Piranhas help

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J

jartist15

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2009
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canada
Ok so my local pet store just got in these beautiful Piranhas they are about 3" or so, and oh they are so beautiful :D, i want one but as of now no where to keep it, but they also have babies they are about the size of a dime or a nickel. i wouldn't mind one of these for now untill i can upgrade, how long for these little guys to reach about 3 " and what would be the minimum tank set up i could put 2 of these guys in?:naughty:
 
jartist15;2852590; said:
Ok so my local pet store just got in these beautiful Piranhas they are about 3" or so, and oh they are so beautiful :D, i want one but as of now no where to keep it, but they also have babies they are about the size of a dime or a nickel. i wouldn't mind one of these for now untill i can upgrade, how long for these little guys to reach about 3 " and what would be the minimum tank set up i could put 2 of these guys in?:naughty:
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Where are you located in Canada?

I am in Toronto / Ontario

and

I got red belly piranha for sale too (cheaper than your lfs / guaranteed)

three 6-7" piranha and one 4.5" sanchezi

interested?
 
I wouldn't keep a pair. Either do a single specimen or 3 or more. If you have 2 one will beat up on the other. I would say at least 30 gallons for a single if it is a red belly piranha. Any of the diamond or rhom species need much bigger, but grow a lot slower.
 
you should post this on the piranha advanced forum:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=21

general rule of thumb is at least a tank that is 48" long and 18" wide for life. Red bellies are pygocentrus genus. All pygos need to be kept in shoals of 4 or more, though some people keep just three. Adult fish are usually around 12" long for nattereri (RBP) and very thick/tall. They grow really fast and usually reach adult size in approximately a year if kept in good conditions. They need approximately 20g of water a fish. A pair of RBPs would eat each others fins, and eventually you'd be left with one or none fish. You could keep about 4 in a 100g comfortably although the experts recommend 120g for a shoal for life (but you could probably keep 6). Tank needs to be heavily filtered. Piranhas produce a ton of waste, and literally rip food into pieces when they eat, leaving lots of fish debris floating around in the tank, so good filtration is a must. Most people feed frozen/fresh shrimp and white fish filets, but a varied diet is extremely important. Piranhas are fin biters by nature, and love live food. Fish in the barb family such as rosy reds and goldfish are really bad feeders. They secret large amounts of a thiaminase inhibiting hormone which inhibits the utilization of B vitamins in piranhas. If you feed live food, which most do, feed tetras, cichlids, and worms.
 
Thanks for all the advice! and i might be interested if i can get a tank set up soon, but right now i don't think i can house them :(
 
jartist15;2856703; said:
Thanks for all the advice! and i might be interested if i can get a tank set up soon, but right now i don't think i can house them :(
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there aren't a lot of folks with a tank big enough to keep a shoal of pygos. Fortunately there are serrasalmi for that. Check them out. What size tank you working with? You can keep the smaller serras in a 40g br for life, and the mediums would be okay in a 50g br-75g. The monster rhoms need at least a 100g by themselves, but they hardly ever get that big in captivity.

http://www.opefe.com <-- the best piranha info site on the web

http://www.piranha-info.com/default.php?lang=en&id=page_1 <---decent site. less info but slightly more accessible and less academic. I'd look here first, find out what i'm interested in, then read more about it on OPEFE. Also feel free to ask us if you have any questions. Just make sure your in the piranha advanced forum or we might not see it.
 
Hey if I were you id look into that guys sanchezi, I say this because I didnt feel comfortable with my pygos in a 55 gallon, they need at least six feet of straight swimming room.

The juveniles grow fast, at least one inch a month.
 
sanchezi is cool in like a 30g. I've heard of people keeping them in a 29g but I think that would be pushing it. Sanchezi's max out around 6 inches. They're piranhas, well not technically considered "true" piranhas, only pygos are, but trust me, a serrasalmus any serrasalmus, is a pretty bad *** fish. My fish is a serrasalmus marginatus and he ate a jack demspey that was bigger than he is! Took him a while, but after I discovered the jack dead and half eaten I let him munch on it until I thought it was going to foul the water. You'll find no lack of people claiming a jd is super aggressive and murderous to tank mates. They are after all named after a prize fighter. I thought he might be able to hang. One of my failed cohab attempts...didnt quite work the way I planned...
 
Diogenes;2857089; said:
there aren't a lot of folks with a tank big enough to keep a shoal of pygos. Fortunately there are serrasalmi for that. Check them out. What size tank you working with? You can keep the smaller serras in a 40g br for life, and the mediums would be okay in a 50g br-75g. The monster rhoms need at least a 100g by themselves, but they hardly ever get that big in captivity.

http://www.opefe.com <-- the best piranha info site on the web

http://www.piranha-info.com/default.php?lang=en&id=page_1 <---decent site. less info but slightly more accessible and less academic. I'd look here first, find out what i'm interested in, then read more about it on OPEFE. Also feel free to ask us if you have any questions. Just make sure your in the piranha advanced forum or we might not see it.
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piranha-info.com is a nice site for basic info and it also have pics of the piranahs so you can get an idea what the fish looks like.
for a shoal of pygos you'll eventually need a bigger tank like other members mentioned. if you can only have small size tank then go for sanchezi. or you'll be able to upgrade but just take a long time then you can also start with a juv. rhom, they don't grow as fast as pygos so it can buy you some time until you'll able to upgrade.
 
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