# Made the mistake of telling my AP Bio teacher I had piranhas...



## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

He now wants me to do a behavior test on them for extra credit, and i could REALLY use that extra credit







. Any Ideas what I could test that wouldn't be long term or dangerous to my P's?

Thanks for any ideas.


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## jmax611 (Aug 6, 2006)

you could do a test on behavior with temperature changes. at higher temps 80- 84 they should be a little more aggressive than say colder temps 72-76ish. you could also note the feeding behavior at different temps.


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## Red-eye (Jun 20, 2007)

could also test the behaviour with more p's and less p's in the shole,


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## shiver905 (May 27, 2009)

make it up,

If he gives you a opertunity like this without any guide lines.. id BS an experiment in 30 min. 
DONE


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Wow thats really awesome , But if He wants to make it legit I would say do something like " How a Shoal is established.

Obviously Shoals aren't gonna form overnight, just like this assignment is not done Overnight . Something Professors will really appreciate as ALL professeurs are required to do extensive research or write books etc.

You have been Given an awesome chance. I wouldn't " Bullshit " this research , as I do take legitimate
interest in everything to do with Fresh Water Fish , Mainly Piranha.

Document Behaviour Based on 2 fish , Record Your results , Adding another Every Few days. Note agression and behaviour etc at Certain Ttimes at High Heat and at Low Temp.

Repeat Your results with Slightly Larger Groups of 5-6 and repeat the experiment recording Your Results again.

You could also Record Behaviour During Simulated Dry / Rainy Seasons (By Cranking heat and Lowering Water level)

Or even Recording What happens When You Remove All Territories (By removing everything in tank)

anyways , thats just what I would do..
Hope that helps

Jon


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

Here's your topic: "Where does it hurt the most to get bit?"


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Study the pack mentality... throw in a larger feeder and film the reactions and attacking mechanism of the pack. The circling around, the approaching, the "first move" by one of the piranhas and, finally, the frenzy...


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

Feedign habits is a good one. Mine dont tend to eat unless my one big red eats first then al lhell breaks loose. Some of the others will advance toward the fillet but no one will bite it until the big boy does. You could document that behavior. Id avoid doing anything that could harm your P's. I wouldnt suggest startign with two then every few days adding another. Could start with two then wake up to jsut one again. Adjusting the temp if done slowly would be a good one. Start it low say mid 70's then gradually go up to 85 or so. Maybe do that along with feedign and see if they are more agressive at feeding time with higher temps. There are a bunch of things you could do. Aggression in an empty tank vs a fully planted tank and so on. Hell Im kinda interested now and might do some of my own tests. Hmmmm


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

You should do a behavior test on this thread. Its much more interesting than the piranhas.


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

I would do the temperature test. Document fin nipping, aggression, appetite, etc. Maybe even add a powerhead and test their behavior.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

what exactly did your teacher have in mind and how much time do you have?


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

You should drop a hit of acid in the water for every gallon of water and observe the piranhas for the next 8 hours.


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## moron (May 26, 2006)

Throw a gold fish in your tank and see how they react and how they behave. Easy.


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

NegativeSpin said:


> You should drop a hit of acid in the water for every gallon of water and observe the piranhas for the next 8 hours.


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Great ideas guys, as for time limit he hasn't given me one yet. The behavior/frenzy and the temperature and shoal tests seem to be the most brought up. A couple of things to think about is:

a) I only have 1 55g, how would seperate them into shoals? Same with diffrent temp tests

b) There has to be an independent and a dependent variable, the frenzy would be cool but what would I vary? See if size of food or live compaired to dead food makes a diffrence on the pack mentality?

c) for the temp one what exactly would I be observing, changing temp could take HOURS and With my planted tank I dont know what behavior to watch for, and most of the time the lil pussys hide.

Thanks guys keep the ideas comin

EDIT:
Oh and this has to be a formal typed up and presented lab. Hypothesis/materials/procedure/data collection/ etc..... Rules out the 30 minute bullshit it idea


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> Great ideas guys, as for time limit he hasn't given me one yet. The behavior/frenzy and the temperature and shoal tests seem to be the most brought up. A couple of things to think about is:
> 
> a) I only have 1 55g, how would seperate them into shoals? Same with diffrent temp tests
> 
> ...


