# Crazy Cohab....



## nahkyla (Feb 13, 2007)

Just got back from my vegas vacation and I to visited Manadalay Bay... hotel & casino... They had a tour to visit the largest predatory aquarium in the state or something of that nature.

So I walk up and down the paths and find a P tank... so im excited to see them hoping they would be huge... To my disappoinment i see them in a tank at about 4"1/2 - 5". This was just the begining. Then the tank is supervised by a "fish expert" who is watching so that kids dont put they're hands in the tank. I ask her what species are in the tank and she showed me the list on the wall.... Natts, Cariba, Piraya, Elongs, Sanchezi. With my jaw wide open and "oh Sh!t" escaping my lips I look closer to id the fish... 
I only saw 2 piraya, 3 elongs, (maybe could have been more), Several Natts and others.

This tank was only 2000 gallons... it housed over 40 fish. (To many fish)
Every fish that I saw had fin nips....
I asked the expert about the cohab and she told me that because of the regular feeding they dont seem to have any issues.
I asked what they feed.... they use Chicken thigs and gold fish
I asked why they dont use fillets of fish and she told me its to messy.
I asked how many times they are fed and she said 4 times a day 
I asked about water params and she said they trickly 15 gallons of fresh water in per hour ( not a bad idea)
I asked about the max size and her anwser was they dont get much bigger then 6 inches and if they do then they get eaten by the smaller ones...

Frustrated with stupidity I walked away to watch a dead mouse feeding for the 2 foot arrowannas!


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

lol thats some crazy sh!t they shouldnt be like that


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Classic


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> Classic


no doubt, hardcores out there trying to gain attention


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## CorGravey (Feb 13, 2007)

2000 Gallons is more than enough for 40 fish! If you go by 40 gallons per fish it still only eaquals 1600 Gallons. Plus they werent full grown... Am i wrong?


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## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

CorGrav420 said:


> 2000 Gallons is more than enough for 40 fish! If you go by 40 gallons per fish it still only eaquals 1600 Gallons. Plus they werent full grown... Am i wrong?


makes sense to me.


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

The tank is 1,500 gallon BTW...

Chicken, beef-heart, liver, ect.. are very good if you want quick growth..but should not stay in the tank at all should be removed once they are done eating..


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

They should just seperate the P's and have a varierty of different kick ass exhibits....


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## buddeppe (Feb 16, 2007)

Here is a picture i found on what they do when they feed them.....


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## MONGO  (Feb 7, 2006)

doesnt look too healthy


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## TheWayThingsR (Jan 4, 2007)

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is the same way. They have a huge tank cohabbing serras and pygos


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Ask them how often they replace fish in those mix species exhibits.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

how often?


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## Solice (Mar 9, 2007)

I've seen this exhibit (called "Shark Aquarium at Mandaly Bay") twice, once on my first trip to The Mandaly Bay in 2002 and then last year again. The place is money. They house everything there, from Rays to Black Tip Shark, to Piranha, Arrowana, Puffers...in total I cant even estimate how many gallons they have. The help is stupid. I had the same sort of exchange with one of the "experts". They are just kids, the same type you usually find at a PetCo or Pet Land or Pet Mart or whatever.
There setup is all pro though, as are most things in places like that. 
I was impressed with the Piranha tank. Someone behind all of this knows what they are doing.

Matt


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## rone (Jul 10, 2006)

any more pics of this tank... id like to see this


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

i think they have some seriously researching to do


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## WaxmasterJ (Jan 8, 2007)

hastatus said:


> Ask them how often they replace fish in those mix species exhibits.


Lol my thought exactly, hence the small 4.5-5" sizes of the fish.obviously the pygos should be much larger.


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## Cal68 (Mar 23, 2007)

lol @ Frank , their suppler must be happy with that and laffing at the "fish expert"

im planing on going to vegas this week! whooohooo! and if i do im talking pics and video clips. thx for the info.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

is this the right pic? it was labled 'piranha tank at mandalay bay'


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

06Eclipse said:


> Here is a picture i found on what they do when they feed them.....


