# "Fleck"



## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

I just sold the last 3 of my cariba today to Nattery, a member on this site. They went to a very good home.

I kept my favorite cariba to keep solitary in my 29 gallon tank. I named him "Fleck", which is German for "Spot". (Thanks for the cool name idea Judazzz!







) He is doing great so far by himself. It is the first time he has ever been alone before, and he is handling it surprisingly well.

By the way, the only reason those 2 already chewed plants are in there is because I am testing to see if he will chew up any plants I put in the tank with him. If he passes the test for about a month or less I will decorate the tank nicely with more plants and scatter a few small rocks around to make it look more natural. I am holding off on the small rocks until then so he can adjust to his new tank. I wasn't sure how he was going to act, and I didn't want him going crazy and injuring himself on the rocks.

Enjoy the pictures, and of course feedback is always appreciated. That is why I am posting these.








~Taylor~


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## SpeCiaLisT (Aug 12, 2005)

How come that 30 gal look so big to me? lol


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Very nice caribe, his pretty bulky


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## Alexx (Jan 20, 2006)

thats a fat caribe, give it a powerhead for exercise , it needs to lose weight :nod:


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

SpeCiaLisT said:


> thats a fat caribe, give it a powerhead for exercise , it needs to lose weight :nod:


Actually he just got done eating before I moved him to that tank so he's a little full.









Thanks for the comments guys.


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## Slim (Jan 9, 2005)

Very nice looking caribe I loved my caribe I had till he died of tuberculosis. Thinking about purchasing another one very soon. Really want a Piraya bad.


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## SpeCiaLisT (Aug 12, 2005)

Fleck looks buff. Been workin out?


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

SpeCiaLisT said:


> Fleck looks buff. Been workin out?


Seems my whole shoal was that way. When I was selling them we put them into their tubs and when you look down on them down below you can see how thick they are. Just another unique trait cariba have--thickness.
~Taylor~


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## PiranhaHockey88 (Jan 9, 2006)

that is definately one plump ass caribe...i;m jealous.







but would also reccommend a powerhead since he doesn't have too much room to do some laps. god knows he needs it


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

PiranhaHockey88 said:


> that is definately one plump ass caribe...i;m jealous.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks.









I also need to get a stronger filter. The one on it currently is just a powerfilter that came with the 29 gallon kit from Wal-Mart.

I plan on going to some local pet stores tomorrow and getting some various foods to make into a gelatin mixture. Click Here to see what I'm talking about. I think he would be a really good candidate for this diet because he is as white as a ghost right now. I'd love to bring out some red in him, and he would be good to test this diet out with (see if it will really make his colors come out any or not) and I could document it. Of course it would be highly nutritious for him as well.
~Taylor~


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## oscared15 (Feb 3, 2006)

great fish


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## Blue (Mar 23, 2005)

Taylor,
I've got some reds (around 5") and they like to clip off leaves of my hygrophila regularly as well as uprooting them when they dash for cover or spar. I've got a big sword too, and the tips are taken off of it as they deem appropriate. They seem to get annoyed with leaves invading their territory.


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## brandtixmn (Jun 4, 2005)

nice cariba taylor.. mine only grew up to 4".. i know we bought them from jon at same time... probably u took care of it really well... good job..


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## blindside (Mar 25, 2005)

nice caribe matey!
and i feel your pain on the bitten plants, my reds and my compressus do it all the time arrggh little buggers!~

ian


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## faebo_tarzan (Jun 5, 2005)

Nice looking Caribe. Any plans on upgrading to a bigger tank?


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## JorgeRemigio (Mar 31, 2005)

Fat nice girl


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Blue said:


> Nice looking Caribe. Any plans on upgrading to a bigger tank?


Thanks. No I don't plan on it. I don't think my parents would let me get away with another large tank in the house. There just isn't enough room right now.

Thanks for all of the comments everybody. It is appreciated.








~Taylor~


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## kove32 (Oct 26, 2004)

Nice taylor! I see your caribe are growing as great as mine were!! Haha, mine are about that size now too as well! I have two of them left now! Still my favorite fish!! Love em to death!!


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

thats one fat fish lol. give it kayne's west new workout video. lol


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Great Cariba you got there, Taylor







I really dig his name









He does look like he could use a diet, though - even if he was just fed, his fat storage in the dorsum area seems a bit excessive to me...


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

that is one well-fed caribe


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## ITsPennywise (May 26, 2005)

I love how some members defend their Piranha's weight like it was their own...







j/k...Yeah Taylor...You need to give that guy a stricter diet...His head looks all swolled up like he has a major headache.


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Wow, I'm surprised at all the fat comments. I guess since I raised him as my own I just saw him as being nice and healthy. I can't imagine why he would be so fat, I've only fed him healthy food and very rarely some raw chicken (only about once every few months). Do ya'll consider him obese or just a little overweight?

I just made a bunch of that gelatin mix (DIY piranha food). It was really easy to make and didn't smell that bad at all. I encourage anybody to make it, although I haven't fed any to him yet so I don't know what it's affects are in the water. Hopefully that will be a nice healthy diet for him, and now that he is alone I can afford to skip feedings. I didn't want to risk it with the shoal.

Maybe I will start a thread called "Operation Color Regeneration" and document him every week or something for a month on this diet. He is as white as a ghost, and it would be easy to see any changes in coloration.
~Taylor~


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

So do you guys reccommend I only feed him every other day that way he can lose a little weight?

The stress from moving him to the new tank has caused him to not eat anything as of yet.........

Thanks again for your input.








~Taylor~


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## C0Rey (Jan 7, 2006)

fleck is one fat f*ck, looks good.!!!
i think some plants will do great in the tank.
good luck


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

C0Rey said:


> fleck is one fat f*ck, looks good.!!!
> i think some plants will do great in the tank.
> good luck


In Fleck's defense I announce that he is not fat, he is pleasingly plump, and happens to be retaining water at the moment.


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## Wussola (Jan 25, 2006)

Chill look'n fish man ... nice.


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## C0Rey (Jan 7, 2006)

taylorhedrich said:


> fleck is one fat f*ck, looks good.!!!
> i think some plants will do great in the tank.
> good luck


In Fleck's defense I announce that he is not fat, he is pleasingly plump, and happens to be retaining water at the moment.








[/quote]

HAHAHA








hes not fat hes big-boned LMAO

great man!


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## Eating Machine (Jan 27, 2006)

I'd change his name from Fleck to, Porky!

He seems to be a big eater.


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## Dr Exum (Nov 6, 2004)

nice fish..... will be spend his whole life in that tank?


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## SpeCiaLisT (Aug 12, 2005)

His head area looks big. Big head = big brain. Fleck must be a smartie. Fleck is just BUFF u guys. lol.


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Dr Exum said:


> nice fish..... will be spend his whole life in that tank?


I'm thinking so. Is it that extremely inhumane? I do water changes weekly with that tank.... I just love this fish so much, I just couldn't sell him with the others.

He is doing great in this tank. Back to his aggressive self. When I feed him he races to the top of the tank as soon as I open the hood. I'm pretty confident I could start handfeeding him again like I used to with the shoal in the big tank.








~Taylor~


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

taylorhedrich said:


> nice fish..... will be spend his whole life in that tank?


I'm thinking so. Is it that extremely inhumane? I do water changes weekly with that tank.... I just love this fish so much, I just couldn't sell him with the others.

He is doing great in this tank. Back to his aggressive self. When I feed him he races to the top of the tank as soon as I open the hood. I'm pretty confident I could start handfeeding him again like I used to with the shoal in the big tank.








~Taylor~
[/quote]
Hey Taylor,
Fleck does seem to be a bit on the heavy side. My first piranha "Snowflake"







became immense because I fed him everyday and had no powerhead for him to swim in. My rec. would be to feed him 3 times a week and add a powerhead in your tank for him to swim in. It will make him much more active and that much more exciting for you to watch. I put a PH in my 38 gal. with my brandtii, who was wicked shy beforehand, and now almost everytime I look at the tank he is playing in its' current.


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## Dr Exum (Nov 6, 2004)

taylorhedrich said:


> nice fish..... will be spend his whole life in that tank?


I'm thinking so. Is it that extremely inhumane? I do water changes weekly with that tank.... I just love this fish so much, I just couldn't sell him with the others.

He is doing great in this tank. Back to his aggressive self. When I feed him he races to the top of the tank as soon as I open the hood. I'm pretty confident I could start handfeeding him again like I used to with the shoal in the big tank.








~Taylor~
[/quote]

IMO a wider tank 40g breeder may be better so that his little spine does not deform. your tank is 30"x12"x18" ? correct?


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