# How big have you grown your Rhom?



## Angler (Sep 28, 2006)

Most of what I have heard about Rhoms is that you need to have a large Rhom wild caught if you want a large Rhom, and small Rhoms will not get much above 9 or 10 inches in the aquarium. I want to know if anyone has grown a small Rhom to a size larger than 9 or 10 inches in their aquarium. Also, if anyone has, before and after pics would be awsome. Even if you haven't been able to get your Rhom over 10 inches, feel free to show some growth pics!


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## starbury (Jan 30, 2006)

Angler said:


> Most of what I have heard about Rhoms is that you need to have a large Rhom wild caught if you want a large Rhom, and small Rhoms will not get much above 9 or 10 inches in the aquarium. I want to know if anyone has grown a small Rhom to a size larger than 9 or 10 inches in their aquarium. Also, if anyone has, before and after pics would be awsome. Even if you haven't been able to get your Rhom over 10 inches, feel free to show some growth pics!


redrum 781 has one of the best looking rhom on here. He grew his out from 3or 4 inches to 10. He did it pretty quik to a couple of years i think


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## rhomkeeper (Mar 31, 2008)

its not that it is impossable to grow a rhom from a juvinile to a large adult, it just takes a very long time, and a very large tank to do it in. i personaly have tried, my last attempt took over 2 years . i grew it from 2.5" to 6" or so, but i gave up and sold it to another member.

it's just so much easier to buy a 10" rhom than to grow one


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## Angler (Sep 28, 2006)

rhomkeeper said:


> its not that it is impossable to grow a rhom from a juvinile to a large adult, it just takes a very long time, and a very large tank to do it in. i personaly have tried, my last attempt took over 2 years . i grew it from 2.5" to 6" or so, but i gave up and sold it to another member.
> 
> it's just so much easier to buy a 10" rhom than to grow one


It seems like most people say it is impossible to get a small one to adult size in an aquarium. I have wondered if this is because people are not patient enough or if it is indeed impossible. That's why I hope some people can chime in and tell me about their experiences of growing small Rhoms. I have a 5-6 inch one right now, and I hope I can be patient enough to grow it into a monster.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

check out my yay new rhom pics in p picture forum, it has my latets with the first shots of em


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

this is a good idea for a thread. 
my gold diamond rhom is my first rhom, i wish i would have better documented his EXACT length when i got him, i just didnt want to stress him out by taking him out of the water. I know he has grown though from the ~6.5-7" i got him at by at least a 1/2" or so, im just not sure exactly. i got him in february i believe.


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## Blackdude (Feb 28, 2003)

My Rhom came from Peru in 2002 at 3 inch.

I bouth it at 6 inch the 26th of November 2003

So 5 years later, he his around 9.5 inch

Here is my estimation :

2001 --> 0-3
2002 --> 3-5
2003 --> 5-6
2004 --> 6-7
2005 --> 7-8
2006 --> 8-8.5
2007 --> 8.5-9
2008 --> 9-9.5


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## Uncle Jesse (Feb 18, 2007)

I got mine on april 4th 2007 at 3/4" and today its around 6 1/2"


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## Blackdude (Feb 28, 2003)

febsalien said:


> I got mine on april 4th 2007 at 3/4" and today its around 6 1/2"


Woh !!! pretty fast growing !
We want some tips !


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## jmax611 (Aug 6, 2006)

my buddy had a gdr and it was approx 6 inches when he got in and now it's 9-10" in a year and a half or so


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## cecil_1249 (Apr 16, 2007)

cecil_1249 said:


> Rhoms are reputably slow growing. The biggest Rhom I've seen in captivity was 14" but that was in a massive aquarium with very hearty meals. He'll probably get to 9-10" and even then will take a very long time.


it is very sad for the rhom keepers, that rhom only can reach 9 ~ 10" in home aquarium. it is very big different with wild rhom like over 17" or 20"
I have 3 rhoms, one is black peru rhom ( 10" ) + a Black diamond rhom ( + 9" ) the last is Blue diamond rhom ( + 9" ), all of them I got one year ago,
they have growed over one inch bigger up to now.
they are all very satisfy with their room now. they all eat one shrimp every day, as I don't want to feed too much. 
to be honest, I don't belive it, that rhom only can get to 9 or 10" in home aquarium, the reason as below

1.) Sanchez : Max size in p-fury profie are 13 cm, it is very easy to see some Sanchez from Aquarium shop or personal keeper, their fish can reach this MAX size, even more bigger.

