New found love: Payara!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
N

noob4lyfe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2010
54
0
6
Ontario
Hey everyone,

Here's my experience with keeping these monsters:

A couple Rbp (2 years) -> Serrasalmus Rhombeus ( 6 months) -> Exodons -> Payara (future)


I walked into my lfs expecting to find another specimen, expecting to find a Piranha. And I came across this beast of a fish, with intensive teeth. I went back and forth, saw few youtube vid's, and MAN IM IN LOVE. This thing comes straight out of a horror movie.

Now, I have exos and to me, the Payara are just bigger versions. Yes yes, I've read all over, and its not that simple to keep them.

Here's my situation:

Tank size: 20 Gal. Looking to upgrade, I have about 36''-40'' of space.
Water Quality: Currently, I've been busy. So there's algae all over.
Length of captivity: I may only keep this beast for aprox 8 months.
Availability: The lfs has, to my id knowledge a Scomb. Its about 6''-7'' . Charging $70. Is it worth it and near death size? Or should I ask him if he can import me a juvy (scomb or tat)?

I really want one of these!!

What do you guys think?
 
Scombs are WONDERFUL fish if you can get them at a good price. That being said, $70 is NOT a good price.

IF you want to do payaras, the first thing you'll have to do is upgrade. For a scomb or a tat, a 75 should be considered the bare minimum. You will also need a ton of current in the tank; payaras often live in crashing, pristine whitewater conditions. Overfilter your tank and when you think you've got too much current double it. This will keep your fish happy.

Many folks here will tell you scombs are garbage fish, but I personally think they make good pets and are great to teach you the basics of keeping these very specialized fish.

Once you learn, you can always add a tat sometime down the road once one becomes available.

Don't get an armatus unless you're planning to get at least a 360 gallon tank within a year. They grow like weeds.
 
Ive kept scombs and i think they are one of my favourite predator fish for a smaller tank. I found they are more active then tats and do well in groups of 3. ive kept them on 2 different occasions but this was before putting a lot of time into my fish trying to do the best set up possible. id definitely over filter the tank by 1.5-2x the gallons and have a footprint of 4x1.5 if u are keeping more then 1. what i did find is that they grow INSANELY slow. mine put on at best 1/4" per month. also they rnt as susceptible to disease as a lot of people say because mine would always scrap and leave fairly long scratches on each other but never once developed infection. i kept my water about 80 degrees with a little bit of aquarium salt.
 
$70 isnt too bad of a price. I strongly recommend you dont put it in your 20gal. Upgrade first, then possibly look for a group or shoal of scombs.
 
I bare minimum of 75 gals plus current with scombs. Scombs only last less than a few years I'm woudn't waste money for garenteed heartbreak.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom