New elong

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xkon

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 26, 2014
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NJ
So I checked my tank and the cycle was good. I bought a 3" elong and added it to the tank. When I put him in he went right under the piece of wood. after about ten minutes or so he was swimming around. I had two zebra danios and a few feeder guppies in the tank from before. I turned the lights off and left him alone for about an hour. When I came back a few guppies and one danio was missing. The other danio has his tail fin missing a piece and I saw the elong go after it a few times. He was already playing with his reflection a bit. I was expecting him to just hide for awhile based on what I have read but it looks like he will be more outgoing which is awesome. I also put some blue cellophane along with wrapping the light with electrical tape to dim the lights some (not shown in picture) and it looks pretty good.

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I had an elong for about a year or so. It wasn't as outgoing as OPs. Just stood there, waiting for food. OP lucked out with an elong that has such a great personality.
It's honestly a hit or miss.
 
I feel like all serra are hit or miss personality. Lucky you got one who isnt terrified constantly. Could be quite impressive when he gets some size on him. Only thing id mention is lights get quite hot not sure what you mean by wrapping the light but hearing that makes me nervous. Floating plants like amazon frogsbit are a great way to reduce light and bioload and make fish feel more at home
 
One other point I forgot to make is more times than not with most young serrasalmus fish that I've purchased, for the first few days they tend to be outgoing showing a lot of activity in their new home. After a short time though the opposite happens and they become shy.
This isn't something that is rare either. I've spoken to quite a few keepers that have had the same experience.
My theory is that it takes these young fish a few days to acclimate to their new surroundings and once that happens, they find the spot in the tank that they feel they will be most successful ambushing prey. It matters not if there are dither fish in the tank or not in terms of bringing them out more. My belief though is that smaller dither fish are actually counter productive bringing out them out. The nature of these small serra's is to keep hidden until an easy meal swims by and that's what they will do.
Not saying that this will definitely be your situation, I've seen more than a few that once added to the tank, they went into the open and always stayed there. But don't be surprised is all I'm saying.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I hope the little guy stays outgoing but it will not be unexpected if he goes into a hiding period for a little while but as of now he seems pretty good.

For the lights, I wrapped the actual light like a candy cane with electrical tape. I saw a lot of people online have done it with no issues. On the bottom of the ballast, not touching the light, I put blue cellophane to dim it some more. The cellophane did not shrink or warp at all so I think it will be okay but I will keep an eye on it.

One other question I have, what do you guys feed your piranha. I want to ween him off feeder fish onto something else, only giving him a live fish occasionally as a treat. I am thinking tiliapia chunks. Should I thaw it out before I offer it to him or is frozen okay? I have heard some people do pellets as well? What brand/kind do you guys use?
 
frozen tilapia, frozen uncooked shrimp (try to leave the shell on). Cut them up into smaller pieces so it's not too intimidating for a small fish.
Look into a sheet of Hikari frozen krill also.

There was a period where I was feeding everything I could trying to keep that diet varied, even had a little bit of venison mixed in there. Piranha can become extremely picky about what they'll eat, so once he becomes accustomed to say tilapia (which could take a few weeks) switch it up to shrimp. Don't really need more than 3 different foods in his diet especially if you're soaking the foods before feeding in a food additive like ZOE.
 
It's a very cool toothy critter. I think I might get one . I have an open 80 gallon breeder tank right now. I have been trying to figure out what to house in it. Thought about S.elongatus off and on for quite some time,as that is one species I've never had the pleasure of keeping. I noticed that Aquascape has some in at the moment. Is that where you acquired yours? I keep thinking I'd like to get a little one (3-3.5") like they have listed and grow it out. Anyone have any thoughts on getting a small size verses larger(5-8") one?Pros and cons???
 
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