Advice for beginner fish owner thinking about Pirahnas

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
jp80911 said:
main issue with piranha is that a lot of people have the wrong impression that they are blood thirsty killers that will kill everything that enters their water. the fact is that they are often skittish and nothing like what Hollywood presented them in the films they made.
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Not that JP needs any confirming for his statements at all but I just wanted to re-iterate this point, my first fish were Red Bellied Piranhas, one thing I will say is think bigger, if you plan for the future now and get a larger tank it is easier in the long run, I started 4 of them off in a 240 litre tank which I recently upgraded to a 600 litre tank. Filtration with Piranhas I find is another big point, due to their common diet it is not something to cut corners on.

Of course, I am a relative moron to most people who browse these forums, but I started with 4 at about the size of a 10 pence piece (a bit smaller than a Quarter?) they are now around 10" long and have all their fins intact.

I don't agree with the statement that you need to start with 40 to end up with 8 or whatever that was said to me as apparent fish experts laughed at me, care from them properly, feed them adequately and they will be fine, I personally love my Piranhas and don't regret starting with them at all.

Well, I hope that helps, sorry for the wall of text and no doubt I have repeated what others have said numerous times before, I just wanted to share my thoughts as I have been down the path you are taking!
 
Ben

Thanks for the input, definitely appreciated. I agree that I would like to start with big enough tank for maturity and not have to upgrade. I'm looking at Ebay and some pet stores. I have a couple that I am looking at as it's a little hard because has to be local pickups, so i have to find one I like plus close by. I found some, but most come with filters, accessories, etc. Once I narrow it down, I was going to put the details on here and see if the things that come with the one I want would include things I could use for the pirahna tank. Problem is the price goes up because all of the accessories, but if I can't use them, only the tank/stand, then I am paying more for things I won't use. The other option is buy all individually which is looking more expensive. I will post my selections shortly and see what feedback I can get from here.

Dave
 
This may sound like something really dumb, but what is IMO stand for? I see it in the posts and on others. Is that species type? Again, forgive my ignorance on this subject.
 
Another question: Where is the best place to look for Tanks and stands and equipment? Pet store, used like on Ebay or Craigslist, or a specialty store (online or physical)?
 
IMO means in my opinion. I have gotten most of my tanks from craigslist. If you live near a larger city you can get some really good deals. I picked up my 280 complete set up for 450 bucks. Also there is a great vendor section here on MFK for pretty much anything you need. :)
 
I got all my tanks from craigslist, just search your area or near by areas, sometimes you might have to travel a little bit. it takes time but there are good deals out there.
If you come across one that has the tank you need but you don't need all the equipment then just contact the seller and make offer on just the stuff you need/want. sometime they can actually get more money if sell them separately but they just like the idea of selling everything all together, easier for them I guess.
The classified section here has great deals sometimes, you just need to spend the time to look for it. worst comes then just get a 300g rubbermaid stock tank and build a piranha pond with it, it'll be awesome too if you can find some underwater video camera that can do live stream to your TV. the fish will behave more naturally when they don't see someone stalking them from the other side of the glass :)
 
I'm new to Piranha keeping as well, good luck! I've gotten a few really good deals on sites like Kijiji and Craigslist, It's definitely worth checking out.
I took a look at the Piranha Nutrition guide, but I have a question about their diet. What would be recommended as a weekly feeding schedule? As in, what foods would be best to serve how many times a week? and even ones you should feed monthly? This is assuming they refuse pellets ^-^
 
Hi carn1vorous, you can start a new thread if you have any questions regarding piranhas.
to answer your questions, there's not fix schedule or food type and it's different from people to people. if you can get them on pellets then you can use that as stable diet, or mainly use white fish as stable diet. other meat type such as chicken or lean beef/beef heart, etc can be used every once a while if you want to use them. there's really no set rules about it, just mix things up and variety is the key.
 
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