# My Black Rhom In The Office



## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Just picked up a nice 4" Black Rhom from my local pet shop for $50 for my business office. I felt bad for the little guy sitting in a bare tank with hideous blue gravel. Nice Juvenile spots on him along with nice coloration on his gill plates. The rhom has been feeding on frozen krill at the pet shop so I picked up a bag of krill so he'd have some nom noms he's familiar with....

He bit a hole in the bag at the shop right away and had to be re-bagged.

After being floated and then dripped I let him into his new home. It was interesting to see him interact with my starter fish today. All My neon tetras hid low in the cover almost instantly recognizing him as a Rhom. The 4 Black tetras in the tank kept swimming in front of him almost ignorant to what he is. The rhom seemed to be tracking the black tetras in stealth. I plan on keeping the tank lights off for a few days so my rhom can become comfortable with his new home. I expect to see less black tetras in the tank tomorrow morning based on the stalking behavior I saw today from the rhom and the reckless curiosity of the black tetras.

Hopefully he enjoys his new home and lives a long and happy life.

I know this thread seems useless without pics so I promise I'll put some up by this weekend.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Funny that you mention black tetras and neons. My little 5 1/2" rhom absolutely loves neons. He will devour them first every single time. Now black skirt tetras (not sure if that's what you have or just regular black tetras) on the other hand he'll tolerate them for a long time, then they'll start disappearing one by one. The last little guy made it about 2 months with my rhom and I just notice last night that he finally downed him.

Can't wait to see pix. I'd kill to have a rhom in my office.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Sacrifice said:


> Funny that you mention black tetras and neons. My little 5 1/2" rhom absolutely loves neons. He will devour them first every single time. Now black skirt tetras (not sure if that's what you have or just regular black tetras) on the other hand he'll tolerate them for a long time, then they'll start disappearing one by one. The last little guy made it about 2 months with my rhom and I just notice last night that he finally downed him.
> 
> Can't wait to see pix. I'd kill to have a rhom in my office.


Interesting feedback.. did you cycle your tank with neons and black tetras? Yes, my black tetras are black skirts. They just seem to be testing the rhom. There is plenty of cover in the tank so it will be interesting to see how long all my starters last.

I convinced my business partner we needed a fish tank in the office since I've had the bug to get back into fish keeping for a long time. I figured the tank would be a natural way to lower my high blood pressure at work. I've wanted a piranha for a long time but couldn't because I used to live in Massachusetts. I went with the rhom based on it's growth potential and I really didn't want a shoal of pygos. As cool as pygos are my clients may think i'm a sadist watching my animals devour other living things. The rhom was appealing since most uneducated people won't know what it is. I think my business partner has unrealistic expectations of the Rhom based on bed time stories and movies but I know what we are in for.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Yeah I used the neons and tetras to cycle the tank. My rhom like them


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## XiDiS (Aug 27, 2011)

I wish Pet stores in my area could even order rhoms in... let alone have one in stock. Congrats on the fish.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Came in this morning and two black tetras were missing. I was expecting some losses overnight. The rhom hates the tank lights on, now he is between behind a plant and the 3d background not moving.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

XiDiS said:


> I wish Pet stores in my area could even order rhoms in... let alone have one in stock. Congrats on the fish.


There weren't many places around here that carry Rhoms... Thanks man.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Sorry for the bad pic...


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## serrasalmus_ve (Feb 12, 2008)

much food can hurt


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)




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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Video from the other day..

http://img687.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=P2bb

Today's update:

Still hiding during the day but he has been eating. Only 8 neon tetras are left and two black skirt tetras with nipped tails. I added an air pump over the weekend along with two circulation pumps over the weekend to the tank along with some more plant cover for the little guy to hide.

It's really cool to watch a predator behaving naturally in a simulated environment.


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## Ryan25 (May 11, 2011)

Nice looking Rhom!


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Ryan25 said:


> Nice looking Rhom!


Thanks...

today's update: down to one Black tetra and seven neon tetras. My rhom pretty much stayed in one place for most of the day today. Very shy fish.


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

Nice rhom I'm about to put my 10" rhom in my office today too


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

Hey man nice pick up! I like that tank from your previous post man.. Nice fish to add to the tank.. I think it's a great choice. Should look awesome in that tank for a long time man


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

TJcali said:


> Hey man nice pick up! I like that tank from your previous post man.. Nice fish to add to the tank.. I think it's a great choice. Should look awesome in that tank for a long time man


Thank you Ryan. He's a cool fish and I hope to have him around for a long time. I already have plans to upgrade to tank to a 125g when he gets bigger and moving the 55g into my other office space...

