downward.
I was hoping that a true fil. would not be as skittish as some of the other brac. species. Hopefully they will grow out of being scared of everything that moves.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Similar here. They eat 1/4 of what they ate at the beginning. Yes, ours are skittish too. Not as skittish as capapretum or rousseauxii though. IDK now skittish or non-skittish are the big-growing (Suriname, Brazil, Guyana) piraiba because we got our Suriname one at 1.5ft already and he was far calmer than capapretum.

So far I'd say the growth and behavior of our 5 youngsters resembles that of our 2 Peru piraibas. Boy, do I hope to be wrong!!! $1000 purchase plus 2-3 years of feeding and care ... only to realize these are Peru would be such a waste of our money and time.

 

[surfermike915]

My two have seemingly stopped growing too at around 8”. I have the smaller one in a 75 with a few growouts because he can’t handle the bright light. My old Fila would have bursts of energy but never like these. I also had him started out when he was 10” plus.

 

[Texasrockwell]

My two have seemingly stopped growing too at around 8”. I have the smaller one in a 75 with a few growouts because he can’t handle the bright light. My old Fila would have bursts of energy but never like these. I also had him started out when he was 10” plus.

I have mine in almost complete darkness all of the time now, hopefully keeping them calm until I can get a divider up in my pond. Hopefully the large amount of space will make them more relaxed and maybe feel more like the wild.

 

[surfermike915]

Anytime i drop food into the big Piraiba, he swims and bolts away. Another sketchy sign is the difference in shading of the body. One is very white in appearence. Almost pale. The other is a dark blue. I assume this guy to be a true Fila. They seemed to just stop growing though....

 

[Texasrockwell]

I got both of mine at the same time, so I would assume the fish are the same, but one is very light in color and the other is dark. I am unsure of what causes the color difference. The lighter fish is the one that is damaged nose, so maybe stress is causing the pale color.

 

[Texasrockwell]

Well I got both of mine moved into my pond. It definitely helps them having more space, but they are still startled by everything. I have also noticed that the their spots are getting larger, I am not sure if this is from the new environment or what causes this.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you guys for the info exchange.

I placed a ruler to our 5 youngsters, they are 9"-10" tip-to-tip. Some lighter, some darker, just like you are describing yours and just like our two Peru were - see 1st page for several photos when younger - the lighter colored one was simply submissive, the dark one was the assertive of the two.

Ours are not startled so greatly as Texasroskwell's but I'd say in general are on a skittish side. Our lights are not bright when on. They do seem to be more relaxed in dimmer light.

Not always but sometimes they don't like food to be thrown at them or the lid knocking when getting open, so they dart.

Also noted some spots getting larger than others (or all, smaller and larger, getting larger?). I don't think it means anything probably.

 

[Texasrockwell]

Thank you guys for the info exchange.

I placed a ruler to our 5 youngsters, they are 9"-10" tip-to-tip. Some lighter, some darker, just like you are describing yours and just like our two Peru were - see 1st page for several photos when younger - the lighter colored one was simply submissive, the dark one was the assertive of the two.

Ours are not startled so greatly as Texasroskwell's but I'd say in general are on a skittish side. Our lights are not bright when on. They do seem to be more relaxed in dimmer light.

Not always but sometimes they don't like food to be thrown at them or the lid knocking when getting open, so they dart.

Also noted some spots getting larger than others (or all, smaller and larger, getting larger?). I don't think it means anything probably.

The variation in color makes sense and being a dominance factor. The darker fish doesn't seem to get as startled as the lighter one, but the lighter fish east more and is larger.
As for the spots I don't recall any of my other species of piraiba having the spots changing size, I know they eventually disappear.

Moving them to my pond means that they will have sunlight during the day, and I am thinking that might actually he in the long run with being scared of everything. The bad part about constant dark is that they get nervous with any light exposure.