Beginner, Need help.

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Malvado

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2009
21
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Scotland
I'm thinking of buying 2 baby red-bellied Piranha's, but i have no clue how or what to feed them, what they need in their tank, etc.

Here is a list of things you people can hopefully help me with( And that i'll be eternally Grateful for. :) )

Need to know the cheapest thing i can feed them(Money doesn't grow on tree's in my house, sadly.)

Need to know how much to feed them each day(s).

Need to know what equipment i need(Filters, etc)

And around their growth rate, so i know when i'll need a bigger tank

And any other helpful information that would help me & i would need to know.

Thank you very much in advance, if i get them i'll be sure to hang around the forums & get to know everyone. :)
 
2 RB Piranha would be happy with a 60 gallon haha. if you want to feed them live, you will need a huge filter so it doesnt cloud the water if they eat the lives. i dont like feeding my fish live becuase i feel sad for them.. buy once in a while you should.. if you run a 60 gallon, i think a rena xp4 would be good. it might sound over filtering but your water will be ultra clear. my bro g/f is running a xp4 with like 5 7 chiclid and the water is ultra clear n no smell...it might sound dumb but that what i would do.. honestly i dont like Piranha haha..i dunoz why. you should feed everyday too.. dont leave them hungry because i heard they will kill each other.. haha
 
I just got 3 baby rbp's last week, they are in a 30 gal (for now). Mine are eating frozen blood worms, sometimes frozen brine shrimp, feeder guppies and danios (small ones) and my sinking catfish pellets...they eat pretty often when they are little.
 
alyssatheurer;3376225; said:
I just got 3 baby rbp's last week, they are in a 30 gal (for now). Mine are eating frozen blood worms, sometimes frozen brine shrimp, feeder guppies and danios (small ones) and my sinking catfish pellets...they eat pretty often when they are little.
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How much does it cost daily?

I could really feed them anything that they could eat though since i'm going to buy babies so i can really teach them to eat anything.

q_fish;3376221; said:
2 RB Piranha would be happy with a 60 gallon haha. if you want to feed them live, you will need a huge filter so it doesnt cloud the water if they eat the lives. i dont like feeding my fish live becuase i feel sad for them.. buy once in a while you should.. if you run a 60 gallon, i think a rena xp4 would be good. it might sound over filtering but your water will be ultra clear. my bro g/f is running a xp4 with like 5 7 chiclid and the water is ultra clear n no smell...it might sound dumb but that what i would do.. honestly i dont like Piranha haha..i dunoz why. you should feed everyday too.. dont leave them hungry because i heard they will kill each other.. haha
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I already have a filter that i'm hoping will do & a small one that i can sit at the bottom for better water circulation, if it doesn't clean the tank well enough i'll get a better one.
 
First, welcome to MFK :welcome:

If you are thinking for getting rbps then it would be best to get them in larger numbers as they find confident and safety in numbers but if you have limitation on funding or tank space then smaller number would be fine as well, depends on the personality of the fish they may take a long time to get use to you so do expect them to be skittish.
I would recommand not to keep only two together as one will dominate over an other and with just two the agression cannot be spread out to multiple fish so chance of you loosing the weaker one is much higher. However, we've have members here keeping just two together without problem. just want to point it out so that you are aware of what might happen.
Now see answers to your questions below in bold

Malvado;3376104; said:
I'm thinking of buying 2 baby red-bellied Piranha's, but i have no clue how or what to feed them, what they need in their tank, etc.

Here is a list of things you people can hopefully help me with( And that i'll be eternally Grateful for. :) )

Need to know the cheapest thing i can feed them(Money doesn't grow on tree's in my house, sadly.)
Depends on the size you get them at, most people feed them black worms or froze blood worms or brine shrimps. they are born with teeth so if you get them at around 1-2" or bigger you can actually start feeding them small piece of fish fillet or shrimp. That's what I fed my caribes when I got them at around 2". I'm not sure the prices on those different kind of food but I figure that the fish fillet and shrimp would be cheaper than black worms/froze blooneed d worms/brine shrimps.

Need to know how much to feed them each day(s).
At the size mentioned above you need to feed at least three to four times a day. Feed enough so that they will consum in few minutes or so, if you feed small piece of shrimp or fish fillet they'll stop eat once they get full (should be same with worms or brine shrimp) then you just have to remove any left over food from the tank.

Need to know what equipment i need(Filters, etc)
Piranhas are messy eaters and produce a lot of waste so you need to over filter, i would say at least 3-4 times the turn over rate of the size of your tank. for example if you put them in a 50 gallon tank then preferrably to have filter that can handle 150-200 gallon tank.
It never hurts to over filter so if you can, max out the filtration system.

And around their growth rate, so i know when i'll need a bigger tank
RBPs grow about an inch a month until they hit 6-7" then slow down.
What size tank you plan to put them in? personally I'd like to start them in a tank big enough to house them for live, everytime you transport them you'll be stressing them, less moving is better IMO.
RBPs can grow up to 10-12" under proper care but that takes a while so if you cannot start with a big tank now a smaller size tank would still be ok. However, I would highly recommend getting a tank that's 18" wide at least, don't bother with anything that's 12". the extra 6" in width makes a HUGE difference. if you'll be getting just two then a 75g tank would be well enough. in US the standard 75 gallon has a foot print of 48"L x 18"W. don't waste your time with tanks that are hight because that won't benefit piranhas.

And any other helpful information that would help me & i would need to know.

Check out http://opefe.com for more information, by far the best piranha information site.
Here's the direct link to true piranha species, rbps would be the pygocentrus nattereri http://opefe.com/piralist.html


Thank you very much in advance, if i get them i'll be sure to hang around the forums & get to know everyone. :)
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My cost isn't much at all right now...feeder guppies are like .25 (at my lfs) and i cant remember what I paid for my frozen brine shrimp...I have had them for a while...other things you can feed them to keep it cheap are chicken breast, cow heart, or white fish...just freeze whatever meat you are gunna feed them first to kill off any parasites.
 
filtration is definatly key, my filter isn't quite up to par for my p's and my tank is cloudy even after water changes and it's kinda smelly.
 
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