possible shoal of 4 Rhom???
- Thread starter RonTheRHOM
- Start date
Ja-eh;1524851; said:
thats exactly my point!
6 of 10 were killed. since i took Ron, they have been in that 1.5ft tank since November and are seriously under fed. its clear to see aswell coz ron is now more or less 4" and those 3 are still 1.5"-2". they seem to be behaving like the red bellies in the other tank, just nipping fins. surely if they were gonna kill each other they would have by now, the other 6 didnt even make the trip over here.
so basicly what im saying is... red bellies shoal together, what if these 3 have adopted the same idea, instinct etc... whatever u wanna call it.
coz like i said in my first post, i only considered this coz i read that in the wild they are 'sometimes' seen in 'small' shoals. so what makes these rhoms in the wild so different from the others, what makes them want to shoal?
you misinterpreted what ja'eh said, he meant that you're reading into this situation too much... fish aren't like us in the learning department, they are more of a reactionary creature that lives by instinct. if you think that you have found the first set of rhoms that are going to live peacefully in a smaller home aquarium for the rest of their lives, you're mistaken. if you somehow believe that these fish have adapted within 4 months to completely go against their natural instincts, then by all means, go ahead and try it. even natts and other pygos don't school with each other in the traditional sense, they don't have bonds with each other like neon tetras, they tolerate each other. when other fish school together, they are constantly watching out for outside dangers whereas a shoal of piranhas is constantly on the lookout for aggression and danger from their shoal mates.
lol. i didnt misinterpret what he said. they live off instinct, im not saying they are together in the tank kissing each other coz they love each other. they are nipping each other just like red bellies do, but my point is they arnt killing each other, but they could if they wanted to.
"even natts and other pygos don't school with each other in the traditional sense, they don't have bonds with each other like neon tetras, they tolerate each other."
^^^ u just said it urself tolerate each other, and thats what i think they are doing. and the biggest factor here is that they are tolerating each other, when they are in a small tank and being fed about once a week.
obviously if they were older fish and putting them together for the first time it wouldnt work at all
"even natts and other pygos don't school with each other in the traditional sense, they don't have bonds with each other like neon tetras, they tolerate each other."
^^^ u just said it urself tolerate each other, and thats what i think they are doing. and the biggest factor here is that they are tolerating each other, when they are in a small tank and being fed about once a week.
obviously if they were older fish and putting them together for the first time it wouldnt work at all
pygos can tolerate each other, serras will not. if you're so intent on doing this and not listening to what has been said over and over again for years and years about the absolute solitary nature of rhoms in home aquaria, go ahead and get the fish and see for yourself firsthand why this absolutely will not work.
i probly wont be doing this anyway coz ron is more important, and even if this 'shoal' of 3 did work its not going to except ron now anyway, so either he kills them or they kill him.
im just wanting opinions on what im seeing, and trying to explain the situation that these fish are in properly, so u have a good idea of what is going on.
i will leave them in the lfs for a few more months and providing no1 buys them i will see how they are doing then. at the moment they are behaving no differently to each other than the shoal of reds in the tank next to them.
btw.. nice dog
im just wanting opinions on what im seeing, and trying to explain the situation that these fish are in properly, so u have a good idea of what is going on.
i will leave them in the lfs for a few more months and providing no1 buys them i will see how they are doing then. at the moment they are behaving no differently to each other than the shoal of reds in the tank next to them.
btw.. nice dog
the situation at your lfs isn't a unique one, it happens all the time at the lfs... when piranhas are small, especially the size of the ones you're talking about, they are primarily fin nippers and scale eaters, as they get larger tho, their appetite will grow and they will want to eat whole fish. aggression also will increase dramatically with age, so either of those two factors will cause disaster. i've seen small rhoms together in small tanks tanks many many times and it almost always works for a while, sometimes even for months, but in the end, they always turn and must be separated or they will start killing each other.
Now that you have had yours in a tank for a while I dont think he will be happy with the other coming in to his area. You said he was the dominant one. He will be much more dominant in your tank now that he has been alone for a while. He will kill all of the others. It may work for a while but not too good of an idea.
