# 5 BABY REDS



## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

hi all................

Ok i finally picked up my 5 baby reds today after 4 weeks of waiting for them....................they were in a tank at a fish shop for 1 weeks as i was working away and couldnt collect them......

So they were bagged up and i brought them home and did all the correct procedures in releasing them into my tank..................

But for some some reason one of the litle guys just sits and hardly moves under a piece of slate kinda flowing in the current........is this guy om or is he stressed from the transport..........

My water P's are all fine..................


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

yea they will do that for a while...to speed up the process turn of your lights and they will being to explore there new surroundings. I got my reds last friday and they did the same thing until i turned off the lights.


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## B-rock (Mar 31, 2006)

Give them sometime, they just went from one home to the next.
Bri


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Trigga said:


> yea they will do that for a while...to speed up the process turn of your lights and they will being to explore there new surroundings. I got my reds last friday and they did the same thing until i turned off the lights.


Agreed ^^^

Turn off your lights for a day or so. That will help ease the stress of being transported from store, bag, then to your tank. Patience is the key. Give them some time, and they will start acting normal shortly. Of course, normal behavior at that size (1" or so) will be very skittish until they reach the 3" - 4" mark. Then they will start become a little less skittish. You are already doing the most important thing you need to do, OBSERVE them everyday. Note any differences in behavior, feeding habits, water quality, etc...

Best of luck, and if you have any questions, you can PM me or post them here.










Oh, I meant to say "nice pick up" earlier!!


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Pretty normal when adapting to a new tank... as been said it's a matter of time and patience. Eventually he should settle down... other than that i agree lights off for the first day should help them adapt and explore their new home... good luck on your new Ps and post some pics soon...







!


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

When I first got mine they "acted" stressed too when I added them to the tank. I acclimated them very slowly, and some of them still just propped themselves up on the gravel leaning sideways. I just left them alone, because I knew there was no way they were stressed since everything was pristine, and I acclimated them so slowly. I came back in my room about 15 minutes later, and they were exploring the tank already looking for food!

I'm sure yours are fully settled in by now too, right?
~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Its been whole day since i had them in the tank, they seem to be ok, they mainly get stressed when i walk in the room, they fly about like idiots and then seem to sit on the gravel again..............i put ome blood worm in last night and thank got most of it has been eaten, o i will remove the rest this morning and then add some freh trout in a little later.........................fingers crossed hope they do well, and ill post some pics in a few days when i get my camera bck


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Nice to hear they are doing better now... can't wait to see some pics...







!


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## smallmouth (Jun 22, 2003)

I had this fear with mine so i added 20 danios before i got my reds they are eating like starved little crazzies already. The danios worked like a charm for dithers again for me.


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i have put 5 tetra in with them alwell in a hope that the cannabalistic stage will be taken out on them, but im gonna buy some mollies for it os they are low and the little babies should have a nip at them instead of each other, but once the pirnha get bigger ill take the other fish out and stick em in my community tank.........


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Just be sure you use "clean" (quarantined) feeders...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

the feeders came from my community tank and they have been in there for 5 months...................so they are pretty clean...hopefully.....

also i thought i would add that the little gits bite me today and now i have a nip out of my finger, i fed them some trout today and they loved it............they loved it so much that when i decided to take it out ( being silly and using my hands) 2 of them decided that thy didnt want me too and attacked my finger....................OOUUCCHHII


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> also i thought i would add that the little gits bite me today and now i have a nip out of my finger, i fed them some trout today and they loved it............they loved it so much that when i decided to take it out ( being silly and using my hands) 2 of them decided that thy didnt want me too and attacked my finger....................OOUUCCHHII


Wow, are you serious!?! That's crazy for little reds to charge your hand like that. You must have some pretty aggressive ones, or just protective of their food.







Did they take a chunk out? I've been bitten by a baby red belly once (about 2-3") and luckily it just made a circle of teethmarks in my thumb. I didn't even really know I was bitten until I pulled my hand out of the water and blood started coming out. It hurt pretty bad later on.
~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i never have heard of babies doing it either to be honest but i guess i managed to annoy them some howi basically have a very small nip out of my inde figer and a few little hole where the teeth went in......

i also have another P with is 3 1/2 long and he is not scared off me either i seem to get lucky with my RBP.......he chases my finger around the glass


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

dezboy said:


> i never have heard of babies doing it either to be honest but i guess i managed to annoy them some howi basically have a very small nip out of my inde figer and a few little hole where the teeth went in......
> 
> i also have another P with is 3 1/2 long and he is not scared off me either i seem to get lucky with my RBP.......he chases my finger around the glass


Nice to hear you got some outgoing guys...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Small update..............

I decied to feed them trout and blood worm for breakfast this morning and noticed that one of the TETRA's was bullying the other piranha and keeping the P's away from the food, once i removed the tetra the P's were all coming out fine and eating the food...............

Also i have notied there is a alpha baby hich seems to have his little space around one of the plants, any little baby which comes near gets chassed away....so i will have to kep an eye on this one to make sure he doesnt try and injure ny of them.................


