My first piranha: Can somebody help identify him?

[cepon3]

thanks. I like him too. I just hope I don't have a carnivorous agressive 16" fish on my hands in a couple months!

this looks just like my dude except maybe in a little bit better shape. I added some aquarium salt and it seems to be helping the fins. He's awful shy though. Is there anyway to make them more more extroverted? He hides behind the plants all day. I'm thinking about adding a couple more fake mangrove roots (have one now, he likes it) and take most of the fake plants out. Just rocks, driftwood, fake mangroves, and I'm gonna get some floating plants. I also thought about adding blackwater extract. Thoughts?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxFuqHgcQ2M

Even if it were a rhom i wouldnt expect it to get more then 9" if you got it around 5.. Almost all of the larger rthoms in captivity are caught at the gargantuan size.. If you just got this guy then i would wait it out.. although my brandtii is a killing machine he took awhile to come out of his shell... i would also reccomend getting him off live food if possible.. my brandtii eats FD Krill and when he sees me he come to the glass.. he is a very interactive fish and only became that way after he leanred to eat when i wanted him too.. before that he only ate at night and he only ate very little untill one day i threw a pellet in there and i heard a splash.. ever since then thats what my boy has been eating.. i reccomend some type of hide, whether it be a pot or wood or something of that sort in order for him to feel more secure.. eventually he will not need it.. TIME is key tho, dont forget that. if you can out wait him thats where the real joy in piranha keeping is...

 

[Tango374]

I gotta agree with that.
Buying a young, shy serra and putting in your time with him until it grows confident is an extremely rewarding part of this hobby and makes your fish a pet instead of a decoration.
That time can range from weeks to months to years....its what seperates the men from the boys.

 

[cepon3]

I gotta agree with that.
Buying a young, shy serra and putting in your time with him until it grows confident is an extremely rewarding part of this hobby and makes your fish a pet instead of a decoration.
That time can range from weeks to months to years....its what seperates the men from the boys.

theres no better way to put it really.. the waiting game can be excruciating.. but i think that there is something a little more special with a piranha glass banging then say a red devil or other large cichlid

 

[frontosablkrhom]

ive had my 6 inch rhom big pokey since june and its a rare ocassion he comes out, ( sometimes when i have people over ill catch him sneaking a peek) its been 5 months but i really love rhoms and frontosa so i really dont care how long it takes for (big pokey) to come out of his shell. hes a creepy fish the way he stares and hides its cool

 

[Diogenes]

Even if it were a rhom i wouldnt expect it to get more then 9" if you got it around 5.. Almost all of the larger rthoms in captivity are caught at the gargantuan size.. If you just got this guy then i would wait it out.. although my brandtii is a killing machine he took awhile to come out of his shell... i would also reccomend getting him off live food if possible.. my brandtii eats FD Krill and when he sees me he come to the glass.. he is a very interactive fish and only became that way after he leanred to eat when i wanted him too.. before that he only ate at night and he only ate very little untill one day i threw a pellet in there and i heard a splash.. ever since then thats what my boy has been eating.. i reccomend some type of hide, whether it be a pot or wood or something of that sort in order for him to feel more secure.. eventually he will not need it.. TIME is key tho, dont forget that. if you can out wait him thats where the real joy in piranha keeping is...

yeah there are a few fish leftover from the previous incarnation if the tank. i couldn't catch them and get them out. He's been subsisting off of those and he only kills them at night. The rest of the time he hides. He comes out rarely.

This tank has a mirror back. Is that going to be a problem? Should I put a background over it? He seems to spend a good bit of time looking at his reflection.