# new 10" Blue Diamond Rhom



## DcMX555 (Jul 23, 2007)

My new 10" Blue Diamond from John at East Coast Zoo.. I've only had him for 3 days so I'll post some updated pics as time goes on, let me know what you think..


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## curly (Jun 22, 2006)

I really don't mean to sound rude but thats a bit on the thin side! When I first got my 10" Black Diamond it was a similar shape to yours and I posted pics here and somewhere else. I had a few PM's and replies saying how thin mine was as the line from above the head to the dorsal fin shouldn't be as straight, it should be rounder. Now I've had mine a month or so, you can see its starting to fill out. And before anyone says I'm overfeeding, I feed it 5 days out of 7 and it eats 2 king prawns a day or 2 whitebait or 1 bit of cod fillet.


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## KINGofKINGS (Jul 24, 2006)

I was thinkin the same--- he has a very nice shape but is a bit thin---


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## DcMX555 (Jul 23, 2007)

curly said:


> I really don't mean to sound rude but thats a bit on the thin side! When I first got my 10" Black Diamond it was a similar shape to yours and I posted pics here and somewhere else. I had a few PM's and replies saying how thin mine was as the line from above the head to the dorsal fin shouldn't be as straight, it should be rounder. Now I've had mine a month or so, you can see its starting to fill out. And before anyone says I'm overfeeding, I feed it 5 days out of 7 and it eats 2 king prawns a day or 2 whitebait or 1 bit of cod fillet.


I'd love to fatten him up but how? He's only eaten a few feeder goldfish.. there are actually two, about 3-4" cichlids that have been in this tank for months now (even while my spilos were in there).. he's chased them a few times but they seem to be too quick and take refuge in a log.. what could i feed him to fatten him up and how often? I figure he'll start eating a lot more when he becomes more comfortable in his new tank, as i said, its only been 3 days..

*Question for all:* I am not really "new" to piranha care, but this guy is by far the biggest I've owned. What is the best way to get him more comfortable and really aggressive without straining him? Is the answer just time?? As I said, a bigger tank is coming hopefully soon, I know some of you will still comment on that haha


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## curly (Jun 22, 2006)

I was lucky with mine, it started eating that day! I know of another Blue Diamond that hasn't eaten in ages. They can go for up to 3-4 months without eating so I'm told. Its just patience but I wouldn't use feeders as they could be carrying some sort of parasite/disease. Mine's fed only frozen prawns, whitebait, cod fillet and occasionally beefheart. I soak food in garlic extract quite often for my P's, seems to go down a treat!


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

Yeah, he has great potential. You can go with shrimp as stated above. I would take the cichlids out, and never (or hardley ever) feed him feeders. They are not great for him. I use shimp as the main food source, and do a little tapila occasionly. And once in a long while I would go with some beef heart.

Almost forgot, spend lots of time with him, put him by your computer, or near whatever elts you spend your time doing. Other then that just time.


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## DcMX555 (Jul 23, 2007)

thanks for the advice!


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## NickNick (Apr 18, 2006)

Nice


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

catfish, with shrimp, as a primary, also squid and cray-fish are what i use-to feed back when i kept piranha. Many times i would fill the catfish chunks with a high quality pellet, as they are nerly prefect from a nutritional standpoint.


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## DcMX555 (Jul 23, 2007)

Hey Curly, do you have any recent your pics of your 10" Diamond? Just curious what yours looks like. Is he pretty aggressive or somewhat timid? I can tell my Blue's becoming less and less timid every day but he still rather swim away when I approach the tank.. still early though so no worries!


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## curly (Jun 22, 2006)

Sure thing here you go:
Before








One month later








It doesn't like too much traffic at the minute but I've just put it in a bigger tank so it hasn't settled down yet. Goes for the food immediately though!
Hope you like it!!


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## DcMX555 (Jul 23, 2007)

real nice fish, what size tank did you transfer him too?


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## KINGofKINGS (Jul 24, 2006)

notice how curleys rhom's head took on a round look--- thats how yours will look once he starts to beefen up-


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## curly (Jun 22, 2006)

DcMX555 said:


> real nice fish, what size tank did you transfer him too?


Thank you.
Its a 100 UK gallon roughly. Running a FX5 and an Eheim 2026 pro 2 thermo filters. Eats almost everything! It's starting to look a bit rounder by the head. I've seen a pic of a 13" Black Diamond and that was round! Looked lovely. Also has a 2500lph powerhead in there as well for a little exercise.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> curly Posted Today, 09:29 AM
> QUOTE(DcMX555 @ Sep 21 2007, 04:30 PM)
> real nice fish, what size tank did you transfer him too?
> 
> ...


Good example of fat storage area refilling (dorsum). Nice looking fish! The original poster, the fish is skinny (dorsum) in appearance. Like others have told you, just feed it well and it should over time look as good as curly fish.

PS: curly: Have you done anything for that white coating over the fins? Looks almost like bacteria or fungus.


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## ZOSICK (May 25, 2005)

am I the only one that see a diamond rhom...
being a member since 05, I have yet to see a rhom that's blue or gold they all look more of a silver colour than blue or gold.

it's like buying a blue car that end's up silver did you get what you payed for no.

that fish isn't blue, gold, purple or red its a diamond rhom.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

06 C6 LS2 said:


> am I the only one that see a diamond rhom...
> being a member since 05, I have yet to see a rhom that's blue or gold they all look more of a silver colour than blue or gold.
> 
> it's like buying a blue car that end's up silver did you get what you payed for no.
> ...


it is hard to get a clean pic with a 2.0 megapix camera but Fluffy has the blueish tint to him...pics taken under natural lighting.

Nice rhom BTW..once he puts on a little weight, its colors will be more vivid.


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## Greg Stephens (Sep 30, 2006)

chomp chomp said:


> am I the only one that see a diamond rhom...
> being a member since 05, I have yet to see a rhom that's blue or gold they all look more of a silver colour than blue or gold.
> 
> it's like buying a blue car that end's up silver did you get what you payed for no.
> ...


it is hard to get a clean pic with a 2.0 megapix camera but Fluffy has the blueish tint to him...pics taken under natural lighting.

Nice rhom BTW..once he puts on a little weight, its colors will be more vivid.

View attachment 154214

View attachment 154215

[/quote]

This is sort of funny, to me we as humans tend to over feed our selves and our pets .
I think the BDR's in the wild tend to stay much more lean much like the pics the thread strater posted.
You have to question do we OVER feed and at what cost to the animals system!

Greg

BTW SWEET fish boys I will add pics of my BDR soon!


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