Jo3l Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 hi, i am taking 2 6-7 inch rbp's from a friend and i was wondering if there were any specifications i should worry about in terms of water perameters and if they are sesitive to different substraits or not. I have a 50 gallon tank that i plan on filling with a sand/small gravel mix, and also i am using only drift wood, no plants for now. Will this suit the 2 well?? also how do i got about softening the water in my tank without using commercial aquarium softener? can i use just regular water softener for like around the house?? i read someware on this forum that you can use peat moss in your filter to bring the gh down a bit, is this true? appreciate all relpies and will be posting pic's next monday when they are settled in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo3l Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 c'mon some one has to have some experiance with them!?!?!? :kiss: :well: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 they dont need anything special to be honest. just like normal fish. if its a pair put in a flat rock n turn up the heat and theyll breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrid Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 50gallon is a good starter size but you will need bigger... rb's are best kept in a group, otherwise they tend to be shy and timid. I exclusively fed them chicken hearts and shrimp. (both are super cheap) Dont waste your money on feeders... you will need loads of excessive filtration to fight there messy habits. use some form of plastic plants and float them on the surface of the water or try using fake floating lilly pads to give shad and cover... this will help them from being so SKID-ISH good luck.. I hope this helps a bit Hybrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 They'll do well on live foods or pellets if you can convince them it's food. They tend to be shy critters if the lights are bright, but hopefully they'll become accustomed to you and be out more. You may find they cower and hide in back corners and behind things. PH shouldn't be a problem , you may cause more trouble by trying to adjust it. IMO , leave it, just use the Prime to treat the tap water. Remember to vacuum the gravel when you do your weekly water changes, they are messy eaters and enough bits and crud are left behind. In my aunt's tank, she includes the "food" (small fishes) right in with the RBPs. They'll eat when they're hungry. She's bought a bunch of plain guppies and they keep reproducing and hence a constant supply renews itself. Others have given her hybrid cichlid youngsters, they're in there too. Most important , cycle your tank first if you haven't already , they don't do well during ammonia or nitrite spikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 also how do i got about softening the water in my tank without using commercial aquarium softener? can i use just regular water softener for like around the house?? Household water softeners remove the calcium and magnesium ions and replace them with sodium- not the healthiest thing. The best way is to mix your tap water with reverse osmosis or distilled water. You can pick it up at the grocery store if you're using small amounts, but buying an RO unit is much more cost effective if you're going through a lot. With that said, most fish do perfectly well in regular tap water and you don't need to mess with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo3l Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 okay sounds good. one more thing, is there any way to tell the sex of a piranha other than males being wider and shorter (i think). ie markings etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williewonka Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 The only way to tell whether you have a male and a female is if they actually breed for you. You should be okay with your sand/gravel mix as they build a nest in the gravel to lay their eggs(I've never heard of them using any sort of rock for breeding). A 50 gal is pushing it as far as size for 2 fish of that size but if you give them lots of cover and different areas to claim you might be alright for a while. I feed mine mostly NLS jumbo fish formula with only the odd bit of meat as a treat. Unless you come have really bad tap water, they will do fine with it only being treated with Prime. I don't bother with heaters... it gets hot enough in the summer for them to breed and they do fine in the winter without one. If you have aggression problems you will want to lower the temp to combat it. They do seem to prefer low light conditions so I rarely bother with lights either. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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