3 RBP's in a 35G Tank

[Christos]

Hello Again,

Sorry to keep on repeating myself, but I got a lot of questions so I hope y'all don't mind. Wednesday I got two 4" RBP's, well they are not getting along we I had hoped so I decided to order 1 more. So on friday I will have 3 of these little guys but all I have set up right now is a 35G tank that has the two in it right now.

Should I?

Put the third in there with them, or split them all up until I can get the 55G tank set up which could tank a week. I already have it, we just need to set it up.


Thanks again,

- Christos

 

[LBathory]

If you have the spare room, split them till you get the 55. Remember though, that unless you have bacteria grow, or something to cycle your tank, you are going to need to wait longer than a week to add the three of them. how are you planning on splitting them?

 

[Christos]

For splitting them I was going to put a divider in between the 35G and split it in half and then see if I can set up a small tank for the 3rd one coming in on Friday. Then work on setting up the 55G tank.

What do you mean by bacteria grow or cycle the tank? I was planning on maybe transferring the water from the 35G into the 55G tank, that would bring all the stuff with them into the new tank correct?

- Christos

 

[andres]

The bacteria you want is going to be on the substrate (Gravel, sand, ect) and your filter. It is in the water, but just putting the water in there will not work. If you are setting the tank up new, with a new filter, substrate, ect you are going to need to let the tank cycle to properly so the bacteria can grow. The bacteria or "bio filtration" will eat the waste (ammonia) your fish produce. Without it, your tank can become unstable.


Now piranhas are pretty hardy.. I'm not suggesting this, but before I knew anything about fish I put my P's into an uncycled 55g. They were fine.

If you are pressed for time, try to reuse the substrate, decorations, and the filter. (you are probably going to need to add another filter if the tanks getting bigger though).

Put 3-4 goldfish in the tank for a week to help it cycle.

 

[Christos]

Yeah, the teacher that is helping us with all of this stuff is a fish geek too so he is helping us. We are doing it tonight and will be moving the water and the gravel to the new tank.

- Christos

 

[andres]

What kinda filter do you have on it? You can order an AC110 from Dr. Fosters & Smith for $33.99. Its $100 in stores, and is rated for 100g. If you put that bad boy on there your filtration would be awesome.

 

[LBathory]

You sound like you have the right idea. As far as cycling goes, it's always helpful to take a small sample of your water to you local fish store so they can test it and tell you if it's safe to add fish, but back when I was a noob I put a piranha in an uncycled tank and in about 8 months it went from the size of a quarter to about 7". They are hearty fish so im sure it will be fine, best of luck! let us know if you have anymore questions.

 

[Christos]

Thank you, we set up the 55G tank, and everything went well, the fish seem to be doing nice. We got one more coming Tuesday, so hopefully that will be good. I got a Pacu in there now, i'm trying to keep the 2 RBP's from hating each other because I want them to school with each other but that seems to not be going good, any ideas?

 

[Dulcet]

glad to hear it all went well!! piranhas are pretty tough little buggers!! enjoy

as for ur little dilema.. def get another P.. i usually have odd numbers always. never had a good outcome with pairs

 

[LBathory]

Thank you, we set up the 55G tank, and everything went well, the fish seem to be doing nice. We got one more coming Tuesday, so hopefully that will be good. I got a Pacu in there now, i'm trying to keep the 2 RBP's from hating each other because I want them to school with each other but that seems to not be going good, any ideas?

I would suggest seperating them if at all possible. Use egg crate, it's cheap and gets the job done. Once you get them in the 55 gallon, that might ease their aggression, also the third one will more than likely solve the problem. Now, did you put the pacu in with them..? or do you just have one in a diff tank?