[Esoteric]

I have 3 Caribe that are all 5-6"... The largest and fattest of the 3 is a bully he likes to pick fights all day long. The smallest of the 3 is a active fish, I feal for the small guy because today I saw his third wound, right on his mouth area..

Even though I have plenty of hiding spaces I dont see it contribute to much with this size of Piranha.

I do not want to see this little guy die... But this big one is a real badass; he was in a tank with 30+ pygos and he was flawless.

George has told me in the past that a overstocked tank leads to less problems. And the fewer the piranha the more they will fight for space. I figured I only had room for (3) in this 75gallon.

Should I just redo my tank again with more swimming room?
Or should I add another Caribe or Tern that is 6" so the largest can't bully anymore? Or maybe they will act more like a school with (4).

Give me some insight I dont want to see this little guy die

! He was almost all healed up!

 

[kev4321]

ive got 5, 5" RBPs in a 66 and my decore takes up a lot of room, they are fine, they sit there all day and shoal...

but anyways my question is how much size difference between them all?

 

[fiveo93]

IMO a 75 gallon will prove to be too small for cariba in due time, so i wouldnt risk adding any more. try stepping up on their feeding intervals , adding a powerhead and some "dither" fish to help take some off their aggression out on

 

[dutchfrompredator]

i would give you the obvious advice: heavy filtraton, heavy plants, adequate swimming space, and low temp to keep 'em mellow. i have five in a 72 and no one gets anything worse than nips and scratches. you may just have a trouble caribe. i had a problem tern that couldn't be conquered so i seperated them. try the above. imo, 3 pygos in a 75 is more than enough space. caribes are mainiacs though. are they eating enough? my caribe eats even when he's not hungry. he has the biggest appetite of all my pygos.

 

[Esoteric]

It is already fully planted rocks / driftwood..

powerhead 1140 penguin 300gph, the xp3 shoots 350gph..
I dont think they could handle anymore until atleast 9" let me know though im not sure..

oh they eat like I have never seen, they have 3 minnows in the tank they never touched... but eat goldfish on sight. Not to mention beefhear, shrimp and earthworms on the drop.

I think it might just be a troubled Cariba.. I will stick with the 3 for now.

here is a zoomed before pic of the same P, I will get one later of him now.

 

[Esoteric]

Things are not looking good, the other smaller cariba has a large bite on the side of his mouth... it looks like some skin is hardly being held on.

Now 2 of the 3 fish have mouth injuries from the big guy...

I already have been using melafix, but now I dont think its enough...

any ideas? maybe another powerhead??

 

[killerbee]

how much deco do you have? it could be that u have so much deco that they tend to bump into one another and then all hell breaks lose.

I have 4 pygos in my 60 gallon right now and they were always fighting over territory (deco) then i took everyhting out and their is occasional fin nipping (rarely) but nothing major. i would take out the deco and see what happens? good luck