Advice needed please

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T

TAT2DRAGON

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Apr 30, 2005
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Hello guys, I hope you can steer me in the right direction as far as stocking 2 tanks that i have just freed up by selling what i had in them. I have kept fish most of my life and i am now 48 yrs old but i have little to no experience with piranhas. After selling my very "special" arowanas both that were over 11 yrs old since i got them from babies, i want to dedicate both of these tanks to keeping piranhas. The one tank which is 350 gallons (96x36x24) i want to keep a school of pygos in. the other tank which is considerably larger 525 gallons (120x48x24) i would like to put a monster Rhom or a large Manny. The Manny i am convinced will be almost impossible to find. Anyway, my question to you guys is as follows, except for nattereri, which of the pygos species are the fastest growing? I do like cariba and would be very happy if they put growth on quickly with the proper care or is it another pygo i should be looking at? I look forward to your opinions or experiences with these fish. Thanks
 
Not too much experience with those particular guys, but if it were me I would switch the tanks. Use the 525 for the school and 350 for a big rhom.
 
duh!! yeah i definitely should have thought of that!! lol i appreciate the input. Makes so much more sense always better having other people from the outside looking in giving their point of view. Thanks xkon. anybody else?
 
Hi,

Impressive tanks!
Yes, the 525 for the Pygocentrus school.
Some data from my own experience. I own a school of 17 nattereri, born in August 2013. After just one year (August 2014), they were 6-7" and now they are 7-9". The cariba grow more rapidly. Some of mine were 2" when I picked up them in August 2014 ; today they are 9-10" and more heavily-built! (take a look to my thread :http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...tive-thread&p=7127852&mode=linear#post7127852)

My 16" rhom is in a 215-220. 350 will be great for a same fish!

Bye.
 
Yeah these guys have great suggestions.

The 350 will make a great home for the Rhom, and the shoal of pygos will love the 525. Sometimes aquascape has mannys. What type of pygos were you thinking of?
 
With a 525, I'll try a school of cariba or piraya or maybe a mix of cariba, piraya and nattereri (4 or 5 of each species).
 
i am not really a fan of nattereri, thats why i was looking for your thoughts and past experiences in which species grows out the fastest. Based on what species you guys think would grow out the fastest that would be the species i would choose. Do the cariba seem to grow out the fastest?. Also from what i read as far as behavior they seem like the ones i would like the most. But again, nothing beats asking the guys who have experience in raising them. It's a whole different world compared to keeping and raising arowanas most of my life. I am really grooving on the thought of raising these cool species of fish!
 
Hi,

According to my experience, cariba is definitely the fastest growing Pygocentrus species. And maybe the most aggressive.
But why do you want a fastest growing species?
 
Do a really nice aquascape for the Rhom in the 350 and hopefully you'll be rewarded with some great behavior. If it feels exposed it may never open up to it's true potential. They're an ambush predator, as are all P's, and it needs to have a place to hide when it wants. There are some exceptions but you'll generally have a more active fish this way.

As for the pygos, get the ones you think look the best, feed them well, and enjoy the frenzy lol!
 
Standards reds are the most timid and probably won't meet your expectations. Caribe are very aggressive and grow quicker than reds. Reds get to about 10-11in, while there are many people that have grown their caribe to 13-15in.

I am a big fan of piraya but they are obviously the most expensive and significantly more rare. There are several folks with ones over 16in and some going towards 20in.

Be ready to deal with deaths if you go for a school of piranha as they always pick off the weaker ones. This is even more common if you decide to mix piraya, reds, caribe
 
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