Doing Research Before Moving into Piranha's

[afeld13]

I have been very interested in picking up some Piranhas lately.. and have found this site as well as Piranha Fury (which seems slow and almost unused)

I am thinking about going 75-150g and was wondering the maximum number that would comfortably survive in those tank sizes. I was also wondering what the ideal filtration, substrate and heating requirements would be.

It'd probably help if I let you know I plan on buying Red Bellies. If you think another species is heartier or more fun let me know that as well.

Thanks -

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

for the size tank that you are looking at, i would suggest sticking with either a solo serra or a small shoal of p. nattereri (red bellies), you could easily do three or four for life in that tank size range.

a wet/dry for bio filtration as well as a canister setup for mech filration would be ideal, but you can also go with just canister filters or a combination of canisters and hob filters. if you end up going with canisters or hobs, for a shoal of pygos, i would suggest aiming for a 10x filtration turnover rate per hour, so if you end up with a 75 gallon, aim for around 750 gph of filtration.

substrate will be personal preference unless you are going with a heavily planted tank, but i personally prefer black sand or very small size natural gravel.

i would recommend getting a visi-therm stealth for heating, they are unbreakable and are very high quality heaters, i have them in all of my tanks and i have never run into a problem.... just make sure you keep the temp around 80f.

any other questions, feel free to ask

 

[afeld13]

for the size tank that you are looking at, i would suggest sticking with either a solo serra or a small shoal of p. nattereri (red bellies), you could easily do three or four for life in that tank size range.

a wet/dry for bio filtration as well as a canister setup for mech filration would be ideal, but you can also go with just canister filters or a combination of canisters and hob filters. if you end up going with canisters or hobs, for a shoal of pygos, i would suggest aiming for a 10x filtration turnover rate per hour, so if you end up with a 75 gallon, aim for around 750 gph of filtration.

substrate will be personal preference unless you are going with a heavily planted tank, but i personally prefer black sand or very small size natural gravel.

i would recommend getting a visi-therm stealth for heating, they are unbreakable and are very high quality heaters, i have them in all of my tanks and i have never run into a problem.... just make sure you keep the temp around 80f.

any other questions, feel free to ask

Wow that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot.


Any filtration systems you reccomend? I don't think I am quite at the level of DIY'ing it.

 

[koop171]

i got a FX5 and two penguin 350Bs on my 125 (it has 13 juvie Red bellies) and it works good but not great it will work great when i get my second 125 set up so i can split my stock to 6 and 7 (i might sell one back to the LFS to have an even 6/6)

your heating needs are going to be based on your local and the local of the tank in the house, since u live in boston i would do at least 300watts for the heaters (depending on what size tank u get)

If u do go with a canister filter make sure it will fit under your stand. i did a DIY stand for the feeder tank i have and i didn't leave enough room for the canister so it sits behind the tank.

i think RBPs are what u are looking for if u want a "fun" P if by fun u mean something thats impressive to watch eat. other then that u might as well get a rhom for the size factor BUT u need like 180 gal for a single rhom and unless u buy a adult rhom it takes forever to grow them out. that being said i'd go with RBPs like u said u were looking at

 

[koop171]

is money an issue or space u have a wide array of tanks to choose from if u said 75-150 ???

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

for a wet/dry, there is obviously the diy route, but there are also good ones made by all glass aquarium and eshopps, they also make overflows.

for canisters, you could go with a couple xp3s, an fx5, or an eheim (you'd have a few options there), they are all good filters.

for hob filters, i really like marineland filters with the bio wheels, either penguins or emperors. i also really like the aquaclear line, i have never had a problem with either brand.

 

[koop171]

for a wet/dry, there is obviously the diy route, but there are also good ones made by all glass aquarium and eshopps, they also make overflows.

for canisters, you could go with a couple xp3s, an fx5, or an eheim (you'd have a few options there), they are all good filters.

for hob filters, i really like marineland filters with the bio wheels, either penguins or emperors. i also really like the aquaclear line, i have never had a problem with either brand.

good call i was just looking at these yesteday at my LFS and the one they had was rated for i think 100 gal or so and it was 200$ and there was bigger ones but the store being limited in space didn't have anyt instock

also a good tip if you don't allready know this BUY EVERYTHING U CAN ONLINE !!!! u will save alot of money in the long run

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

i was also gonna say that if you ended up going with a 150 gal, you could probably do as many as 6 or 7 in there, the 3 or 4 was aimed more for a 75

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

good call i was just looking at these yesteday at my LFS and the one they had was rated for i think 100 gal or so and it was 200$ and there was bigger ones but the store being limited in space didn't have anyt instock

also a good tip if you don't allready know this BUY EVERYTHING U CAN ONLINE !!!! u will save alot of money in the long run

couldn't agree more, i have saved hundreds of dollars this year alone by ordering stuff from the internet

 

[koop171]

this ones for u Dizzle u use sand right ? if so do u have any problems vacumming it i.e. sucking up not only poo and stuff but your sand as well? i like the look of sand mayself but don't know what kind of hassle it would be to clean ?