# Keeping Rhom In A 6ft Tank



## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

I'm trying to decide if I should go with a decent size rhom in my 180g, it'll be ~10" or maybe a little bigger.

I kept Ares in a 4x4 tank most of the time so want to hear the feed back on other members who had/have the experience of keeping a rhom in 6ft tank. does/did your rhom use all the space? or only partial of the tank and the rest of the tank is "wasted". how's your setup like? if can post some pictures that will be great so I can get some idea what I can expect in my tank.


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

I have a 220G (6ft) tank with 2 Xingu Rhoms which I added a divider into. Previously, I had a single Rhom in there solo (approx 8"). I noticed that when he was first put in there, the water was very cloudy to the point where it was tough to see clearly in the tank... At that point, he swam around the entire tank and loved it...

But I noticed that as soon as the water cleared up (after a couple weeks of filtration with the black flourite sand), and I started turning on the lights, he became "zombified" and basically just sat in one corner... That went on for a while like that...

So I started keeping the lights off, and he started swimming around again... But by that time, I got another Xingu and split the tank up...

Now they both swim around in there, but my smaller Xingu is waaay more active and swims quite a bit (uses all his space)... and the big one just tries to continuously chase him around through the divider (mainly stays near the divider close to the other Rhom)...

So I really think there are several factors that will come into play with tank space utilization:

Lighting and decor
Individual Personality
Time

Based on that observation, I noticed the same with my Mannies...

With lights on - they remain in one spot under the lights... still very aggressive and finger chases - but not much swimming...
With lights off - they swim all around the tank, top to bottom, for hours a day...

So now I primarily keep lights off, and only turn them on maybe for a couple hours before feeding time.

I will try to take some pics, but where the tank is located, there is always a glare... And most of my plants in there died because of the flourite sand (when it was initially cloudy). Haven't gotten around to replanting just yet.


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

thanks for your feedback smoke. i'll look forward to your pix.


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

all depends on the individual fish. some coast their tank, while others are active and swim all over.


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

I think the bigger the rhom in the tank the better...My old 14" er used to always cruise the entire 125G. I felt bad because he did look a lil cramped in that 125G. Now my 7.5" Manny is always cruising his 125G with lights on or off and still chases my finger no matter what conditions are. Each fish will be different like listed above. I don't view a big tank for a small P being wasted space, but thats my opinion. The more space you can offer the better cause it at least replicates the sapce they'd have in the wild, but not the exact of course. I find for the most part, smaller serras tend to be more skittish in larger tanks. Also a good strong powerhead will get any skittish P moving. Usually helps me


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

thanks w8


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## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

try a tub...
but dont buy from john at ecz...


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## SandNukka15 (Nov 16, 2010)

my 8 inch black diamond uses every inch of his 150g but i still feel like i should move him into a 75 and use the 150 for a shoal


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