Read and Learn

[rain21]

I thought to post this thread because lot of people out there think red belly piranhas for beginners and black piranha (rhom) for fish keepers with more experience. Actually this is damn wrong. I have 6 RBP and 1 rhom. Usually I have to spend more time + money for reds than black. Let's talk about some facts.

If you keep red bellies, you better/have to keep at least 6 of them to form a shoal and for a rhom, better to keep him/her alone. usually a red belly will get 10 inches and a rhom maybe will get to 20 inches. So without any argument, red bellies need a bigger tank than a single rhom. So for the tank, red bellies need more money.

If we talk about the price, a black rhom can be bought for around $25, and 6 red bellies will cost about $40.

Eventually a shoal of RBP need more food than a single rhom. so you have to spend more money for RBP's food. And more food means, more waste > So RBP tank makes more waste than rhom's tank.

Sometimes RBP's get injured because of fighting with each other, so you have to care about it as well. For a rhom, you don't get this problem.

These are some facts. SO after all, anyone can easily understand, keeping a shoal (atleast 5 or 6) RBP is difficult than keeping a single rhom. So rhoms are for beginners and RBPs are for experienced fish keepers.

 

[F1 VET]

I thought to post this thread because lot of people out there think red belly piranhas for beginners and black piranha (rhom) for fish keepers with more experience. Actually this is damn wrong. I have 6 RBP and 1 rhom. Usually I have to spend more time + money for reds than black. Let's talk about some facts.

If you keep red bellies, you better/have to keep at least 6 of them to form a shoal and for a rhom, better to keep him/her alone. usually a red belly will get 10 inches and a rhom maybe will get to 20 inches. So without any argument, red bellies need a bigger tank than a single rhom. So for the tank, red bellies need more money.

If we talk about the price, a black rhom can be bought for around $25, and 6 red bellies will cost about $40.

Eventually a shoal of RBP need more food than a single rhom. so you have to spend more money for RBP's food. And more food means, more waste > So RBP tank makes more waste than rhom's tank.

Sometimes RBP's get injured because of fighting with each other, so you have to care about it as well. For a rhom, you don't get this problem.

These are some facts. SO after all, anyone can easily understand, keeping a shoal (atleast 5 or 6) RBP is difficult than keeping a single rhom. So rhoms are for beginners and RBPs are for experienced fish keepers.

Not to discount your great insight (no sarcasm) but a Rhom is a "ambush predator", and when it comes to keeping a rare fish that gets bigger and more aggressive a black piranha is for the more advanced enthusiast. When compairing fish this is obvious but yes with a large adult shoal it is more work, money and effort but a rbp is a very Hardy fish great for a beginner looking into the world of P keeping!

Especially given that young serras specifically serrasalmus rhombeus are fragile and EVERYTHING needs to be perfect and sometimes they will still randomly die.

Remember that ALL black piranhas are WILD CAUGHT FISH! Rbp are 95% of the time captive bred!


BTW no rhom raised in aquaria is going to touch anywhere near 20" and even in the wild. you would be very lucky to hit half that unless its imported at 10" -18" is the record I think. And even rbp don't always hit 10"!


I will agree an adult shoal of 6 or more is a lot of work but there are ways to minimize this. I.e plants, pothos for less water changes, good filtration and flow for little or no vacing. In fact the only maintenance I do on my 6x adult rbp 125gal tank is a 50% water change every 2 weeks plus cleaning my fx5 twice a year. Trick is NOT overfeeding ime.

:beer:

×Go S Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 3x WDC!!!×
__________________________________________________________________

Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

 

[rain21]

thnx for the input.
BTW I have to do lot of things for the RBP than the single rhom. recently 1 RBP got injured and I had to buy a small tank to keep him separated and also had to buy some medications. Aggressiveness of the rhom is not an issue for me as long as it is living in the tank. same as RBP.

yes, it is difficult to breed rhom, and this is the only advanced part I see in rhom keeping. except that, nearly everything is advanced in keeping a rbp shoal.

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

Ive often argued on this site that theres no real difference between keeping the two.

I think the price tag is the lone reason we choose to view RBP as beginners to piranha keeping. Youll find baby reds that will cost a few bucks each and will be 6 inches after 5-8 months. Youll spend 25 bucks for a juvy rhom but 100+ once it puts any size on it. Which is more forgiving if a mistake were to happen with either with a new keeper? Clearly the dime a dozen red bellies.