2.) Gery : Max size in p-fury profie are 25 cm (wild) & 20 cm ( home aquar) , it is not very hard to see some Gery from Aquarium shop or personal keeper, their fish can reach 9 ~ 10", 
in our local Aquarium shop have 3 gery on sale. all of them are 10" over. I don't know they are all wild caught or not .. but i think, it is no problem to keep a smaller gery , they will get to 8 ~ 9"

3.) Altuvei : Max size in p-fury profie are 20 cm (wild) & 15 cm (home aquar), it is very easy to see some Altuvei from Aquarium shop or personal keeper, their fish can reach this MAX size.

4.) Brandtii : Max size in p-fury profie are 25 cm ( wild ) & 20 cm (home aquar), same as above , it is very easy to see some brandtii from Aquarium shop or personal keeper, their fish can reach this MAX size.

5.) Spilo : Max size in p-fury profie are 22 cm ( wild ) & 18 cm (home aquar), same as above , it is very easy to see some Spilo from Aquarium shop or personal keeper, their fish can reach this MAX size, my freinds have some spilo are over 20 cm.

so what I want to talking about is, lot of serra family like above Sanchez, Gery, Altuvei, Brandtii, Spilo, it is very easy to see the fishes on Aquar shop or personal own, can reach the MAX size, i don't want to compare, which is wild caught or which is in home aquarium ( from small fish to MAX size ).
but onething I can make sure, that is all of above fishes are not all wild caught, 
SECOND, the record on profile for above fishes, the MAX size between wild caught & home keep, they are not big different, maybe 2" less,
but why black rhom have so much big different, the MAX wild size is 20", the MAX home aquar size is only up to 9 ~ 10" , it has over 50% & 10" less,
plus all of my fishes are get to over 9 ~ 10" from smaller fish. so it is what, I don't believe it. OK ! maybe it will grow very long.... time to get bigger, maybe not
but we will prove it. does it really the true & limited, the rhom in home aquar only cat get 9 ~ 10", if all if my fished get 2" bigger, that I can say, we break the fact you mention on the forum. 
Maybe I am wrong, but we will let the time to prove it. sorry for my poor english to describe.
I hope my rhoms can get to 12" over.. 12" = 30 cm is a big fish in tank. I am very satisfy with this size, 14" is the best, but 12" is OK for me
















AGAIN : for Rhom record
1.) P-fury profie for wild fish : 20"
2.) P-fury profie for home AQUAR fish : over 14" but very rare
3.) some people said, it only can get to 9 ~ 10" in home aquarium.
let us find out, what is the reasonable size for rhom in home aquarium, does it really very very very hard to get bigger over 10" in home aquar... and how difficult is reach to 14". LET US PROVE IT.
[/quote]

this is a great discussion for Rhom keepers, let's us keep going it
above was my talk on another topic http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=176094

some informations I want to add on.
all these 3 rhoms I got one year ago, and as I knew, all of them imported to our country for over 4 years at least, I bought it from different owners.
I don't know, what size for these fishes, when they imported to our country. 
but after I kept them for one year, they get quite big. they have grown larger over 1" at least. 
why I said, they grow quite big during these period, that is, when I got them, I only have one 4 foot tank available to keep them by divider, 
so far so good by then, the space for them are not too small to keep them. not too long, I bought a new 270 gal ( 8 foot tank ) to keep them by divider.
they eat well and get quite bigger, I knew & I am sure, they are getting bigger, as I see them everyday when I back from my work.
I have a feeling, it will be not too long, that my 270 gal tank only can keep 2 rhoms, as they need more space to swim around.
to be honest with you, all my fishes should be 10 ~ 11", as their body are all bigger than my hand no including tail. 
anyway I don't want to argue 9 ~ 10" or 10 ~ 11" it is not a big deal. but onething I make sure, my fishes ALL will break the rule, that rhom only can reach 9 ~ 10" in home aquar...