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> Small update..............
> 
> I decied to feed them trout and blood worm for breakfast this morning and noticed that one of the TETRA's was bullying the other piranha and keeping the P's away from the food, once i removed the tetra the P's were all coming out fine and eating the food...............
> 
> Also i have notied there is a alpha baby hich seems to have his little space around one of the plants, any little baby which comes near gets chassed away....so i will have to kep an eye on this one to make sure he doesnt try and injure ny of them.................


I'm sure once those reds grow more and that tetra gets added back to the tank, he won't even think about bullying them anymore.









It seems like there is always a runt in a shoal that sometimes gets picked on. I had one for a while in my shoal, but all of a sudden he shot up in growth and now my reds are all the same size.
~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i was very lucky all my P's were about the same size none of them seem to be bigger than an other...................so hopefully i wont get ny eaten, i am feeding them 3 times a day morning lunch and before i go to bed to help them keep big fat bellies...............hehehe


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

dezboy said:


> i was very lucky all my P's were about the same size none of them seem to be bigger than an other...................so hopefully i wont get ny eaten, i am feeding them 3 times a day morning lunch and before i go to bed to help them keep big fat bellies...............hehehe


Nice... good luck...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

checked on them again and one of the little guys was kinda face down hidding in the plants so i put a net in and he scoote out nicely but i noticed he has had a nip out of his dorsal fin,,,,,,hopefully this isnt a sign of cannabalism.....................


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> checked on them again and one of the little guys was kinda face down hidding in the plants so i put a net in and he scoote out nicely but i noticed he has had a nip out of his dorsal fin,,,,,,hopefully this isnt a sign of cannabalism.....................


You are bouund to have a lot of fin nips when raising little reds. Usually it's just something you can't avoid. They will pass that stage when they get about 4" and fin nips shouldn't be nearly as common. You can keep the tank at a lower temperature to help calm them. 
~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

what temp would you suggest, at the moment i have them at 25....which is 77 i think......................i normally keep the water between 25 and 27........


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

I keep all my P tanks at 80º... but if they start to fight/kill each other you can lower temp to 78º...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

yes my water is at 77, which should hopefully stop them from killing each other, when they are older ill stick the temp up to 80,


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

fed them some chiken breast this morning and they were all over it like a fat kid on a cup cake, so far the nipping is at a minimal as they are being kept well fed alothough it is alot of work cleaning out all the left over food...................


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

dezboy said:


> fed them some chiken breast this morning and they were all over it like a fat kid on a cup cake, so far the nipping is at a minimal as they are being kept well fed alothough it is alot of work cleaning out all the left over food...................


I suggest you don't feed chicken regularly since it's fatty, contains hormones and could mess your tank water... i suggest white flesh fish and shrimp as staple food...







!


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I would feed them 3-4 times a day real small amounts..... This works well for little guys like that. If you have access to frozen bloodworms, or frozen beefheart I would fed them tht for a while untill they get bigger......


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i normally feed them bloodworm shrimp and trout but i thought i would try and vary thier diet a little, i dont have any beef heart but i have steak.....................lol


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Did my water P's today

PH=7.0
Amonia=0
Nitrite=0-5
Nitrate=0

After seeing my Nitrite was around the 0-5 mark i did a 25% water change and Vacced the gravel whilst i was at it............

I will test again in another 3 days..................


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> Did my water P's today
> 
> PH=7.0
> Amonia=0
> ...


0-5 is a huge difference. Are you using those dip strips? I suggest purchasing a liquid test kit if you don't already have one. They will give you much more accurate readings on your water parameters.
~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i do have a liquid test kit, that was a tad confusing but the reading was 5 sorry.............................

They have finally settled in to the tank also, they ahve all been swimming about alot more today and moving higher in the tank exploring a little more, its good to see........................


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Nice to hear they are coming around...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Some bad news today, woke up and turned my power head on , like normal, (this power head feeds the tank with alot of oxygen.) and a dead pirhana flows accross the top,

then was st on the bed and suddenly the power head went off then on again, went and had a look and a baby had got sucked in to it.........

so 2 dead in one day and only 3 left......................


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

dezboy said:


> Some bad news today, woke up and turned my power head on , like normal, (this power head feeds the tank with alot of oxygen.) and a dead pirhana flows accross the top,
> 
> then was st on the bed and suddenly the power head went off then on again, went and had a look and a baby had got sucked in to it.........
> 
> so 2 dead in one day and only 3 left......................


Sorry to hear that







... how big are your Ps BTW...?


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

they are around 1inch maybe a bit less,


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> they are around 1inch maybe a bit less,


That is why I always tell everybody to keep their powerhead off until their piranhas are at least 3".

On the bright side, since they are only 1" you should be able to easily find some replacements at a local fish store. Don't get yourself down, it's all a learning process.








