Opinions on new piranha setup

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alright peeps, got a question for you. every time a piranha thread comes up, the first thing out peoples mouth is p's are messy. happened like 3-4x this thread. can you please elaborate on that? what makes p's soooo messy? not trying to break any balls here, but I think people just regurgitate what they heard and don't really have any real basis for their comment.

I can say that my reds aren't messy.

I don't throw in a chunk of fish and let them tear it apart. Everything I give them is bite sized and they finish it all.
 
Personally, I wouldn't keep 3 reds in a 70 unless they were juvies and I was certain to get an upgrade.

I have 3 in a 120 but started off with 5. And I came home to this...

p1.jpg

Then this...

p2.jpg

Then again, it could all just come down to personality. I believe it was theskibag theskibag that started off with 5 and he still has 5?
 
p's themselves are no messy than cichlids. in fact 1 oscar is far "messier" than 3 rbps. the problem is bad feeding habits from irresponsible owners that cause the "mess"
I would disagree for one reason: Ps leave a lot of waste, less so than Oscars, but you can have bottom feeders eat the uneaten food. You can't exactly do that with Ps, not past a certain size anyway.

I've kept fishes that require a twice yearly water change, that are much less messy than Ps, I've also kept fishes that I would say require much more water changes than Ps, but I have to say, Ps do have a habit of degrading water quality faster than most.
 
p's themselves are no messy than cichlids. in fact 1 oscar is far "messier" than 3 rbps. the problem is bad feeding habits from irresponsible owners that cause the "mess"
Wrong. My elong makes a disgusting mess with the smallest pieces of tilapia, and he's in a 125 by himself. My 310 full of NA native fish are 100% neater than him. Oscars are a messy fish as well with the way they shred through food. I'm not irresponsible in the way I feed my fish, he just tears through chunks of fish like a buzz saw. I can't clean up the mess he makes as its just a cloud of fish flesh. RBP's are from what I understand more skiddish and therefore eat differently sometimes than a serra species, the possibility of them tearing up their food is still there though.

My serra has been alive and well for close to a year now since I acquired him from another member here, is my method of taking care of him irresponsible because of how he eats his food?
 
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Wrong. My elong makes a disgusting mess with the smallest pieces of tilapia, and he's in a 125 by himself. My 310 full of NA native fish are 100% neater than him. Oscars are a messy fish as well with the way they shred through food. I'm not irresponsible in the way I feed my fish, he just tears through chunks of fish like a buzz saw. I can't clean up the mess he makes as its just a cloud of fish flesh. RBP's are from what I understand more skiddish and therefore eat differently sometimes than a serra species, the possibility of them tearing up their food is still there though.

My serra has been alive and well for close to a year now since I acquired him from another member here, is my method of taking care of him irresponsible because of how he eats his food?

Ohhhh SAS...tell the little bastard to quit eating like a filthy animal.
 
I'd go for an fx6 with a piranha
I know nothing of p's, but that is one mighty expensive piece of equipment you're telling him to buy. Anything that needs a big tank and filtration I would give a giant DIY canister or a sump. Cheaper, more flow & surface area. I would also add an algae scrubber or an aquaponic bed, but what do I know?
 
Personally, I wouldn't keep 3 reds in a 70 unless they were juvies and I was certain to get an upgrade.

I have 3 in a 120 but started off with 5. And I came home to this...

View attachment 1243716

Then this...

View attachment 1243717

Then again, it could all just come down to personality. I believe it was theskibag theskibag that started off with 5 and he still has 5?

Hi Souzie, don't think it was me, I've lost a good few over the years as well.

Started with 10 in a 150 (4 or 5 years ago), lost 6, added 10, lost 1 and added 3 cariba.

So I've 4 adults and 12 sub adults

Overstocked but keep up with the water changes and couldn't say no to the cariba.

Last fish lost was 2 years ago so they seem to be getting on ok for now

Here's a vid from two months ago

 
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