Piranha, the fish for me?

[Aibo]

I'm wishing someone could give me some insight on how interesting these fish are. At the moment I have an inherited Green Terror(I had a 55G in preparation for an Oscar a few years ago but I was asked to take this old old Green Terror) this guy is kicking the bucket, he's beautiful, he's big but he's pretty much a boring fish he had none of the personality of an Oscar and wasn't aghressive as they say Green Terrors are, almost piranha like.

Now, I am infatuated with the agressiveness of Piranha, I like shaols, their feeding is very impressive and entertains me(I watched a lot of Youtube.com videos). I'm also still looking at Oscars thanks to their personality, my brother has a 14" albino Oscar, this fish has balls in his tank and if you keep the lid open for him he'll aim and shoot them at you, it's wonderful.

Do Piranha offer interesting qualities beyond feeding time? Do they interact with you(I'm fully aware they won't on an Oscar fish level but I could be wrong)? How many can I truly have in a 55G? There's people that have 4 - 6 red bellied piranha in a 40-49G with a monster for a filter, then I read websites that say they need 15-20gallons each Piranha. That's really misleading as to what their requirements truly are.

I also am having trouble even finding any Piranha, I have 7 pet stores near me, some big names some ma and pa owned only one has Piranha and they have had the same large one for years, no one buys it. Is there a website that offers these fish? I live in PA, so they're legal, just none of the petstores bother stocking them.

 

[mr36st]

AQUASCAPE.COM... im new to piranhas to so im no expert, but theres differnt types and size piranhas so first do some readin on witch one u would want, and then go from there, just do a lot of searchin on tha net iv learnd so much, in the last two weeks on piranhas, just from the internet!! good luck, oh and i got my fish from ..aquascape there good people, and shipping was a breez!

 

[Joshy]

Welcome to MFK, and welcome to our small noble piranha community.

I'm wishing someone could give me some insight on how interesting these fish are

Well I think just about everyone in our small specific community would recommend piranhas, otherwise we would not be as interested in them as you are right now. And believe me, this interest only gets stronger my friend. However let me be the loser to tell you the down side before everything and anything. Piranhas really are not the mindless killers they are portrayed to be in cheap movies. They can be skittish, wary, laid back and even lazy. They need encouragement and a good keeper to get their potential out of them, but that just adds to the challenge and joys.

Do Piranha offer interesting qualities beyond feeding time? Do they interact with you(I'm fully aware they won't on an Oscar fish level but I could be wrong)?

You are right, nothing can compete with an Oscar on their puppy like personalities (except for puffers). And again to be honest, few piranhas will interact with you like they do. Some of the sole serra species may do some finger chasing, but you would be very lucky to come across a shoaling pygo doing so (that is what you are interested in). When they are not eating, they either laze around like bulldogs or patrol the tank like pitballs.

How many can I truly have in a 55G

You can just about get three adult red bellies in there, providing you have excellent and overrated filtration. We tend to follow the 20 gallon per red belly rule around here, as do most piranha experts. However the bigger tank you have, the more safely you can break this rule due to surface area.


Although you sound unsure about entering this part of the hobby, I am confident you will get sucked in like the rest of us. There is nothing like being able to tell your un-knowledgeable friends that you keep piranhas. And it does not hurt to ration feeding them for a few days and pop a feeder in for some guests or the video camera once in a while. However do not buy these simply for their feeding habits. In order to be satisfied with piranhas, you have to look beyond that and love them for what they are. Very beautiful shoaling (in pygo case) fish, with teeth and a good appetite.

 

[Big Roc]

Piranhas can show character, but it takes work. They need alot of interaction with the person who feeds them, and soon enough they will be trying to attack you from across the room. It really doesn't matter what kind you get, but it's easier to do this with a Serrasalmus species but it can be done with pygos too. My buddy bought some reds off of me about 2 months ago, and now you can't put your hand in the tank or they will attack (litteraly)

 

[importracer]

You a perfect canidate for the Midas Devil...Respondsiveness, size, attitiude, and color...

 

[CichlidAddict]

From your description I think you would be disappointed in the 3 piranhas that you could fit in your 55 gallon. They can be a cool fish in a large shoal, but they're skittish by nature and not nearly as personable as cichlids.
I would research the different types of cichlids besides Oscars if I were you. I bet you'd find some that act like what you're looking for.

 

[importracer]

Here's my 180...I can easily growout 12-14 p's in here, but instead, I stuck wih 6...Why???Because I want my fish to thrive...How seriuos am I--->I'm installing 2 wet/dry filters(about $600 worth) underneath the tank for the new's years...Never skimp on your filtration....As for the attitude of pygos, the Oscar wins in this category....But, owning "A PIRANHA" is pretty exotic..To me, it like owning a Komodo dragon rather than an igauna...From birth to 8-10 inches, Pygos grow quickly....The shoal pictured here were dimers(dime-sized) on August 1 of this year...SO the growth of Pygos is not boring....The whole aspect of choosing what foods to feed your p's is also another fun factor....

Note the absecne of driftwood and plants...I found that without anything for them to hide behind, they are forced see whats around them...This way, when they are young, they will grow to be less skittish...Always worked for me...

 

[fishnutham]

piranha do fine in shoals of five or more you may want to find a used 90g and go that route you won't be dissapointed awesome fish and they will interact with you if you have lots of tank furniture for them to dart behind if threatened

 

[black_monster]

piranhas are not really what ppl think! they are not always badass. some piranhas have really good character in them and some don't. if ur looking for a p that is aggressive then i'd recommend u to go to a lfs urself and look for one that will stare u down and chase ur fingers as u move it across the glass. all the p's ive dealt with weren't so badass and did not chase my fingers and eat in front of me. my p's were pussy and would only eat after i left the room and i could stick my hand in the tank to pick leftover food up and they'd swim away from my hand. i would still caution u even if u don't end up with a badass p because all p's are dangerous. don't be stupid and try and make them come out of their box by pushing their limits by chasing them with ur hands in the water because one day they will end up biting a nice chunk out of u.