Converting To A Black Water Tank. Bad Move?

[Neesmo]

I have been looking into it slowly and wanting to do it the RIGHT way. I have been to the LFS and they are telling me just to buy the bottled adative for my setup. I read the thread on brackish water setup for beginners, which i see now isnt right for RBPs.
Now, first question. Is it better to just buy the adative like i was told about at the LFS, or to do a full tank switch to a brackish setup? Is there even a difference? I want to do this the right way for Red Bellies. I would like them to feel as comfortable as possible.

Tank setup
6x RBP (4"-6"-3x9"-11")
140 gallon tank.
currently small size black gravel. i am converting to black sand next pay day)
no lights
full glass lid
fluval fx5 and XP3 both
many fake plants
Bogwood i picked up at lake and boiled

Im looking for things that you have learned about black water and brackish setups
thanks in advance

Kyle

 

[Davo86]

Sorry there is no right way to keep Piranhas in a brackish setup

Piranha simply can't adjust to brackish water? they won't survive as they are a freshwater species

 

[Neesmo]

thats what i was thinking as i was reading the guide on here.. I was told by the dude at my LFS that i should get them in brackish water and piranhas will "Thrive"

i was interested in doing something to make the water a better happier place for them to live..

Any ideas like adding peat to the water to give it a darker colour?

Is the brackish water in a bottle the same idea, as the guide on here, that wont work with piranhas? he said brackish water in a bottle can be made with peat..
seems like he didnt know what he was talking about..

Kyle

 

[Davo86]

thats what i was thinking as i was reading the guide on here.. I was told by the dude at my LFS that i should get them in brackish water and piranhas will "Thrive"

i was interested in doing something to make the water a better happier place for them to live..

Any ideas like adding peat to the water to give it a darker colour?

Is the brackish water in a bottle the same idea, as the guide on here, that wont work with piranhas? he said brackish water in a bottle can be made with peat..
seems like he didnt know what he was talking about..

Kyle

Are you sure you don't mean a black water setup? which would make sense
There is no such thing as brackish water in a bottle?

Do you know your water stats

 

[dave_oddballs]

it must be black water he is on about, that would make sense, and the piranhas would probably be happier with the acidic soft water, all depends what the stats are now, if the water is already slightly acidic and soft then turning to black water would only improve it a minimal amount.

 

[Neesmo]

he specifically said brackish water but he said it can be bought in a bottle.. so he must mean black water. I have slightly hard water to start with here. i can do a test tomorrow to get an accurate number for you guys. I just want to get some nice merky looking water that im sure they would feel more comfortable in. mine are the least sketchy rbp i have every personally seen, but anything to make them more comfortable when feeding is what im looking for..

Any tips are appreciated as far as brands of black water in bottle form

Kyle

 

[dave_oddballs]

personally i wouldn't initially go for the 'blackwater in a bottle' stuff and id tend to go towards creating my own, which i have done and do at the moment successfully.
i would look towards getting some peat, specifically for aquarium use!, and indian almond leaves, these are from india, nowhere near the piranhas place of origin but will settle the water around the same as what they will be comfortable at. both the peat and leaves would colour the water to a tea like amber colour, some people try and avoid it, but i like it, very natural looking.
im no expert on piranhas, and do know that some of them do live in coastal regions of the amazon, this may be where someone got the idea of salt from maybe? but they are purely fresh water, the amazon river push's freshwater into the sea very far out, therefore the sea does not mix with the freshwater until it is hundreds of metres out to sea, so even the coastal regions of the river have no or extremely little amounts of salt.
just try and keep your ph around 6.5, which the peat and leaves would do, and make sure your filtration is always good, ammonia and nitrite keep at 0 and nitrate to a minimum and the fish should be pretty happy.

dave

 

[Davo86]

Also you can consider just using untreated mopani bogwood, this will naturally stain and soften the water,

More often than not rbp will be tank bred so getting the ph spot on isn't too critical IMO, a colleague at work kept four for over 10 years in tank that had a ph of 7.6,
Piranhas are incredibly hardy in terms of adapting to new conditions so don't be put off if you can't get things to be exactly how they are in the wild,

 

[Neesmo]

I have 2 wild cought supers and 4 captive bred fish.

tested and tank came in at about 6.8 ph. i have 0.0 ammonia, nitrate and nitrite like usual..
I always have mass filtration on all of my tanks, especially the piranha and hospital tank. My piranhas already have bogwood which coloured the water a small amount for about a month. i liked it but it wasnt enough and didnt last. I will be in the city at a bigger fish store and find some aquarium peat for them. ill also ask about the leaves.

thanks for the advice guys! thats why i came straight to my computer and asked, something didnt seem right when i started researching my poor advice, given to me by the LFS

Kyle

 

[Davo86]

6.8 is ideal for piranha btw

 

[Neesmo]

6.8 is ideal for piranha btw

Indeed

Thanks for the help guys. will update with pics after i get the peat atleast. need to borrow a cam though lol

Kyle