~Taylor~


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

dezboy said:


> they are around 1inch maybe a bit less,










Powerhead is not recommended when having such small Ps... you should wait till they get over 2-3"...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

i will turn them off and just use the air pump to get air in the tank


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> i will turn them off and just use the air pump to get air in the tank


Piranhas come from low oxygenated waters, so you don't technically need to have an air pump going. It is fine if you do though.


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

That sucks man. HOpfully you dont have to wait to long to get replasments. how big is your tank? THis time I would tell you to get more then you would expect to let live in your tank. I got 12 1inchers, a few where dead in transport, so about 9 now I have 5 6-7 inchers. dont wait too long before you get more because with growth like this if you wait a month you will have 2 inch p's in your tank and might have a prob if you put smaller ones in there. Take pictures when they are young. before you know it they will be big! here is 6-7 months of growth.
View attachment 112704


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Nice specimen sprfunk...







!


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

thanks bro


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

turned my power heads of today and just placed a air stone in there....ok a quick question i have been feeding them fish flake for 2 days is this ok, i have ran out of blood worm but have been working 12 hours shifts so havent been able to buy any...............they seem to be eating the flake well.................


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

dezboy said:


> turned my power heads of today and just placed a air stone in there....ok a quick question i have been feeding them fish flake for 2 days is this ok, i have ran out of blood worm but have been working 12 hours shifts so havent been able to buy any...............they seem to be eating the flake well.................


Fish flakes are perhaps the best food for piranhas when they are that age! Bloodworms are good too, but flakes are specially formulated for tropical fish. It would be a GREAT thing if piranhas would accept flakes as adults. With that said, give them as much flakes as they will eat for as long as they will accept them.








~Taylor~


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

ooooo cool buddy, i never knew that at all.......cheers for the help..i have a ton of flake................


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Certainly fish flakes is a great option for baby Ps... if they really like it you should try a colour enhancing formula...







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

woke up this morning to find the P's had attacked one of the tetra's with no fins left..........................and this is me feeding them 3 times a day also......................crazy little fish, hungry criters


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Yeap they born willing to eat the world...







!


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

So how is evrything going? THey might be a little small still but cichlid gold is awsume if you can get them to eat that.


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

they are going well at the moment, growing like crazy still and still attacking the tetra instead of each other.......good..........

got a new brand of bloodworm yestoday and they love it, so i will be using that, flake, and trout, and shrimp................plenty of choice...

I also fed my 4" RBP some tiger shrimp yestoday and OMG he went wild for it, crazy.........................


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

recent update.......................

my little babies have almost doubled in size ad are still eating like crazy..............

had a slight loss, i woke up this morning to find the head of a tetra lying at the bottom of the tank..................and this is with me feeding them 3 times a day...................

and i have also modified my power heads so they no longer are able to suck and pirnhas up........................


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Congrats!! Sounds like your p's are doing great. Keep up the feedings and the great work.


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

tried them with some beef today, at first they didnt seem to like it but all of a sudden boom all 3 around it like a fat kid on a cup cake.........

it seems like they are growing larger and larger each day, i will try and get some pictures this week alo


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## altimaser (Jul 10, 2006)

Mine took about two weeks to settle down and become social. Now I have to watch my RBP's while I clean there tank because they want to bite me and the cleaning tube. They are very social and will come out any time they see a person looking into the tank. Time is all they need.


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

OK i woke up this morning to find my litle babies acting a little strange,,,,,,,,they were swimming next to each other and kinda acting like they were waning to mate.....................you know whne they kinda shimmy next to each other,

I dont know what this behaviour was in aid off, but i did change the decore in the tank yestoday could thi be the problem,

i have seen this bahaviour in adults but never in babies.....

any thoughts???????/


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

How big are they? You say that they are babies, so I would say that they are two small to even start that behavior. Nonetheless, to answer your question; yes, my reds will do similar behavior when they are playing, setting up territories etc... I believe that it is actually quit normal.

I have heard of people's reds mating at 8 months, but nothing before that. (FYI)


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Yes there are babies maybe only 1 1/2 " at he moment, maybe because i moved all the decor they were establishing thier new areas....there have been not in nips as of late so hopefully it wasnt the sign of aggresion......................


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## hitler (Jun 4, 2006)

time is the key. They will come around when they are ready


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

THESE ARE THE PICS OF MY BABIES AFTER 3 MONTHS AMAZING HOW THEY GROW FROM DIME SIZE BABIES,

3 ARE AROUND 4" AND ONE IS 5",

THE BOTTOM PIC IS OF THE TANK BEFORE I CHANGED MY FLUVAL 404 OVER TO IT SO THE P'S ARE ONLY A FEW WEEKS OLD IN IT,


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Your reds are looking good! That sounds like some very nice growth you are getting!


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## lastgreengarden (Sep 13, 2006)

nice little fish


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Great growth congrats







!


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

after posting the pictures, i can up stairs to find the runt of the 4mfish had been eaten to the point there was around only a quarter of him left, dont eally understand why this happens, but unfortunately it does, so im down to 3,,,,,,,,,,,,,,gutted,


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