Need help with set-up for piranhas?

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GioBandy

Feeder Fish
May 21, 2014
4
0
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Jourdanton Texas
Looking for the whole 9 yards set up for a aquarium.
Aquarium:190gal 60.5x27.5x27.5 with stand and canopy "Black in color" the lights and filter and heating with controller and etc..

Piranha: looking for ether "Black Piranha" or "Red Belly Piranha" but i would prefer "Black" because of there red eyes and looking to buy at least 15-20 of them "Babys"

And here is what i got so far from a website but not sure if i have the right things or not and if i do is this a good price?If not can you get me a discount somewhere else since im getting everything at once?
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Go back and start doing homework. You have no idea what you are doing yet. Thats about the nicest way I can put it
 
First off Red belly Piranha are a shoaling species of the pygoc family, aside from red belly their are also caribes which are more aggressive, piraya which get the biggest and are very expensive, ternetzi which are also expensive and rare! If the "pygo" genus is wild caught you may see brighter colors or larger size and this has led to another pygo piranha called "super red belly," but IMO this is just a brightly colored red belly from a certain region.

Black piranhas AKA Serrasalmus Rhombeus are ambush hunters, easiest way to explain that is they will eat each other if kept together, they do not shoal like the pygo family! All black piranhas are wild caught in the region they inhibit, like Brazil, peru, Guyana, etc and are shipped to America for ornamental use. Serrasalmus family consist of many species of piranha (about 5 or 6 with many color variants) and a black piranha comes in different shapes, sizes and colors given the region in which it lives in. Some black piranhas are white and some are jet black, some have high backs and are thick, some are sleek and slender!


Since Blacks are imported they are somewhat costly compared to red belly piranhas! The bigger the black the more it will cost, I've seen 15" blacks go for 750$ and nickel sized babies go for 20$ so it just depends.

For your tank a shoal of Red Belly Piranha are ideal IMO! They are tough and can with stand a lot. Generally 20gal per fish is the norm but that varies by the dimensions of the tank. Yours can easily accommodate 8-10, and if you buy them as babies try to pick up at least a dozen because 1 or more will die from cannibalism or aggression so that means you'll still have a good pack!

At fish stores they generally go for 8-15$ a pop for babies and 40-60$ for a single 6"+ adult! But they grow incredibly fast, reaching adulthood in a year (5-7") Red bellies aren't hard to breed so potentially with the right setup kept clean you can have a pair of adults spawn and make you money! Like I said before any other species of piranha is basically impossible to breed, especially blacks!

Some will find a solo black in a 190gal boring and that may be true to someone new to piranhas but rest assured most often once their acclimated to their tank and environment their almost always a smart, intuitive and aggressive fish! They will 95% of the time eat and kill anything you put in the tank, from fish to mice it doesn't matter, they are extremely territorial!

Red belly piranhas can cohab together, often times hunting for food like wolves! They are fun to watch but very messy eaters which means frequent water changes are necessary! But if one piranha shows weakness or injury usually the pack will eat them!

Whatever you choose make sure you have good filtration and weekly water changes, all species of piranha prefer low light so don't focus on that aspect. Nutrition, water quality and stable conditions are key to raising a strong shoal! A heater controller is a great fail safe to make sure you don't over heat your water and cook your fish! Temperatures of 76-80° are fine!

Here's my 6 pack of adult red bellies in a 125gal:uploadfromtaptalk1400726245680.jpg

I suggest you research more around here and check out http://www.aquascapeonline.com/aquatic-live-stock-fresh-water-fish-piranhas/ for good prices on piranhas, especially baby red belly! Raising them young is always a pleasure seeing them grow up!


×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
__________________________________________________________________
Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763
 
Thank you for the Info really appreciate it!:) ill probably go with red belly for sure now http://www.aquascapeonline.com/prodView.asp?idproduct=185&item=Red Belly piranha 1 and these are the ones im looking at right now

Yes and 10 red bellies for 60$ is a good deal!

