[readingbabelfish]

I just got some new p's (2), about an inch long. I have a 55g tank, bubbler, penguin 330, and the norm. The water temp reads 79 degrees and the p's are just floating around next to the heater. They seem to like it there the best. I mean, they swim away if I get close to the tank, but for the most part they stay close to the heater. Should I raise the water temp or something. Also, they seem to be playing with their reflections in the side glass of the tank. They go up and down with their noses almost touching the side. Is this a bad sign? I just got them today and am wondering when the first time I sould feed them. I got frozen bloodworms from the store. Also, there is not any bacteria on the bio-wheel yet, however, I bought bacteria start up kit and am using that. Is there any danger to my fish at this moment? How big should they be before I can feed them live fish? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[fishman2]

Baby p's like that are avoiding being eaten by a predator. Yah Yah I know there are no predators in there, but they don't know that. Give them time they will settle down. Sometimes you can see them play dead just so that you will leave them alone. Smart fishes huh? They normally swim up and down against the glass. Don't know why, but I have seen this with alot of p's. I would wait an extra day to feed them. Sometimes they may go an entire week without eating until they settle down. Just put enough in there not to spoil the tank. Small p's like that should get flake food. Guppies will work, but I would just stick with the flakes for now until they get larger size (over 2 inches).

 

[AZ]

I had gotten 2 2.5inch p's one time and one jsut layed around on its side but it eventually came around like i nthe next 3 or 4 days then it got eatin

 

[thePACK]

i have 11 little ones myself.not to worry when i first added my p they were skiddish.they run and hide when i would passby my tank.just give them a couple days,so they feel comfortable in there new surrounding.try feeding flake like fm2 said and try brine shrimp too.they chase and gobble that stuff up.good luck :rockin:

 

[WebHostExpert]

I have found that puting a background picture on the sides of the tank helps very much when it comes to them swimming at the glass. If You want you P's to grow fast and heathy feed them frozen brine shrimp and do two 30% water changes a week they will love it.

 

[Innes]

it all sounds very normal, except did you cycle your tank?
If you don't like them next to the heater you could try changing the scenery around.
as for feeding them live fish, why don't you add some guppys, tetras and goldfish and when they are ready they will eat them.

 

[Judazzz]

It took my reds about three days to get used to their new surroundings. After that, they started swimming around more freely, although they remained skittish for some two months.
And even now my p's, even my largest one (7"), play dead when I'm screwing around with the tank scenery, and they get upset.

Another good food source for juvi reds are frozen cubes of mosquito larvae: mine loved it when they were small.

 

[Innes]

mosquito larvae

= Bloodworm - I think.

 

[fishman2]

Mosquito larvae and blood worms are not the same.

Blood worms live in mud with running water. Mosquito larvae live in stagnant pools of water.

 

[hydroshutter]

Red mosquito larvae are bloodworms..

To me it sounds like you didn't cycle your tank if there's no bacteria on the bio-wheel. I could be wrong, you might have just added the filter.

 

[marco]

whatever you do. i would get him away from that heater. i had a 2inch piranha in a 40gal. that did the same thing. he developed a heater burn. it was this big fat tan that was on his side.it didnt look to grate. i faded away as he got to be around 6". you dont want that. oh2:

 

[fishman2]

"Red mosquito larvae are bloodworms.."

Nope, they are the larvae of Chironomid midges. They look like a mosquito oh2: The red in the worm is hemoglobin (BLOOD)