Questions about piranha's?

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

Nebri

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 4, 2010
16
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Hamilton, Ontario
Hey guys,

thinking of getting into this hobby. Been reading a bunch of the stickies here it's given me a great starting point.

20 gallons per fish, goldfish are not good feeders etc etc.

I'm more curious about what you would recommend for a beginner? I'm thinking of grabbing some see how it goes. What I'm confused on is how long does it take juvenile to mature into full adults?

How often would suitable live feeds be acceptable? How expensive is the pellets as normal food etc.

I'm thinking if I were to start I'd love to start with a 30g tank, but it seems more people prefer 55 g's. I also know young piranha's are cannibalistic, how many recommended to buy to accommodate for the inevitable fatalities?
 
Forgot to add this one, when would be the best time to attempt a live feed?

With this question I'm not looking for just a quick show of a mini death match. I've got discovery channel for that, but it is an interesting selling point that I would no doubt explore as time went on. In fact I'd say I'd be quite eager for this, especially with mice.
 
What to start with.....whatever you can get ahold of. The care is practically the same as long as you know which can be kept together and which must be kept solo.
Most people start with red bellies because they're the most readily available and the cheapest

Growth rate, 6-8 inches isn't uncommon within the first year of pickin up dime-nickel size. Then only an inch a year after that. So you're looking at a few years down the road before you hit 10 inches.

Food, i pay from 4-12 bucks for the various types of pellets but the staple is shrimp and fish fillette (more bang for your bucks then pellets)

If you're planning on upgrading as they grow, don't think it matters too much what size tank you start with if you're debating between 29, 55 etc. Personally i'd start with a 75 if i could as it'd buy you the most time before you needed to upgrade. You'd have to figure out how big of a tank you wanted to end up with and then stock accordingly.


Oh, one more thing, feed live as often as you want. There's no right or wrong answer. It's all in personal preference. Your Ps will have a mind of their own anyways. You may put them in for food and they may live with them for awhile
 
Thanks Ballin that helps quite a bit. Out of curiosity what did you start with? Were you satisfied with what you started with? Anything you would have done differently after the personal experience? Can you ball park the cost it took for that setup?

Also let's say I grabbed a 55 g tank, then I wanted to upgrade. How big a pain is it moving them from one to the other? Best and easiest way to move them? I imagine they would chew through some nets pretty easily.
 
if you don't have a tank yet then the best and easiest way would be to start them in a tank that you'll be keeping them for long term. depends on size moving them can be a pain and stressful thing on both you and the fish.
When I moved my 12" rhom I lost 2 large aquarium nets and one pond net, water all over the floor and walls. even moving my 8in caribes took a little work.
you could use small bucket or container (bigger than the fish but small enough to get into the tank) and guide the fish into the container. once the fish is in you can take the container out together with fish and water. it'll be less stressful for the fish compare to using net.
 
Right I don't have a tank at all yet, I haven't spent a dime yet, doing my research before I commit to anything because rushing into something like this will suck unprepared. So a safe bet would be to get a 55 gallon tank (3 adults would be the aim), MAYBE a 75-80ish gallon tank for 4 adult red bellies being the aim here.

With that in mind, and they're cannibalistic nature when young, how many babies should I buy? 5?
 
IMO, don't waste your time and money with 55g. if a 4ft long tank is what you limited at then aim for 75g, 90g(4x1.5 footprint), 120g or even 150g (4x2 footprint).
they don't always kill each other so you need to know what can be don't if all lives.
with 75g and 90g I would say 4-5 adults, 120g and 150g 6-7 adults.
if you can get a 6ft tank, 120g or 150g or better yet 180g then start with a dozen, could even be more than a dozen as long as your filtration can keep up.
 
it's not so much the size of the tank, it's the amount of water I'm going to be running through with water changes. Don't you need to change the water weekly?
 
yes weekly water changes is a key to keep good water parameters along with gravel vacuum.
so water usage is your concern? not sure what your rate is but water is actually the cheapest running cost for my 180g, together with sewer charge I estimate my water bill for the tank is about $5 max.
if you have a bigger tank and fewer fish you might even ok with biweekly water change.
 
yeah, at least, but that depends on the percentage of the water that you are changing. I think it is better to do small changes more often as opposed to big changes every once and a while.
 
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