My Rhom is the strangest fish I ever observed. He eats at night when I'm not around but during the day the minute he sees me or my brother in law he hides motionless along the wall behind some plants. One morning when I got to the office I slowly opened the door and saw him swimming about but the minute he saw me he went into hiding for the whole day.

Since the tank is by the door and my staff walks in and out of my executive office I decided to put a sheet of black vinyl on the door side of the the tank to make him less stressed. I even put strips of tin foil on my lighting to dim the lighting down to make him more comfortable.

I'm beginning to think that the tank is so heavily planted and the along with the background I'm seeing natural skittish juvenile behavior from my rhom.

All my florescent lighting is on its own timer. My power heads are on their own timer and only run during the day. My airpump is on another timer set to come on and off randomly throughout the day and night. I have been thinking about adding some moonlight simulating LEDs on it's own timer for night.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Mr. Rhom is still hiding during the day. I was at the office late one night with the office and tank lights off and was holding a single LED near the tank when I noticed he came right up to the glass to check it out. He wasn't shy at all.

I had a discussion with an experienced piranha keeper at my local LFS and he recommended changing my back fixture light with a actinic blue light and leaving the normal florescent bulb in the front. He said it tricked his light sensitive P's to swim around in the back of the tank.


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

I use those bulbs on my 125g but my pygo's never minded the light. On my Rhom's tank I have a single 18" build for the entire tank.. it's not to bright this way an he seems to swim around a lot.. I bet if you run just one an set it over the center of the tank for a few months he will get use to his new surroundings easier.. then you could bump the light to brighter with all your lights running.. this way he gets use to his new stuff without the blazing lights.. ease him into things


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## agea (Mar 5, 2011)

no rush give him/her time.....I have 3 rhoms and 2 out of the 3 are just staring to show personalty


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

MFNRyan said:


> no rush give him/her time.....I have 3 rhoms and 2 out of the 3 are just staring to show personalty


I'm in no rush, I'm dedicated for the long haul. I just want to keep the little fella happy, comfortable and healthy. How long have you had your rhoms?


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

My rhom has a 6500k ultra white light.,, the 125g has the atinic


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

I'll post pics of the updated lighting this week along with some office pics the tank is in. Thanks for your feedback Ryan, it's been helpful.


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## agea (Mar 5, 2011)

blueouija said:


> no rush give him/her time.....I have 3 rhoms and 2 out of the 3 are just staring to show personalty


I'm in no rush, I'm dedicated for the long haul. I just want to keep the little fella happy, comfortable and healthy. How long have you had your rhoms?
[/quote]

I had my black rhom since march this year...my small mystery rhom since in june and my diamond rhom in July....its an addiction lol...i had red belly's when i was teenager just got back in the game this year


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## Da' Manster! (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi Ray,
I've never been a fan of hiding spots...Just a couple of plants for scenery..Try removing some of his hiding spots...As has been said before, the less spots he has to hide, the more acclimated he will get used to you and being out in wide open spaces!...This in turn will lead to him being more confident and probably him coming out of his shell sooner rather than later...Also try raising your temp to 82 degrees...(that is what I have always done)...Higher temps naturally bring out more aggression in rhoms and pygos alike and maybe, just maybe, your guy will be less skittish and shy..


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

Some people dont like this idea,but i went bare tank with my GD Rhom since day 1 and he has stayed out in the open ever since.Even when i moved him to my bigger tank.I provide him with 1 rock in his tank just in case he feels the need to hide during the day but never has.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Da said:


> Some people dont like this idea,but i went bare tank with my GD Rhom since day 1 and he has stayed out in the open ever since.Even when i moved him to my bigger tank.I provide him with 1 rock in his tank just in case he feels the need to hide during the day but never has.


Since the background is pretty much permanently installed all I can do is thing the plants in the tank now.


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## blueouija (May 25, 2011)

Update:

The Rhom is liking the dimmer lighting with the actinic bulb in the tank... the actinic blue lighting has grown on me as well. He randomly has been exploring his tank when I'm sitting at my desk. When my staff walks in he hides behind the driftwood and you can catch him peaking out between the driftwood and a plant. It's funny to watch him. He seems smart for a fish.

He's a really cool fish and seems to be coming out his shell little day by day. I have been coming in on the weekends to see how he's doing and doing water changes on Sundays when the building manager isn't around. All the neons and black tetras have perished in the tank now because of my hungry new friend. Pics coming soon. Sorry for the delay I keep forgetting to bring the camera to the office.


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