New Piranha Owner Here! - Need Some Advice!

1474 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by audiction, Apr 5, 2018

MilesKim25

Discussion Starter · Mar 12, 2018

So it is week 3 of owning my three red bellies, and I have been giving them a diet of hot dogs and hamburger meat on a daily basis. Haha just kidding, I am looking for advice on my setup and how I care for my red bellies, and I have a few questions as well!

Care:
20% water change every week
Tilapia or sometimes salmon as food every day (I plan on introducing pellets as well)

Tank setup:
Somewhat large double filter (this is because I am aware that they won't be in this tank for long)
Aquarium heater that I put in whenever it gets around 75 degrees
Fake wood thing and plant they can hide around
Simple stick on thermometer

Here are some questions I have:
- I recently moved their tank into a more well lit room, and added the larger filter. They seem scared now of going out from under the wood hiding place they have. They do eat, but they aren't swimming around much so far. They tend to panic a lot when I walk by as well. Will they get used to it?

- There are some bubbles on the surface of the water that you can see in the photo. I am worried that there is a contaminant in the water. The ph and ammonia levels are fine but that's all I know. What should I do?

- I am thinking about adding more items in the tank for them to hide around, any suggestions on what works best?

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Ægir

· #2 · Mar 13, 2018

How many / what size / tank size?

They will acclimate, any move or change in tank decor can take some time.

Bubbles on the surface can be from a few things, but typically not an issue. Did you use the cycled media from the old filter? Do you have a water softener in your house / tap that you are using for water changes?? My advice would be more surface agitation, through another filter like you have (will need to upgrade soon anyways) and / or a powerhead or two. In my tanks I am for 10x filtration turnover (1200 gph in a 120 gal tank) and another 10-12 of pumps or powerheads.

As for the heater, get an adjustable one that you can leave in the tank set at the right temp. Also look into a cheap digital thermometer as the stickers are rarely accurate.

The decor is up to you, but I have found they create territories and more attacks and aggression. In a smaller tank (55-90 gal) you will be best off with NO plants or decorations.

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