Since you are observing behavior, you would be mixing qualitative research coupled with quantitative data. Find out your time frame and that will determine what you can do. Test only one variable at a time...remember the dependent variable is what you are measuring and is what you believe will be changed by your independent variable. For instance, if you are doing temperature and aggressions, temp would be your independent variable and aggression would be your dependent variable. The fun will be figuring out how to measure aggression as it is qualitative data. Effects of lighting levels could also be done...food would be harder.


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah thats what I was saying I can't think of a organized way to chart behavior. Out of all of them I think testing behavioral diffrences between temperatures is gonna be my best bet. How would I go about doing this without harming my fish? I think My only option to keep a controll would be all of the fish in my 55g. Should I go ahead and drop the temperature to teh piranhas lowest point and each day move up 2 degrees? Or would this pose a threat to my P's?

Thanks guys


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

i would start at their normal temp and work your way down, that way they have a little time to get used to things


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> Yeah thats what I was saying I can't think of a organized way to chart behavior. Out of all of them I think testing behavioral diffrences between temperatures is gonna be my best bet. How would I go about doing this without harming my fish? I think My only option to keep a controll would be all of the fish in my 55g. Should I go ahead and drop the temperature to teh piranhas lowest point and each day move up 2 degrees? Or would this pose a threat to my P's?
> 
> Thanks guys


Screwing around with your fish's temperature is dangerous. Do you really need extra credit at the possible expense of your fish? Piranhas and other tropicals don't respond well to temperature fluctuations. Yes, it will pose a threat. 
You can play it safer by making it a food and lighting experiment, offering different foods at various times of the day or night with different lighting...blow smoke up his ass!...he won't know any better anyway. He'll think your smart, and you'll get the credit.


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Think ima have to go with teh light and food idea, ill use the amount of food they eat as the dependent variable and the lighting/ time of day as teh independent. Thanks for all the help guys.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> Think ima have to go with teh light and food idea, ill use the amount of food they eat as the dependent variable and the lighting/ time of day as teh independent. Thanks for all the help guys.


You're better off keeping the amount of food the same and timing how long it takes them to eat it with lights on or lights off (room lights should always be off so you are less visible and less of a factor). I actually do a similar introductory observation lab with my Ecology kids. I put food in the various tanks in the room and have them observe what the occupants do with the room lights on and the room lights off to show how their visibility influences how animals behave.


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

Great idea, it allows more quantitative results. Thanks for the help.


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## ismheg (Oct 2, 2009)

why is one more red than the other :rasp:


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

I think having them in aquariums is a behavior test in itself.

But if u want a real "behavior" test, i guess u can do it serras? U can try to grab a solo pygo and see how well it interacts with the same human (but that will take u longer than the amount of time u have left in the year for this class).

GL!


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

hastatus said:


> You should do a behavior test on this thread. Its much more interesting than the piranhas.:laugh:


X2 I was thinking the same thing as I read through. ROFL


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

WOW thank god i got into aquariums.







I told him i had experience in planted tanks and now hes gonna pay me $150 and give me 50 points extra credit (= to a full lab) If i design and setup his 30 gallon tank for him.
I give you guys credit for most of my knowledge lol.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

get him a good piranha if he wants a piranha for that 30 gallon.....

Brandti, Mac, or....maybe some Exodons!


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

He doesnt want piranhas he just wants aplanted tank, he doesnt give a sh*t what fish are in it. And honestly I don't either i'm gettin payed.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

DO you have any pics of your planted tanks?


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

I just have my P tank here it is:
http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=186564

This is cool cause i've wanted a reason to do a heavy planted tank but I don't have teh room.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

You gonna go crazy on his tank or just stick to low light?


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

FretsOnFire00 said:


> WOW thank god i got into aquariums.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Screw the credit, give us the money!


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## FretsOnFire00 (Sep 10, 2009)

IDK yet depends on whats on the tank were being given and how expensive things are ;P


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

atleast throw some cherry shrimp in there....or some exos...


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