# Wild Baby Red And Baby Caribe



## rafael707 (Apr 4, 2011)

hey guys, today I bought 3 1" wild reds and 5 1" caribe, and I want to keep them together in a
100gal tank (60"x16"x20") with alot of hiding spots, do you think they will be ok? I heard stories that caribe kill off reds in tanks.. im planning on keeping them on a high feed diet, so they dont become cannibalistic..

any kind words from anyone? im only planning to keep them in the 100g for maybe 2-3 months then upgrade to a 150g


----------



## silent1mezzo (Jun 1, 2010)

I'd keep a bigger shoal. When you have two Piranha's often one will get bigger than the other and they'll pick on eachother. With more it'll spread out the agression.


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

2 fish? He says 8. Anyhow you can try hiding spots but imo this will cause more problems than it'll cure. Hiding spots provide places for fish to claim as their own & will defend it. Heavy feeding doesn't always work for curbing cannibalism as its rarely about food imo. Welcome to fury



silent1mezzo said:


> I'd keep a bigger shoal. When you have two Piranha's often one will get bigger than the other and they'll pick on eachother. With more it'll spread out the agression.


You are right though 4 or more imo. More the better


----------



## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

"3 1" wild reds"

I'm not saying they're not wild, but do lfs normally get wild reds in this small??


----------



## silent1mezzo (Jun 1, 2010)

My apologies, I read it as 1x 3" red and 1x 5" caribe.


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

rafael707 said:


> hey guys, today I bought 3 1" wild reds and 5 1" caribe, and I want to keep them together in a
> 100gal tank (60"x16"x20") with alot of hiding spots, do you think they will be ok? I heard stories that caribe kill off reds in tanks.. im planning on keeping them on a high feed diet, so they dont become cannibalistic..
> 
> any kind words from anyone? im only planning to keep them in the 100g for maybe 2-3 months then upgrade to a 150g


Lesson 1) these are piranhas. It is in their nature to be cannibalistic. Even in the wild only the stronger ones will survive living off the weaker ones. So it wont really matter because piranhas are always hungry. They are also territorial.

Lesson 2) here at fury you will get mixed opinions on what will work. Including mixing species. Remember lesson 1).

Lesson 3) what works in someone elses aquarium is absolutely no guarantee it will work in yours. No matter how much banter they give you.

Good luck. Hopefully you wont lose most.


----------



## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Agree... they are especially territorial and cannibals when so young, nothing wrong about it, just their nature... all you can do is provide enough room, lower your tank temp and let nature take its course... an hospital tank is a must when having young Pygos...


----------



## rafael707 (Apr 4, 2011)

great info guys, i also had 10 captive bred reds, but i want something less shy, thats when i heard aquascape had wild caribe and wild reds so im trying to get a mix of those.

what are peoples feelings with barebottom tanks? would that be better? less debri build up from food/fish and no fish can build any territory?


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

rafael707 said:


> great info guys, i also had 10 captive bred reds, but i want something less shy, thats when i heard aquascape had wild caribe and wild reds so im trying to get a mix of those.
> 
> what are peoples feelings with barebottom tanks? would that be better? less debri build up from food/fish and no fish can build any territory?


Bare bottom tanks are fine in my opinion for ease of cleaning and breeding purposes. Gravel tanks with plants provide a more natural environment.

Its really a matter of taste. Both have negatives and positives.


----------



## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Personally i prefer the look of gravel/sand (just a matter of personal taste)... i don't use any deco (driftwood, etc) on my Pygo tanks though... IMO deco will provide nice hiding spots for small Pygos but i always remove it once they start to show territorial aggression...


----------



## rafael707 (Apr 4, 2011)

whats the lowest temp that I can keep them at, i want them to be healthy as possible with little agression due from high temps?

and thanks again guys for the tips


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

rafael707 said:


> whats the lowest temp that I can keep them at, i want them to be healthy as possible with little agression due from high temps?
> 
> and thanks again guys for the tips


When dealing with Amazon fish temperature is something you want to be careful of. You don't want to high (84F) or to low 74F. Lower temperatures can cause disease and parasite problems. Piranhas generally do well between 78-82F. So reducing aggression would be putting it close to the cold threshold.

I've kept piranhas in large groups at 68F but they we're monitored closely. They are a bit more lethargic.


----------



## rafael707 (Apr 4, 2011)

great, im going to try lowering my temp to 77F-78F

thanks hastatus


----------



## rafael707 (Apr 4, 2011)

HGI said:


> "3 1" wild reds"
> 
> I'm not saying they're not wild, but do lfs normally get wild reds in this small??


good question, im not sure, like I said Aquascape claims to have wild reds. Im not sure where they got them from.


----------



## David. (Mar 26, 2011)

I feed my pygo's a mixed coctail of whatever mixed with whatever twice a day as babies and sometimes did not even lose a single fish. I was just consistent and did it everyday and cleaned the gravel out more often. They had nice round bellys all the time and rarely ate each other. I could go back to the fish store I bought them from sometimes a month later and see there baby brothers and sisters half mines size with chunks and eyes missing because they were not being feed right.

Feed them good and consistently. Don't forget. Shrimp mixed with Bloodworms, Beefheart or Krill if they are big enough were normally what I used to mix my coctail with. They get a good diet that's mixed up. I liked always using shrimp to mix because the bigger dominant fish cannot stop the other guys from eating and it's not too messy.

I powerfeed mine and just use that gravel siphon that hooks to the sink to clean the damn mess and do the water change at the same time. I love that toy. Cleans up the gravel then just hit a switch and do my water change. Beats the hell out of buckets for sure.


----------

