# Lucky Cichlids



## mschulz (Oct 21, 2004)

I started out with a community tank with lots of different types of fish, including two Kribensis Cichlids. I decided I wanted a piranha, and purchased a smaller second tank and one RBP at approx 4" TL. He grew to about 5", at which time I decided to put him and 4 other RBP's, two 4" and two 3", into the large community tank. None of the community fish were supposed to survive, I had no illusions about keeping other fish with piranha (the exception being a spotted puffer who was too cute and now has his own tank).

The piranha immediately set to eating all of the community fish, with the exception of the two kribs. It's really odd, they've been there for about two months and they are allowed to swim around the tank, right in front of the piranahs, with absolute impunity.

The odd thing is that rather than eat the two cichlids when they get really hungry, they eat one of their own... I'm down to the three largest piranhas left.


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## K fizzly (Aug 27, 2004)

wow u put rbps in a community tank...urrrr done


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

how big tank??


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## frankyo (Oct 20, 2004)

Yes show us the tank want to see that bad ass rbp.


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## 130tank (Dec 21, 2004)




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## WorldBelow07 (Dec 16, 2004)




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## mschulz (Oct 21, 2004)

Sorry guys, still no pics, digital camera isn't working. I continued my experiment by adding three very similar looking kribensis cichlids to see what my piranhas would do. I went to sleep and turned off the lights and was back to the original two. This leads me to believe that piranhas can differentiate between not only members of their own species but others as well. Can anyone else contribute anything to this? Opinions for and against are both welcome


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

the unpredicability of piranhas


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

mschulz said:


> Sorry guys, still no pics, digital camera isn't working. I continued my experiment by adding three very similar looking kribensis cichlids to see what my piranhas would do. I went to sleep and turned off the lights and was back to the original two. This leads me to believe that piranhas can differentiate between not only members of their own species but others as well. Can anyone else contribute anything to this? Opinions for and against are both welcome
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't see why not, my piranhas respond differently when I'm at the front of the tank than when my girlfriend is, no reason that shouldn't apply to fish as well I would imagine.


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## jiaguy (Jan 28, 2005)

I have kept mine with three community chichlids and they are doign fine except for the occasional missing tail chunk... yes i am an A-hoel but the fish are pretty much feeders are aren't getting eaten...


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## hemichromis (Apr 23, 2004)

cichlids often do ok with red bellies the reason being that red are basically wimps, if a fish standsup to them they soon turn their tail and run i remember seeing a group of them take on an oscar, every time the oscar threatened them they would back off then come back at its tail


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## Soldat (Aug 28, 2004)

hemichromis said:


> cichlids often do ok with red bellies the reason being that red are basically wimps, if a fish standsup to them they soon turn their tail and run i remember seeing a group of them take on an oscar, every time the oscar threatened them they would back off then come back at its tail
> [snapback]902794[/snapback]​


I agree that reds are wimps, but sooner or later the Non-piranha will go down. It just takes one hit from a piranha. Pygos love to wait for the other pygo to strike.

As for mschulz, do you even feed your piranhas. It sounds like you enjoy feeding them expensive fish, including reds. The cichlids are going to piss the reds off. Thats all there is to it. Good Luck with your "experiment".


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

mschulz said:


> This leads me to believe that piranhas can differentiate between not only members of their own species but others as well.[snapback]902581[/snapback]​


The reason the new fish were gone after the first night is most likely because they were stressed: being netted, transported and dumped into an unknown tank is very stressful to fish. And what do piranha's feed on: the weak, the sick and the stressed. That's the reason why feeders are often either eaten within 24 hours, or last sometimes for a surprisingly long time.

If you acclimatize fish in a seperate tank first, their chances of survival will be increased, although a switch from the QT tank to the piranha tank might proof stressful enough to be singled out by your piranha's.

Piranha's are predators: any sign of weakness may be enough to proke an attack - wheter the fish has been in the tank for 5 minutes or 5 months does not chance that.

btw: I had a male Kribensis with my Reds for more than a year. Everything went well, until I wanted to give the poor guy some company and bought him a female. The male then became agressive and territorial, and was eaten a week later. Two days later the female was toast as well - I haven't tried Kribs since...


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## hemichromis (Apr 23, 2004)

> I agree that reds are wimps, but sooner or later the Non-piranha will go down. It just takes one hit from a piranha. Pygos love to wait for the other pygo to strike.


one LUCKY hit piranhas can only bite what they can get their teeth around and on an equal size fish that basicaically means wither the fins of the jaws, now as i mentioned above red piranhas never go head to head with another fish so he'd be nipping at fins mainly but form what i've heard from people who have kept them together usually cichlids own reds(unless heavily out numbered) and rhoms always own everything!


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Judazzz said:


> mschulz said:
> 
> 
> > This leads me to believe that piranhas can differentiate between not only members of their own species but others as well.[snapback]902581[/snapback]​
> ...


That's really interesting Judazz, and with being unable to find 2 of my 4 SAEs (rhom looks pretty pleased with himself too no less) this morning, I think I will have to try your method next time around as it seems pretty damn well thought out.



hemichromis said:


> one LUCKY hit piranhas can only bite what they can get their teeth around and on an equal size fish that basicaically means wither the fins of the jaws, now as i mentioned above red piranhas never go head to head with another fish so he'd be nipping at fins mainly but form what i've heard from people who have kept them together usually cichlids own reds(unless heavily out numbered) and rhoms always own everything!
> [snapback]902843[/snapback]​


Actually if you look at piranha jaw structure and the anatomy of most fish, that basically means everwhere except for the flat portion of the sides. The tops and bottoms of the fish still present a big target and you find that most bites of a serious nature tend to occur around the belly. Perhaps the piranhas have an instinctual understanding that this is where the vital organs are and that's how to kill a fish, but either way, that's how alot of bigger cichlids seem to get it. Piranha's do in fact also go head to head with fish, you often see this in the people who've attempted to keep cichlids with their piranhas and the cichlid ends up having it's lips bit off. It's pretty difficult to bite a fish in the face from behind, but maybe you have an explanation.

And I've never heard of cichlids owning reds, I've heard it thought by alot of cichlid owners that it would happen, but I have never one single time seen a thread with anyone's personal experiences.


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## Soldat (Aug 28, 2004)

hemichromis said:


> > I agree that reds are wimps, but sooner or later the Non-piranha will go down. It just takes one hit from a piranha. Pygos love to wait for the other pygo to strike.
> 
> 
> one LUCKY hit piranhas can only bite what they can get their teeth around and on an equal size fish that basicaically means wither the fins of the jaws, now as i mentioned above red piranhas never go head to head with another fish so he'd be nipping at fins mainly but form what i've heard from people who have kept them together usually cichlids own reds(unless heavily out numbered) and rhoms always own everything!
> [snapback]902843[/snapback]​


Well brotha, I have personally seen my "Lucky" reds bite a 7 inch feeder in half from the front/face. Complete head on collision that wasn't pretty. Maybe this fin nipping BS is on the small reds you own. A medium to large red does not let anything "own" it. They may be scared of you, but not other fish. Sure they may hide in the corner when you put the feeder in, but the feeder will be gone shortly. By feeder I mean any other fish you put in your tank, including cichlids. So maybe you can reword your post about reds never go head on against other fish.

Or maybe you are trying to tell me that rhoms nip at fins. Really? I never saw that one coming. Juvi rhoms intentionally nip fins my man. Medium to large rhoms don't waste time and take the whole fish down. Hope you enjoy your reds when they grow up







Kev


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