That is a good looking S. rhombeus. It's a shame that the 'expert' there doesn't make sure they are taken care of better.


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## FohDatAss (Oct 7, 2003)

I cant beleive what I'm reading...I would't hail myself as an expert...(maybe after reading this) and all i can say is its a crap shoot...P's have been known to go a few minutes up to several years without fighting when Pygos and Serras are mixed in the wrong conditions...terrible.........

We need to help educate the public about P's, and by the public I mean "fish experts" any member of this site knows more than anyone on the outside...


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> Classic


Yeah, i agree. Thats ridiculous man. i went to a ripleys belive it or not and they had a tank with reds in it which was good they werent mixed with pygos but the area they had was way too small for them. i dont remember how many they had housed together but it was somewhere around the 30-40 mark at least and maybe 150 gallons of total area (which mostly was taken up by a large tree stump and branches)

Cool looking tank, but way too overcrowded. These "experts" dont really seem to be.


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## some_kid (Dec 27, 2006)

mR. Blueberry said:


> I cant beleive what I'm reading...I would't hail myself as an expert...(maybe after reading this) and all i can say is its a crap shoot...P's have been known to go a few minutes up to several years without fighting when Pygos and Serras are mixed in the wrong conditions...terrible.........
> *
> We need to help educate the public about P's, and by the public I mean "fish experts" any member of this site knows more than anyone on the outside...*


P-Fury public aquarium!!!


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## mylesc99 (Sep 5, 2005)

I heard their exhibit was a disappointment.


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

well u gotta realize, a lot of these places are here for profit and having as many fish in a small area is more profitable to them. having to pay uneducated represenatives is also cheaper than hiring actual experts. also, these people have to keep track of so many fish, it's hard to go indepth with every single fish unless you are a hobbyist which i doubt many are. it's like you go to a restaurant, you want to know everything that is in a dish, where it originated from etc. the waiter won't know everything, he just wants to get the job done and make that money.

has anyone seen the national aquarium in baltimore? i get free tickets, i'm thinking about going.


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## Pitbullmike (Feb 14, 2006)

Yea I agree they are all about money and no real knowledge of the tank systems


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## Solice (Mar 9, 2007)

Cant believe this topic is still alive...well, guess I'll join in too.
Learn more about this exibit here:

http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/sharkreef.aspx

My theory on this whole thing is that the people who run this 1 Million G + private aquarium are not the pimple faced teenage kids giving the tour (seems to be what some people are driving at). Like I said earlier, I was at this place twice before, and while the tour guides didn't know much about ichthyology the fish themselves were well cared for.
No chunks missing, no signs of stress.
Matt


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## KILLERLEXUS (Feb 3, 2003)

if the co-hab didnt work, they wouldnt be doing it. obviously it must be working. did you see a bunch of dead piranhas floating around or fish with SERIOUS bite marks? did the fish looked stressed or very natural?


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

KILLERLEXUS said:


> if the co-hab didnt work, they wouldnt be doing it. obviously it must be working. did you see a bunch of dead piranhas floating around or fish with SERIOUS bite marks? did the fish looked stressed or very natural?


think of the size of the tank they have, its not like they're forced to group together, still shitty


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

if its a 1500 gal its not bad but i would do like a biotype of one area with only species that would meet in nature so its not so unnatural and there could be a possible chance at breeding


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## JAWZ99 (Jul 25, 2007)

taylorhedrich said:


> Here is a picture i found on what they do when they feed them.....


That is a good looking S. rhombeus. It's a shame that the 'expert' there doesn't make sure they are taken care of better.
[/quote]

X2


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## KILLERLEXUS (Feb 3, 2003)

i think they prefer xtra crsipy chicken dark meat.


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## nahkyla (Feb 13, 2007)

KILLERLEXUS said:


> i think they prefer xtra crsipy chicken dark meat.


Anyone actully use a hook and feed their own p's chicken legs?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

ive seen people use fishing line and tie it to food but not actual fishing hooks cuz once the chickens off the bone the hook would be exposed


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## GN121406 (Jul 28, 2007)

I want to go there soon


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

GN121406 said:


> I want to go there soon


It wont work


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