I just returned from Congressional Aquariums in Rockville, MD. I went to see if they had an ABF to put in my cichlid tank. They didn't have one, but I did notice some things that bothered me.
While I was cruising through the store I came upon what appeared to be a 20g high (maybe a 37g) that housed about 6 or 7 7" RBPs. The tank was labeled, "red belly piranhas, GIANT 99.99/each." As I was standing there looking at the tank in disgust, this guy and his girlfriend walked up and started asking questions. Their dialog went something like this:
"Hey are these like the same piranhas that eat people?"
"yeah same ones they're pretty viscious."
"What do they eat?"
"Mostly goldfish, any kind of meat really. Sometimes we throw chicken wing bones in there for em. They'll eat anything they're like garbage disposals. Some people even feed them mice."
"Are these full grown?"
"yeah these are massive these are the biggest RBP's I've ever seen."
"what kind of tank would I need to keep these guys?"
"Like a 55g would be good for 6 or 7."
"What do they do when they eat?"
"Awww...man they rip **** apart it's awesome"
"Can I see it?"
At that point in the conversation, Mr. LFS employee went to the comet tank, grabbed a net, scooped out a dead comet, and dropped him in the overcrowded P tank. As every P owner reading this already knows, nothing happened. The LFS employee made a big excuse about how they had eaten recently, and showed the customer to the baby RBP tank (9.99/each 1") where I lost track of the conversation.
I was biting my tongue the whole time. I didn't want to sound like some know it all at the LFS. I walked out with my money in my pocket. I won't be back. If you care about keeping P's humanely you shouldn't go either.
Besides goldfish, piranhas may be the most abused type of fish kept in the hobby. It's a shame really.
While I was cruising through the store I came upon what appeared to be a 20g high (maybe a 37g) that housed about 6 or 7 7" RBPs. The tank was labeled, "red belly piranhas, GIANT 99.99/each." As I was standing there looking at the tank in disgust, this guy and his girlfriend walked up and started asking questions. Their dialog went something like this:
"Hey are these like the same piranhas that eat people?"
"yeah same ones they're pretty viscious."
"What do they eat?"
"Mostly goldfish, any kind of meat really. Sometimes we throw chicken wing bones in there for em. They'll eat anything they're like garbage disposals. Some people even feed them mice."
"Are these full grown?"
"yeah these are massive these are the biggest RBP's I've ever seen."
"what kind of tank would I need to keep these guys?"
"Like a 55g would be good for 6 or 7."
"What do they do when they eat?"
"Awww...man they rip **** apart it's awesome"
"Can I see it?"
At that point in the conversation, Mr. LFS employee went to the comet tank, grabbed a net, scooped out a dead comet, and dropped him in the overcrowded P tank. As every P owner reading this already knows, nothing happened. The LFS employee made a big excuse about how they had eaten recently, and showed the customer to the baby RBP tank (9.99/each 1") where I lost track of the conversation.
I was biting my tongue the whole time. I didn't want to sound like some know it all at the LFS. I walked out with my money in my pocket. I won't be back. If you care about keeping P's humanely you shouldn't go either.
Besides goldfish, piranhas may be the most abused type of fish kept in the hobby. It's a shame really.
