# why are red bellies so boring?



## chasingtime (Feb 8, 2005)

all they do morning noon and night is hide. this sucks...


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

that why their are the cheapest out of all piranha lol...acturally RED are not boring. depending how you decorat your set up and what you have in your set up...if their hid some much then take the hiding space out from the tank and add more plants in there...If you dont have power head add it, it will make your piranha more active and swim more, and raise up your temp...High temp with make piranha active and more aggressive..


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## Apott05 (Jul 19, 2005)

iv never thought them to be boring. skitish yes. boring probaly not. They is always some kind of activity in a red tank.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Many factors are in play when it comes to activity levels of reds.

Water temperature
Lighting
Water conditions
Age and size of fish
Number of fish in comparison to tank size
Overall health of fish
How much exposure they get to outside movement
Water current in tank (powerheads and such)
More

The 2 times I've had my 150 gallon tank full of reds, the fish were constantly swimming, and when I would approach with food and lift the top of the tank, they would come up and swarm, waiting for their meal.


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

Piranha_man said:


> Many factors are in play when it comes to activity levels of reds.
> 
> *Water temperature
> Lighting
> ...


I have to agreed with you on this one MAN!....depending on many factor, how well you raise them, with proper care, etc....


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

chasingtime said:


> all they do morning noon and night is hide. this sucks...


how many reds in how big of a tank?


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

Maybe piranha are not for you...


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## bc_buddah (Dec 18, 2005)

one that one guy said it all . .. .

if i were u i'd add more reds, u have 200 gallons .. and take away all decor, that'll keep them active . . they'll just hide behind eachother instead of whatever's in the tank and b a more sctive shoal

what size reds u got? powerheads are a good one . . . lighting for sure . . . and ya reds arnt kllling machines . . no p's are . . . i sold my reds cuz they got a little boring + no room for them . .. but . . ya . . i want a guppie tank now hehe


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## Apott05 (Jul 19, 2005)

i always overstock my red tank. Hell i was just gonna put 10 in my 100.

but thats just me


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## weister42 (Apr 30, 2006)

Throw a rat in there, that'll make it interesting


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

Get ur reds when small they will get use to you. My reds ahve never been skittish or hide. They always watch me. hehe


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Another thing I've noticed with my red tanks, they go in 'Activity spurts' throughout the day.

Sometimes they'll all be hunkered down on the bottom playing "Don't get in my space" with each other, and then all of a sudden it's like somebody blew a whistle and they're all up and swimming all over the tank covering every cubic inch of it, playing in the powerheads, doing 'laps...'


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

I don't understand why everyone has so much trouble with reds being skittish...guess I am just lucky....never have had a skittish P...yeah...they spook sometimes...but never hid all day long like most say thiers do.

Try taking everything out of the tank for a month or more...they will get used to you.


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## VRM (Jan 9, 2007)

Leasure1 said:


> I don't understand why everyone has so much trouble with reds being skittish...guess I am just lucky....never have had a skittish P...yeah...they spook sometimes...but never hid all day long like most say thiers do.
> 
> Try taking everything out of the tank for a month or more...they will get used to you.


agreed mine attack my tank syphon when cleaning the tank. they very rarely hide ,and i have tons of stuff to hide behind ,and in. you want some activity? give em a treat some giant danios. i did it today for the first time ,and i have never seen my p's swim this fast,and the kill is insane


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

the more red bellies you can keep the less skitish they should be because red bellies run in packs so if you have a big shoal then they will have more guts and they wont be"boring"


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## chasingtime (Feb 8, 2005)

thanks for all the input guys. i will raise the temp a little and see if that helps... how do moonlights work with ps?


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## D*ROC (Nov 21, 2005)

idk.....my rpbs are always moving.....is your tank in a high traffic room?


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## ReBoot (Oct 31, 2006)

I would have to say that reds are not boring at all. Maybe its because I have 21 of them in a tank as of now, but I also have 0 hiding spaces in there. I have good water flow too.


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## piranhajonathan (Jan 18, 2007)

My P's are active and like playing games like eat my homies ass off.


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## MB BOYS (Sep 8, 2006)

Damn that sucks about your P getting attacked... And like everyone is saying change it up alittle... I have 6 in 125 Gal and part of the day they chill at bottom in their own spots... Then other times they will be swimming around the tank....


