New aquarium, how many piranhas?

[Kaspern]

Hello fellow fish keepers!

I am very happy today! I just bought myself a 95 gallon akvastabil move aquarium! However... I can first put it up next month, because i need a furniture for it first + lightning.

I currently have a single pygocentrus nattereri, and he is of course going in to the bigger aquarium. But i want to ask you guys on how many more piranahas i can actually add to the aquarium. I am thinking about adding 3 more, same size of course. So 4 piranhas in 95 gallons with a fluval 304 + a huge powerhead.

Can't wait to post pictures in here!

 

[Madou]

I have six in my 95.

But I know it is not going to work long term.
I wanted to get back to the P game, so I bought 6 juvies (less than 1" each), put them in with my Silver dollars (I used to have six shoal with six Ps back in the days) and they're doing wonderfully.

I know i'll eventually need to move them to the 180 once my 2 channa diplogramma outgrow it, but in my opinion, they'll be too crowded before that happens.

So to answer your question, I'd say 3 more because I don't believe you can keep Pygos in groups bigger than one and smaller than 4.
If we're talking strictly volume vs number of Ps, 2 more, but I don't think a hierarchy can form with 3 without ending with one fish.

 

[Kaspern]

Correct me if i'm wrong. But to get the best schoal, you should actually start out with a lot of piranhas, even though the aquarium is not big enough. The weakest will be killed. Let's say i buy 10 piranhas for my 95 gallon tank. Then they will fight for territory, and maybe 4-5 will be killed, and after the brawl, a hierarchy will rise and they will live in peace, given the fact that they do not lack space. The same will happend if you buy 3, they will still fight for hierarchy.

 

[Winfield92]

Correct me if i'm wrong. But to get the best schoal, you should actually start out with a lot of piranhas, even though the aquarium is not big enough. The weakest will be killed. Let's say i buy 10 piranhas for my 95 gallon tank. Then they will fight for territory, and maybe 4-5 will be killed, and after the brawl, a hierarchy will rise and they will live in peace, given the fact that they do not lack space. The same will happend if you buy 3, they will still fight for hierarchy.

Yes - you're wrong. If you overcrowd them in an aquarium you are not helping them establish a pecking order, you are CREATING aggression issues and asking for fish to be killed. 4 may work in your tank - or your solo fish may decide it liked being solo, and to kill the others - or one of the others may kill the others. You are trying to cohab a predatory species in a relatively small aquarium - it is hard to say what will and won't work.

I'd say add 3 as close to the same size as your current solo fish as you can. Add them all to the new tank at the same time. Try not to duplicate your solo fish's current tank scape in the new tank.

 

[heavyhitter]

How long has your Red Belly been on his own? A lot of times even a solo, shoaling species if kept on its own will not tolerate new friends. The foot print of your aquarium is more important than the actual gallons. What is the foot print? I would say 4 is the max for your tank. Keep sizes similar, and Natti's grow very fast. Also expect large weekly water changes. Winfield92 gave you some good advice above.

 

[Kaspern]

I've had him for nearly 6 months. He is around 12-14 cm, which is 4.7 or 5.5 inches.
The tank is 4,2 feet long and 1,6 feet wide.

 

[Madou]

When you do the switch, I would make sure to throw them all in at the same time, so they all adapt to a new environment. If you introduce your P into the tank before getting the other ones, chances are he'll tear them apart, same goes the other way around.

If you don't have a choice, make sure you change the decor and mess with the scape before adding the new Ps to join your solo fish.

As for picking 10 and letting them fend for themselves, I'm so glad this is not actually a way to choose your number of fishes... Just thinking of the amount of money thrown out the window if you try that "technique" with a pack of Hydrocynus... My stomach can't take the thought!

 

[Kaspern]

Now i'm asking silly...
But... One single red belly in 95 gallon aquarium, that is a lot of space for one. So what if i actually do not get more piranhas, and maybe get something else, like Exodons?
I know it is not optimal, but given i have a lot of driftwoods, then could it work?

 

[heavyhitter]

Russian Roulette, your best bet to keep pygo's with pygo's. Exodons will become a snack and they will eat at the fins and the scales of the piranha in the mean time.

 

[Kaspern]

I guess you are right. I just cannot get rid of him, he has grown a lot, his colors are getting better and better. And he is becoming less shy, and not hiding as much as he used to.
I feel i have 3 options here.
1. I find similar size piranhas, and introduce them all at the same time.
2. I keep him solo, with a lot of small fast fish species. ( I will have a lot of driftwoods)
3. I sell him, and start from scratch.