red belly in 15 gallon

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I agree with what's been said. 15 gal isn't really fair to the fish. RBPs get big and they could get 8" in their first year if you're doing everything right. My biggest one only got to 7" in its first year but it could be possible.
So if you are buying an aquarium then planning to buy a bigger one, I'd say forget the small one and just get the large one from the beginning.
Otherwise start with a small serrasalmus piranha.
 
you will be fine in that 15 for a few monthes but you will need to get a tank wider than 12" (example: 55 is 12" wide)
 
I bought my RBP nickle sized in Feb 05. I grew him up in a 10 gal for a month or so then bought a 55. I had a couple more RBPs and then in April bought 2 piraya at 3". I got rid of all my other RBP because they were not growing as fast and bought a Caribe in october. At the seller of the Caribes house we measured the fish. It was pretty dead on at 6" Once I added the caribe to the 55 with my RBP and two piraya I was amazed to see that it was almost a solid inch shorter then my RBP and Piraya. So from April-October my Piraya and RBP had grown from 3" to a solid 7". In December I got a 125 and the only fish I took time to measure was my RBP and it measured at 8". Mind you that measuring an angry fish with big teeth is not easy! For me the growth rate slowed down dramatically in about October. So for the last 6-7 months they have only grown an inch maybe an inch and a half.

They have never been fed feeders under my care. Shell on shrimp mostly, but nightcrawlers, squid, and whole fish make up the rest of their diet. Oh and I believe adding a very powerful powerhead helped keep them hungry and active. Also I grew up 4 RBPs and this one by far out grew the others.

Here is a pic of the beast in January getting use to his new 125.

Well crap, for some reason the gallery is different now and I cant figure out how to post pics! :swear:

Its in my gallery though and the pic is entitled red. As you can see he is also taller and thicker then most fish that size.
 
I got baby RBP and they get really scared when I get into the tank. is this normal? are they comfortable or what? i feed them bloodworms 2 times a day
 
Piranhas in general are in no way aggressive fish! So the skittishness is normal. What worked for me was a bare tank in a high traffic area. This way the fish get use to being around people and not be scared. It may stress your fish out though so you have to be careful about that as well.
 
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