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## chasingtime (Feb 8, 2005)

MB BOYS said:


> Damn that sucks about your P getting attacked... And like everyone is saying change it up alittle... I have 6 in 125 Gal and part of the day they chill at bottom in their own spots... Then other times they will be swimming around the tank....


im not sure what you mean about my ps getting attacked. these guys will swim around until i get up and move around and then its dart for cover time. i should take a picture because i love my simple setup. its bare bottom with a good size fake tree stump and a 12 foot loop of plastic broadleaf seaweed flowing out from the stump. ill get a pic up soon. i would hate to remove it cause the tank will look too bare being a 220...


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## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

> why are red bellies so boring?


Because they are not the monsters potraid in movies. They are carnivorious fishes that have many predators in their natural enviroment and have adapted a skittish behavior that helps them survive.

You will never change millions of years of evolution in an aquarium tank, all you can do is minimize it a little.



> Try taking everything out of the tank for a month or more...they will get used to you.


This will not help their skittishness go away, if anything it will make it worst. You have to try and creat a natural enviroment for your fishes and that means driftwood, natural plants, etc. Once you created this, your fishes will come out of their shell. They key here is time and patience.



> the more red bellies you can keep the less skitish they should be because red bellies run in packs so if you have a big shoal then they will have more guts and they wont be"boring"


I agree with Bud, but you have to be carefull not to over crowd your tank.

Just like Taylor said, maybe Piranhas are not for you.

Hater


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## Noel2896 (Aug 30, 2006)

mine were like that at first dude, be patient I barely have time to stick my fingers in the tank and add food and their right there, raise the temps and give em places to hide and they get used to the routine, when I shut off my powerhead for feedings they are all over the place


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## Noel2896 (Aug 30, 2006)

mine were like that at first dude, be patient I barely have time to stick my fingers in the tank and add food and their right there, raise the temps and give em places to hide and they get used to the routine, when I shut off my powerhead for feedings they are all over the place


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## juggalo45601 (Feb 21, 2007)

Like fury said move the hiding spots out of the tank and move ur decor around. I can sit back, crack open a beer and watch my 1 4' RBP for hours.


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## Noel2896 (Aug 30, 2006)

turn up the temp and give em time, mine barely give me time to get my fingers out of the water when feeding them they are active all day long till the lights are off, I have a routine of shutting off the powerhead current when feeding and as soon as I unplug it they are at the surface ready for dinner


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

cHiLlIcOtHeJuGgAlO said:


> Like fury said move the hiding spots out of the tank and move ur decor around. I can sit back, crack open a beer and watch my 1 4' RBP for hours.


Man, if I had a 14 foot red belly, I'd watch him for hours too!


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## juggalo45601 (Feb 21, 2007)

Just try moving some stuff around, I can crack open a cold one and watch my RBP all day


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## bud......weiser (Feb 12, 2007)

cHiLlIcOtHeJuGgAlO said:


> Just try moving some stuff around, I can crack open a cold one and watch my RBP all day


wow thats really funny i have my laptop beside me ,im looking at my reds and drinking a beer right now..lol


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## bootdink (Jan 17, 2007)

i dont think you respsect them as much as they should be respected.................maybe thats why there so boring???


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## chasingtime (Feb 8, 2005)

bootdink said:


> i dont think you respsect them as much as they should be respected.................maybe thats why there so boring???


im not sure what you mean respect??? thats weird, my point is i never see them...


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

chasingtime said:


> i dont think you respsect them as much as they should be respected.................maybe thats why there so boring???


im not sure what you mean respect??? thats weird, my point is i never see them...
[/quote]

What size are the fish?

A 220 is a lot of space.

Small fish, with lots of cover in a low traffic area will hide a lot.

What's the lighting like?

Maybe you just have unrealistic expectations of these fish?


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## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

Mettle said:


> i dont think you respsect them as much as they should be respected.................maybe thats why there so boring???


im not sure what you mean respect??? thats weird, my point is i never see them...
[/quote]

What size are the fish?

A 220 is a lot of space.

Small fish, with lots of cover in a low traffic area will hide a lot.

What's the lighting like?
*
Maybe you just have unrealistic expectations of these fish?*
[/quote]

i agree, piranha's are no where near what tv movies etc...project them to be as, try livening up your crew by adding a few wild p's, maybe a couple ternz, caribe, or even super reds, i love my fish, and they're my pride and joy's


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