The size references in the OP are way off. No ones growing a rhom 14+ inches and youre paying 4X More for an adult rhom then a red.

You dont have to have 6 rbp, you can do less. I think where it becomes more advanced is when you advance beyond reds and rhoms


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[rain21]

since people buy a shoal of RBP usually, price is also nearly the same.

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

since people buy a shoal of RBP usually, price is also nearly the same.

Yeah but you rarely lose an entire shoal at the same time.....unlike if you lose a rhom. Reds are pretty easily replaceable for their price. What's the most expensive large red belly you've seen?

I like that you're doing your research though.

 

[rain21]

Yeah but you rarely lose an entire shoal at the same time.....unlike if you lose a rhom. Reds are pretty easily replaceable for their price. What's the most expensive large red belly you've seen?

I like that you're doing your research though.

rhom is expensive than RBP, and this maybe the reason why some people say rhoms are for advanced fish keepers. Because many people can't afford to lose a rhom. But for less than $200, a fish keeper can easily find a 5"-6" rhom. Not very expensive. Except the price, there's nothing advanced in rhom. someone may tell, breeding is difficult. but most people who buy piranhas dont want to breed them and breeding is not a must.

 

[jp80911]

in terms of care, both species are very similar, in fact, all piranhas are very similar when it comes to the care part.
I think the reason we recommend reds for the beginner and serra species to more experienced piranha keeper (note the word, piranha keeper, not fish keeper in general) is because serra species tend to require more patient and a better understand than pygo species.
Most new keepers would be more easily frustrated when the new serra they purchased hides all the time and/or not eating for days, weeks, months, or at least won't eat during the keepers present. and the activity level in the tank can be much less when compare to a shoal so an inexperienced piranha keeper that doesn't truly understand/prepared for something like mentioned above can quickly loose interest in the fish. especially many started keeping piranha for the WRONG reason, thanks to Hollywood and the mass media.
with a shoal, you get the feeding frenzy and pygos will most likely willing to feed more frequently and with that many fish in the same tank it'll have more activity level so keepers can be easily entertained by the shoal compare to a single serra.
getting a shoal first would allow one to get "hooked" into keeping piranha longer and hopefully will start appreciate the fish more and start to learn more about them, once you understand more about them you can then truly enjoy keeping them.
and I don't think serra is any more "aggressive" than pygo, I would say they are more territorial when in a confined space.

 

[Pole]

in terms of care, both species are very similar, in fact, all piranhas are very similar when it comes to the care part.
I think the reason we recommend reds for the beginner and serra species to more experienced piranha keeper (note the word, piranha keeper, not fish keeper in general) is because serra species tend to require more patient and a better understand than pygo species.
Most new keepers would be more easily frustrated when the new serra they purchased hides all the time and/or not eating for days, weeks, months, or at least won't eat during the keepers present. and the activity level in the tank can be much less when compare to a shoal so an inexperienced piranha keeper that doesn't truly understand/prepared for something like mentioned above can quickly loose interest in the fish. especially many started keeping piranha for the WRONG reason, thanks to Hollywood and the mass media.
with a shoal, you get the feeding frenzy and pygos will most likely willing to feed more frequently and with that many fish in the same tank it'll have more activity level so keepers can be easily entertained by the shoal compare to a single serra.
getting a shoal first would allow one to get "hooked" into keeping piranha longer and hopefully will start appreciate the fish more and start to learn more about them, once you understand more about them you can then truly enjoy keeping them.
and I don't think serra is any more "aggressive" than pygo, I would say they are more territorial when in a confined space.

+1

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

rhom is expensive than RBP, and this maybe the reason why some people say rhoms are for advanced fish keepers. Because many people can't afford to lose a rhom. But for less than $200, a fish keeper can easily find a 5"-6" rhom. Not very expensive. Except the price, there's nothing advanced in rhom. someone may tell, breeding is difficult. but most people who buy piranhas dont want to breed them and breeding is not a must.

And to get six 6 inch red bellies will cost you 6 months and 30-60 bucks total if you aren't silly enough to seek 6 inchers. way way cheaper cuz at that size you'll grow it out yourself.

Most people want something more exotic then the basic black rhom unless its big anyways (such as the 18 inch, $800 beast for sell on here right now)


I agree with JP, it makes more sense to start with reds and then branch out. Great reasons listed