OK.. I have had my 9 inch Brandtii for about 3 or 4 months now, which i had acquired from fellow mfker, FishKing. This was the eighth or ninth fish I have bought or received from him. All which have been in great condition. He had told me that his Brandtii was too aggressive and he didnt have the proper tank to house him so he was looking to sell him. I picked him up and put him into an empty 75 gallon, where he cowered in the corner for a couple of days. Believing that his tank was to bare for him to feel comfortable I then moved him into my 75 gallon planted tank where he decimated my shoal of red-eye tetras. He then stayed hidden in the planted tank under a piece of wood for about 3 months only eating when the lights are off. I finally had enough of him hiding all the time so I re-did the planted tank and added new wood and more plants.. after two days of the new tank the wood made the water a dark tea color.. I added 100 watts of more lighting to his tank to ensure proper plant growth through the brown water.. Since then the Brandtii doesn't stop swimming around and became a finger chaser.. but to me this doesn't make sense, seeing that i added way more light doesn't that mean that he should continue hiding? not that i am complaining or anything i'm just wondering if anyone had similar results with there piranha after remodeling there tank.
Brandtii Tank Remodeling
- Thread starter cepon3
- Start date
i always notice a change in behavior in all of my piranha tanks after a major rescape, sometimes good, sometimes bad. i personally don't think adding a bit of light does much to affect them, they get used to it within a day or so... unless you're going from zero light or very low light up to a very bright fixture, that can be a bit more stressful for them. as far as them being more active after a rescape, i think that anyone can turn a piranha into an active fish if they get their surroundings right so that they become more comfortable. this can go both ways, some fish may be comfortable in an empty tank while others may not be comfortable unless it's densely planted and filled with hiding places, it's just all up to the individual fish.
This guy is the man. I listened to him and did a planted tank and my piranhas are way more active. Before they would stay around the bottom of the tank and hide and now that I made more hiding places with live plants and driftwood they rarely hide. Now they spend their time swiming around all over the tank. They also will take pellets off the top now.JoeDizzleMPLS;1582171; said:
It could be that the waters tint gives the effect9cover) of you not being able to clearly see it so it feels safer. Notice it stayed hiden because in the open it is easy prey for bigger things. The cloudy water is actually giveing it the confidence soon as the water clears it may go back to hiding, if so there are some products that give the appearence of of murky water or you can try tea leaves in small quanities. Many animals like some form of cover to feel safe. Sort of like covering up animals in carriers to keep them from panicing while being transported.
It may well have been the lighting. The increased lighting has now made his surroundings in the tank brighter than outside. I find that fish are much braver when they cant see you. I recently set up a 200 gal tank opposite a tank that has been established for 10 years with the same occupants. Their behaviour has changed considerably. I put it down to the fact that now they can see me between them and the light.