# Piranha freaking out and hurting himself



## billthomason (Feb 12, 2003)

Hey everyone. I have a RBP in my tank. He's about five inches long. Kinda stopped growing ever since he killed his tankmate, another RBP. Anyways, thats not the point. I have him in the living room, so hes around people quite often and usually isn't twitchy, or he'll just hide behind his plant (covers a good third of the tank for nice hiding space). But sometimes I'll walk by or look at him, and he totally flips out. He flies back and forth across the tank knocking himself silly. He makes quite a bit of noise and his very strong. I guess I'm not really worried about him getting out or anything (he hasn't jumped up to the top of the tank yet and isn't big enough to do any real damage) but I'm worried about him hurting himself. Is this a normal activity for RB to do? Will they hurt themselves bad? It sounds like he's smacking the glass pretty hard. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated let me know.

Oh yeah, his name is Dante. Rest in peace Randall, Dante is a damn murderer. But I love him anyways.

Bill


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## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

That sounds like normal skittish P behavior. There are some steps that people might be able to recomend to reduce it, but more or less that is just the way P are sometimes.

~Dj


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## piranha 13 (Feb 16, 2003)

Very normal, my RBPs always do it


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

thats just his behavior. he will grow out of it









have a powerhead?


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## piranha 13 (Feb 16, 2003)

Yes get a powerhead if you dont already have one. It will give him something to keep him occupied.

What size tank is he in. Maybe you should get him some buddies.


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

piranha 13 said:


> What size tank is he in. Maybe you should get him some buddies.


 You should try and get more of a shoal for Dante. Having more than 1 P usually helps ease the skittishness with alot of Ps. Try adding another RB or even different combination of other Pygos (cariba, piraya, ternz) to help with the problem.

Dont worry about Dante killing off the other or new additions to add to your tank. Ps will more likely to kill each other off if only 2 are present in a tank alone. It has something to do with territorial disputes and dominace which may lead to one or the others death.


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## piranha 13 (Feb 16, 2003)

Yep....get him a shoal of 3, 4, or 5 depending on the size of your tank.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

They tend to be more skittish when they are alone...you should add more Ps and get a powerhead as recommended...they will become very active and will exercise all the time...

If you keep it alone dim light will help...!


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

InSinUAsian said:


> That sounds like normal skittish P behavior. There are some steps that people might be able to recomend to reduce it, but more or less that is just the way P are sometimes.
> 
> ~Dj


 I agree I would recommend walking by slowly and not making sudden movements around the tank because they get scared like we do if you don't know someone is there and they make sudden movements you get skittish as well. Make sure you tell whoever is over not to make the sudden movements and then your p will be a lot happier


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

i would also add more reds (if tank permits) the skittishness may probably fade but never totaly go away but one thing though it will feel better with some more p's to shoal with
dixon


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## Jonas (Mar 14, 2003)

Yes, take the advice from people that are tellin' ya to get more fish.... I had 2 reds in a tank alone together for the first 6 months of thier lives. (constant battles) now I have a big ternetzi in there to keep em in check. they seem to be calmer though ?????..............


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