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## Angler (Sep 28, 2006)

Great post cecil. Your comparison to max size of other Serras' max wild size and max aquarium size is a good arguement against those saying small Rhoms won't get over 10 inches in the aquarium.


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## Moondemon (Dec 9, 2006)

some important things to help the growth of rhoms are:

1) varied diet
2) having a lot of current in the tank with a big powerhead
3) having a large tank and a relatively high tank, because rhoms come from deep fand fast running waters.
4) Making many many water changes. I read somewhere that having an automatic drip system helped a lot in a rhoms growth...

I have no doubt that growing this fish to a monster size is possible, but it all come down to patience and a lot of time to put on the tank.

ps. I've never seen a ''diamond'' rhom bigger than 12''. Maybe those don't grow larger than a feet..!!??!!


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## cecil_1249 (Apr 16, 2007)

here is a 14" black diamond rhom clip : 




following have some wild caught diamond rhom :









http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general...ha_River_Brazil









http://www.piranhas-fr.com/galerie/piranhas_guyane.htm









http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amanima.../wpiranha.shtml


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## Moondemon (Dec 9, 2006)

The rhom in that video doesn't look like 14''...
but the last two pictures are huge diamonds !!! WOW !!


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## cecil_1249 (Apr 16, 2007)

Moondemon said:


> The rhom in that video doesn't look like 14''...
> but the last two pictures are huge diamonds !!! WOW !!


Yes ! they are quite big, real huge monsters. so it is no doubt, that diamond rhom will reach to 14" over at least like black piranha doing. just take time and don't lose hobby.
all of my rhoms were kept alone in the tank before I get it, they are all less active, they stayed on the corner, they don't like to swim & eat very few,
in my thought, maybe they lost the competition, so I decided to keep them in the same tank by divider, they all turn out more active & confident, they have competition, they fight all day long, they keep swimming around to protect his territory, they must eat more and grow bigger to complete with other rhoms ( I GUESS). they are all aggressive, they kill all the feeder in the short time, when I put in.

this is the method, what I keep my rhoms, I don't know, it is correct or not ! I don't care, but I love to see my rhoms all eat well and more active.


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## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Great discussion. It has my interest because I just purchased a rhom that's about 2 1/2" not including tail. I've put him in a 125g community tank... of course, with the expectation that he would feed on and destroy the community. Hey, I got tired of the boring bunch.

He has already done damage to every single fish and has consumed a few. I've wanted a rhom for a while, but nobody has any large available around here, so settled on a small one. I believe I've got a decent set up for him to maximize his growth... (125g with enough filtration for 500g or so and 2 strong powerheads)... and I'm anxious to see if I can dispell some of the talk of them not getting big or growing very fast. Once he polishes off the community of tin foil barbs, pictus catfish, giant danios, small bala sharks and tetras, he'll have all of the space he needs to start growing. He'll also get a good start by eating the current stock, which is well fed with brine shrimp, blood worms and the like. I'll try - said, "try" - to keep a log and pics about once a month to track his growth.


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## L46 (Feb 17, 2017)

What about the growing up of the Rhombs? Are they still alive?


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## Lifer374 (Dec 5, 2003)

Mine is. Coming up on ten years now. 
4.5" if I remember correctly when I got him and 10" now. Kept in a 75 gallon for most of his life, just upgraded his tank to a 120. 
Weekly 50% wc's. 
Frozen tilapia, walleye and shrimp with Kent ZOE.
Don't have a strong current right now, especially for a 4' x 2' tank, think it's an HK4 ph. Not planning on upgrading that until this one breaks because a good ph is friggen expensive. When that happens, I have no idea what I'll replace it with yet. 
Pretty proud of him where he's at now. What he lacks in size he makes up for in personality.

First few months I had him.


Couple months before I broke the 75gal down.


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