Serrasalmus owners! - question.

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d3r

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2013
159
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16
Detroit, MI (motor city)
whats up guys


so i have a RBP shoal and know almost everything there is to know about them.

i am looking to expand my piranha collection into the Serrasalmus breed.
(either manueli or gibbus) and i know very little about them.


SO, my question is-
my LFS employee told me that Serras should be in TALL tanks instead of LONG ones.
is this true? or was he just trying to make a sale?


every video ive seen of serras they're always on the bottom and always patroling the tank long ways. i dont like tall tanks
and a tall tank would be inconvienant in the location i want the tank. but i want the fish to be as comfortable as possible to observe more natural behavior.



* also, i plan on putting it in a 55-80 Gallon. (is this big enough?)
 
S. Gibbus is pretty hard to find in my opinion. I bought one from a LFS and it turned out to be a maculatus. Its also hard to differentiate between gibbus and rhombeus in most cases. They max around 8" so a 55 could be okay. Manny's get a lot bigger (i think max around 18-24" )so I would go 80 to start. And upgrade later on.

Most Serra's dont use the top of the tank unless they're feeding. So I'd just do a standard tank or one that has a wider footprint.

I also find that Serra's like a lot more flow than pygos.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
They don't "prefer" a tall tank, I have no idea why he'd even recommend that... Depending on the individual fish, they normally patrol the tank side to side for a while, then settle back into a favorite area of theirs. Patrol, lurk, repeat.

A 75 gallon would house most serra species for years, but manueli do grow a little larger and would probably be better off in a 6 foot tank when above 9-10". I haven't seen an actual gibbus for sale in years, most of the time they're mislabeled rhoms. A rhom will usually max out around 10" if tank raised, manueli maybe 13" or so (from what I've seen). They don't hit max wild sizes in home aquaria, so I wouldn't expect to grow out a 16"+ rhom or manueli.
 
Thanks guys..i figured it was incorrect. i just smiled and nodded but wasnt 100% sure since i know so little about Serras.

Currently looking for 90gallons. Just called about one on craigslist...gonna go check it out.
 
Hahah right. so annoying sometimes trying to keep a straight face when someone is feeding you a line of BS...

anyway a lfs (not the one that told me to buy a tall tank) has a piranha labeled as S.Gibbus ($199)...its super aggressive trying to bite my face as i walked by (its up high) i was wondering to myself if it was mis ID because i know how rare they are. maybe ill snap a pic n see if anyone can ID it.

they also have a manueli for $299. decisions decisions.
 
Definitely post up a pic if you want to make sure it's labeled correctly. Depending on size, those prices aren't outrageous, but not on the cheap side either. But if it does turn out to be an actual gibbus (doubtful IMO), I'd jump on it.
 
pics please
 
I will get some ASAP. haven't made it out there yet. really curious now whether its labeled correctly or not. waiting for my 150g to go buy one of the two...still haven't decided. (If its not actually a gibbus then ill get the manueli for sure)
 
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