tank

[BigFish]

how would i set up a tank for piranhas

 

[Neo Baron]

in my p tank i use a very small amount of gravel maybe a inch at most. i do not have a light because they freak out when it is turned on, use good filtration becuse they make a mess and require good water quality. i have some rocks and drift wood so they can hide and a black backround, stick to dark colors because they like them. and thats my tank.

 

[guppy]

My last P tank Had undergravel and overside power filter, Black sand and lots of plants. Also, it stood in front of a grey rock facing and the lights were on a timed dimmer switch. Dimmer and sand seemed to be key to not freaking them out. Lifting lid of tank was thier on switch and they would splash and strike at anything that hit the water. Ii I skipped an extra day between feedings they would follow anybody who walked past the tank. I had some silver coins in the sand and sone hand bones from an anatomical display.

 

[piranha45]

hand bones in a piranha tank, thats damn cute.

 

[iheartfishies]

I'm keen on using the sand also.

 

[Neo Baron]

say no to the sand idea for the fact that they are very messy and cleaning the sand will be incredibly hard task with fine grade gravel if you want that kind of effect.

 

[iheartfishies]

I think the sand is worth the trouble, Black Tihaian, bop whatever it's called, black sand is crucial.
You can siphon it just like gravel, it's awesome.
I have it in my 55, and no problems here.

 

[guppy]

Mine was just that cheap stuff from lfs and was smooth but pretty coarse grain for sand or superfine grain for gravel. I wasn't running cannister filters so that wasn't a problem, and I did run an under gravel filter with power heads that covered about half the tank floor. I only fed live food and only one feeder at a time so they didn't miss much.

 

[DAZZA]

I keep all my fish on sand. I would have subdued lighting. A heater with a guard and external power filteration. Temp around 78oF, a powerhead might be usefull also.
Ta.

 

[Phtstrat]

I originally used sand in my Pygo tank, but switched to gravel because cleaning sand was a *****.

I keep a few large pieces of driftwood in there, along with some plants, which the P's have responded well to.

As for equipment, good biological filtration is crucial IME, they get stressed easily under poor water conditions. I'd suggest a couple of Bio-Wheel power filters to do the job.

Additional stuff I have: AC901 PH, 2 300 watt unbreakable heaters, extra lighting for the plants