But in this hobby buying the fish is the easy part! Long term care and maintenance is the always present chore!

When babies in your size tank a once a week 25% water change is fine but you also need to remove un eaten food, if you leave fish pellets or fish fillet in the tank it can cause an ammonia spike which is lethal!

1st off set up your tank, fill it with water, put the heater in it, throw some sand in it or leave it bare bottom and power up the filter, make sure you have at least 2 cups of BIO MEDIA INSIDE THE FILTER! Mechanical filtration usually comes in the form of foam padding or cotton fluff which strains the water of debris and keeps it clear! Chemical Filtration is only for certain situations such as removing meds or chemicals from the tank, most common form of chemical filtration is carbon which in a healthy tank is not necessary! Add a dozen or so goldfish to start the nitrogen cycle to jump start the good bacteria you need to have a healthy tank, after 3-4 weeks you should read no ammonia and nitrites, the only levels that should exist are nitrates (n03) you can buy a 25$ API master freshwater test kit that tests for all 3 and then some, a wise investment.

For red bellies the more filtration and water movement the better, for a 190gal you should hit 700-900 gallons per hour of filtration and when their 4" (teens or 6"+ adults) 1000gph is hugely recommended, this gives them exercise and more importantly allows the Bio filter time to process the ammonia the fish secrete to less lethal but still bad nitrite and then from nitrite to nitrate which is a lot less lethal then the 1st two! It takes at least 3-4 weeks to colonize beneficial bacteria onto your Bio media, this bacteria is what converts the toxic ammonia to nitrite then to nitrates which can easily be removed with a water change, 50ppm nitrate is probably the highest you want to go, theoretically if you do a 50% water change with 50ppm nitrates you should end up with 25ppm nitrates! This is extremely important, it reduces stress, increases activity, metabolism, growth and overall health!

I cannot stress enough how important water quality is! Next is nutrition, when young fish flake food, worms, store bought white fish fillet and or pellets is great, when older pellets and fish fillet like talapia can easily benefit a piranhas overall health and color!

My adult shoal simply gets a 1x per week feeding of cut up talapia and 1x per week NLS pellets which are extremely healthy! But none of that would be beneficial without clean water.

This forum has stickys that are pinned for a reason, go to general fish forum and read your heart out, red belly piranha will become big fish fast thus producing a lot of waste! Feed well, clean up and keep the tank consistent, don't feed things like hot dogs or hamsters, that's for people who buy piranhas for their over dramatized Reputation! These are pets and they feel pain and pleasure so keep that in mind! When raised properly with care, love and time they will become family to you, I never would have guessed or even dreamed fish could be so rewarding/relaxing!!!

On another note power heads like circulaters work great and provide excellent current that helps the fish swim/work out which is exercise! Here's a good one for your size tank (mind you it only offers current, no Bio/mechanical or chemical filtration! http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4588+23592&pcatid=23592&r=414 I run the 1500gph model, it mounts magnetically and consumes little energy, that with a good filter like a canister or sump that pushes 500-1000gph turnover will be great and you can always upgrade the filter as they grow!

Remember read up and check out other tanks! driftwood, low light and sand (pool filter sand) accent a great red belly piranha tank! Here's my shoal eating their 1x per week cut up fillet of talapia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMlTNLAYG8E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You have 3-4 weeks to research this species of fish while your tank cycles! I suggest you gather and retain as much info as you can, it will not only make your life easier but also your fishes! Nothing like coming home from a long day of work to stare into an aquarium filled with predators that have razor sharp teeth in a calm, healthy and peaceful environment! Its like another world


×Go S. Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 4x WDC!!! Congrats on another flawless title× <GET BETTER SCHUMI>
__________________________________________________________________
Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763
 
Had them 3 or 4 times, red belly.

Nice fish , got mine from Mo., as not sold where I live.

Have to watch them though.

Jeff
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com