# Injured Piranhas!



## Colty

Hi..My RBP's are often skittish and they get injured by hitting in the decors say drift woods or tank corners.They seemed to act mad in some occasions so that let them to injuries, say below the mouth portion their skin torn and hanging ... anything could be done to reduce their skittishness.The tank is placed near the crowded area so movement of things will be over there and dimmed light .If one get scared every others react to the same and getting injured..


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## Ægir

Remove the decor and things they are running into.

Put your lights on a timer so the "day" is consistant

And wait... mine did it for 4-6 months and then eventually they became comfortable with the surroundings.


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## Colty

I removed my decors.I dimmed my aquarium lights.Will placing of plants help from these things?.But these guys are too big and they would surely uproot them.i kept mine over a year but still they pose the same.


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## Colty

Hi Egir..I just want to know will a a planted setup would be suitable for rbps ,since mine are around 8 inches will they uproot them or can i have a shot?


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## Ægir

ITs worth a try, but odds are they will chew up the plants... Maybe start with a few java ferns tucked in the back corners?


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## Colty

ya sure i will just have a try .I just tried with an artificial plants and the day after i could see the pieces of plants floating up.Hence i doubt whether a live plants would stay on for ever.?


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## Ægir

The problem isnt going to be the fish, its going to likely be your lighting setup and keeping them green / actually growing.


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## Colty

Ya Ya very true..It wont be a easy one for any owners and it would be a kinda challenge.I am thinking of withdrew from my plan and go with the regular setup.Can u help me with some good aquarium lights for the planted tank,in case in the mere future it would be helpful.T-12 or T-8 will do good???


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## Ægir

You will want to find a T-5 setup ideally, prob 4 bulb or more... T12 is inefficient and hot, T8 is a little better. Planted tanks require lots of light, and with light comes algae and other problems if water params arent on spot. You will also have to start dosing fertilizers, and use a special substrate if you have a fair amount of plants and light fish load.

Not a planted tank expert, but there is good reading in the section here on the site. HERE


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## Colty

Thanks man...I will. just go through ..I just want to know what's an ideal temperature for a planted setup will the same temperature do better.

My water temp suddenly jumped to a high of 82f can I add ice cubes directly to reduce them or an ice bag or crushed ice in a bottle which one to be preferred .


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## Ægir

Different types of plants prefer different temps, so that would depend.

The easiest way to cool your tank is a small fan across the top of the tank (leave your top open). Evaporation works great, will just require more frequent top offs

A frozen water bottle would be second, but 82 isnt in the danger zone so... I would use a fan unless it gets higher.


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## scent troll

i see this has been pretty well addressed already. any updates? ill gladly help out if you need it. 
with skittish piranhas i always avoid sharp decorations and leave plenty of open swimming space just for that reason. you can always add plants around decorations to act as a buffer. 
aside from that if you find they all too often flee you may want to consider dimming lights down or moving the tank to a lower traffic area if its not impossible. ive had some piranhas that just never adjust to things outside the tank


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer

I'd remove all decor, and put some longer type plants on each side of the aquarium - just on the far left and far right. Something like jungle vals and keep the lights dim. Thats what I did with my RBP almost 9 years ago (jesus where does the time go?) and they came around a bit. Always were skittish creatures though.


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## Colty

As you guys said i already removed all my decors ,especially some drift woods with sharp edges and now its been an open area for them to swim .Actually they were more skittish during their juvenile period as they would,but as an adults their skittish turned to aggression and they were living peacefully together in the recent past ,but suddenly they again started over to their skittish behavior.I moved my tank to a heavy traffic area will that may be the reason for their skittishness. By the way i placed some artificial plants but they get chopped







Thanks Danny and Central for your replies .Thanks Mate,Can u help in this situation.









Will a open top good for piranhas ??? Since i fear they would jump while they fight each other at nights.Any idea ??









Danny can u help with some longer type plants....can u name them.It would be helpful for me man.


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## Colty

MY RBP'S!!!!! Are they looking healthy????


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## scent troll

a bit blurry from them swimming but they look great
those colors look amazing. it might be the lighting effects but they have a yellowish hew to them which is pretty awesome. honestly...they look like your text book nattereris. that one top center is a beast


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## Colty

thanks mate..ya I knew it was little blur but I would try to post a good pic in a near future . Mate u started again with the little beasts....nice to hear man...


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## Ægir

Looking good man!

Taking pics is so hard... typically I take like 5000 and pick 2 good ones


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## Colty

Thanks mate...I knew its blur i will try to snap a good one.But the photo is taken before 3 months now they turned darker with little colors.


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## Colty

Close up pic of my rpb when it was a juvenile...


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## scent troll

those colors. wow
just wow
how big is he now?


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## Colty

Among the six, 2 rbps are around 9-10 inches rest of them were around 7-8inches...


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## Colty

hi Budd..Are they looking healthy???? what to feed to bring their colors man.. I knew they tend to lose their colors while attaining adulthood but can u tell me what to feed to bring back black their colors.


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## Colty

hi bro.. I think u again jumped into the rbp hobby..can u share the photos of your little beasts .


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## Titus

Great looking red's, congrats !


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## Colty

thanks mate...


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