Can I get an ID on this "black piranha" I just bought?

[Joshy]

Drixonite: Good stuff. Get him on shrimp and worms as soon as possible. The longer he stays on just feeder goldfish, the harder it will be to wean him. But if he will only eat live feeder fish at this point, go for something other than goldfish or a carp family fish. They really do more harm than good. Keep us posted and keep at it.

welsher7: As the rhom grows and develops, its 'distribution features' will appear, while finding the collection location is not the most reliable thing to pinpoint its identification. Firstly there can be more than one variety in one set location, and of course there’s the fact the shop keeper could be a nonce and give you false collection information. I recon it is going to be more fun and reliable watching it grow and spotting its features as to what variety it is.

 

[sirasoni]

welsher7: As the rhom grows and develops, its 'distribution features' will appear, while finding the collection location is not the most reliable thing to pinpoint its identification.

I don't know about that...the same fish's appearance will vary depending on the decor/lighting of the tank it's in. If you lined up 20 adult rhoms side by side it'd be damn hard to figure out where a fish was caught from just it's appearance. As far ID'ing goes a rhom is a rhom no more no less...

 

[welsher7]

distribution features.are you kidding me. so you are saying if put a vinny and peruvian rhom side be side you could tell me which is which. A rhom is a rhom. unless you know the collection point you are just guessing. or you are just using words like diamond or highback which just describe the physical features of the individual fish.

 

[Joshy]

By no means would i be able to tell where a rhom came from by its features, but there are some experts that can. Think about it, someone could tell you your rhom came from ‘where ever’, and you recon that would be the end of the matter? Of course rhoms have features parallel to their habitat. That’s why there are so many 'varieties'.

I don’t know to what extent these experts could pinpoint where your rhom came from, but they certainly can give IDs based on habitat features instead of ‘just where the supplier told you it came from’.

 

[African Dick]

A rhom is a rhom to me. They all grow slow as hell but are really cool fish.

 

[hot_boi07]

looks like a gold rhom to me
i had three that looks like that
they got eaten by my massive 11 inch red p

 

[LBathory]

kinda looks almost manueli to me. but it would have been much more $$$$

 

[Diogenes]

Yeah I have him on goldfish feeders right now, he's really just acclimating to the tank right now so not eating very much. I'll soon wean him off and get him on frozen shrimp and such.

Thanks guys.

goldfish feeders aren't going to help the situation. They're full of parasites which make them emaciated, and they secrete hormones that inhibit the metabolization of B vitamins. He won't develop properly or quickly on a diet of cyprinids. Switch to some other meaty live foods. Earthworms, tetras etc.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

By no means would i be able to tell where a rhom came from by its features, but there are some experts that can. Think about it, someone could tell you your rhom came from ‘where ever’, and you recon that would be the end of the matter? Of course rhoms have features parallel to their habitat. That’s why there are so many 'varieties'.

I don’t know to what extent these experts could pinpoint where your rhom came from, but they certainly can give IDs based on habitat features instead of ‘just where the supplier told you it came from’.

that is absolutely wrong... you cannot tell locality by appearance and that's all there is to it. some rhoms from the same area may share certain physical characteristics, but it does not mean that all fish from that area will look the same.

if you talk to any "expert", they will tell you almost exactly what was said earlier -- the only way that you can be 100% certain of where a rhom came from is if you pulled it out of the river yourself, even suppliers can't be 100% sure of the localities, they just go by what they are told.

 

[cepon3]

that is absolutely wrong... you cannot tell locality by appearance and that's all there is to it. some rhoms from the same area may share certain physical characteristics, but it does not mean that all fish from that area will look the same.

if you talk to any "expert", they will tell you almost exactly what was said earlier -- the only way that you can be 100% certain of where a rhom came from is if you pulled it out of the river yourself, even suppliers can't be 100% sure of the localities, they just go by what they are told.

Finally a post from a professional.. i was losing hope in the users that visit the piranha forum..

Listening to people that dont know anything argue is actually quite amusing

To the question at hand:
A rhombeus is a rhombeus, and thats that.. Though some localities tend to produce rhoms that look a certain way, there is no way to pinpoint where the exact fish came from. You have a very nice rhom there and you should be happy with that. I would also reccommend getting him onto some type of food that doesnt include live, and feed him as much as posible as often as he will eat. The novice post earlier about him being a "high back" is just pointing to the area in which you can tell that this fish is underfed and extremely malnourished and the potruding bone will dissappear into his fat stores when he gains a little bit of weight..

And a word of advice..
You may want to listen a little more closely to the people here that have piranhas in there signature, these are the people that tend to have a bit more knowledge when dealing with these fish... theres just only so much you can learn from books..

Happy posting