[peacedude]

hey board...
whats up....ok to the question at hand...
i bought 6 baby piranhas about a month ago and they are already almost doubled in size they are about 2 -3 inches now.....but they have become very timid coming out only when food is around....or when no people are around....

i was wondering how can i make them more less shy when i am around....is there any fish i can put in with them to make the tank more livly? i have heard you can put fast small fish in with them...such as tigar barbs and such.....let me know what i can do! thank you very much!

 

[Grosse Gurke]

At that size, I dont think there is a fish fast enough to live with them. This is pretty much the norm with p's 3-5". They will outgrow the skittishness (usually) when they get to 6". You can dim the lights a little, this usually helps.

 

[SnowCichlid]

Mirror background :

:

 

[Shred Revolution]

P's are skittish until they outgrow there skittishness at around 6" inches. This is the time when perhaps they feel that they no longer have a reason to remain skittish.....

 

[GARGOYLE]

There is a lot more info here, just do a search and you wont be dissapointed.

 

[RhomZilla]

Your Ps are still juvi's. As stated, age will only help them become less skittish. You can use the mirror effect stated and also spending more time in front of your tank for them to get used to you.

 

[Death in #'s]

mine are 2-3" and very aggresive i guess becuase the other 2 reds in the tank are 6-7"

 

[Glowin_Navi]

My reds are all around 3 to 3.5 inches, and they have only gotten more aggresive. I try to keep my lights on for at least 5 or 6 hours a day. When i first got my reds when they were babies i left the lights on for almost 18 hours a day! then i got a huge algae bloom that took over a month to fix, now i took the light down, but i would think subjecting them to light would make them less skittish in the long run. Also whenever im watching my reds, ill sit beside the tank, and whenever they start swimming closer to me, i just raise my arm and wave it a little, they get scared but after a couple seconds come out from behind stuff and i do it again, i did that for about a week, and ever since they could care less that im near the tank. IMO, i would not keep the lights off, this only going to shock them more when u do turn the lights on. dont scare the crap out of em, but i dont see a problem in annoyng them a little, this is only going to make them less skittish, just make sure if u see them getting stressed, stop doin what youre doing

supposidly putting a caribe in with your reds is supposed to increase aggression

 

[peacedude]

thanks everyone...they only come out in frront of me when i put there dinner in(hamburger goldfish and rosys)

 

[LouiCypher]

You should actually stay away from feeding them beef unless it's beef heart because it's too fatty and unhealthy. Feed them leaner food like ckicken and fish if you want them to eat meat.

As far as their skittishness goes: I wouldn't recommend the mirror... the trip out on the reflection and I've heard of bigger fish going right through the glass when they charge their reflection. They just have to get used to your presense. Try and make feeding and cleaning ect. a routine and they'll get used to yah.

 

[XPiranhaX]

they will out grow it but my biggest red never was skittish he wouldn't swim away when people approathe tank he'd just keep on swimming and minding his own business

 

[Mr. Hannibal]

Normal behaviour at that size...time will solve the problem when they get bigger/stronger, you can low your lights as recommended and raise your temp 1 degree or 2 (around 82) so they will get more active...!

 

[peacedude]

tahnks guys...i added 1 giant danio and 3 zebras and the tank is alive...the piranhas at first tried to attack and ate one zebra but the others are alive still the giant danio has a little chunk out of his tail but thats it..! the piranhas seemed to forget about them and are just swimming around the tank...so its pretty cool! thanks guys! i also added a power head and putthe temperature up o 81...if anyone has any more suggestions it would be appretiated!

 

[JesseD]

putting the tank in a high traffic area helps a great deal