So many to choose from. . . .

[Peanut_Power]

Wow!!! Thats a massively awesome tank!!! So as piranhas get older, they get more spangles hmmm? Very shimmery.

I like the looks of that tank, it looks quite nice actually. The thing is working at the LFS, I've seen how red bellies are, so freaking skittish, they just don't really excite me. The Serras family just seems more unique and like they have more aggressive species.



Is it possible to mix Serras with Pygos? Or are the Serras too aggressive and really dish out the damage?

How up to date is Georges (Shark Aquarium) stock list? He has some cool piranhas, smaller sizes too.

What is denticulata though? Is it a piranha or kinda like a silver dollar? Can't find any pictures on it.

Specialk ~ Yes I drool over Pedros pictures about once a day. . . lol.

 

[jp80911]

rbps are known to be the most skittish piranha out of all, caribes and pirayas are more bold. I never had problem with my shoal eating in front of me and the tank is in the basement and I don't go down there too often, just when I feed or when I feel like taking pictures, or when my 1 year old drag me to take him to check out the fish.
if you spend a good amount of time in front of them they'll get use to you. if you decide to go with a shoal then def. get caribes, piraya and ternetzi or some wild reds if you want. I think AE aquatics has some small wild reds in, I got my two small ones from them.

Serra can be just as skittish as rbps but they are solo hunters so they are more aggressive when it comes to each other, they are all a bit skittish when a human pops up suddenly in front of their tanks. over time they'll get use to you. sometimes you get lucky and get a finger chaser or one that's just crazy right out of the box, many times you'll have to give it time to come out of its shell. and sometimes get them to eat what you feed them could be a pain, unlike pygos. they are nice fish to look at tho.

not sure how up to date G's stock list on his website is but he did post he just got some 1-2" caribes on a piranha forum so if you want to get caribes, now is your chance, I think G has the best price so far.
is it possible to mix serras with pygos? if your tank is big enough and the fish are all some what mellow, yea but how long will it last no one knows. if you don't want to waste your money then don't do it.
search Pristobrycon Denticulatus online, you should find bunch pics
here's one of them

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

I think it's a rough comparison comparing red bellies in a LFS (mind you, you work there and could shock me and have an amazing red belly display tank but at the price for baby reds, i doubt it) to a red belly shoal in a home aquarium. How comfortable can they really be at your LFS?

I recommend doing a shoal (of any pygos) before you do a serra or both a shoal and serra at the same time if money and space allows (seperate tanks). I've just seen too many excited loyal fish keepers get bored with a slow growing serra.

Those adult piraya in those pics look amazing. So bulky, So round

 

[p0w_yangz]

I think it's a rough comparison comparing red bellies in a LFS (mind you, you work there and could shock me and have an amazing red belly display tank but at the price for baby reds, i doubt it) to a red belly shoal in a home aquarium. How comfortable can they really be at your LFS?

I recommend doing a shoal (of any pygos) before you do a serra or both a shoal and serra at the same time if money and space allows (seperate tanks). I've just seen too many excited loyal fish keepers get bored with a slow growing serra.

Those adult piraya in those pics look amazing. So bulky, So round

that is sooo true.. if you do have a large tank go with some pygos

 

[Peanut_Power]

You guys keep mentioning piraya, I'm assuming they are species of pygo, but what is their scientific name so I can look them up.

George replied and said that his website was just recently updated, so all the species and prices are current.

 

[jp80911]

There are 3 species in the Pygocentrus genus: Pygocentrus nattereri (aka rbp), Pygocentrus Cariba (or caribe) and Pygocentrus Piraya (which is the largest pygo species, potential of reaching 24")
natterei and cariba will loose the red belly as they get old but piraya will keep the color even at old age, may get a bit darker but should still have all the color.
pictures worth thousand words so here they goes:
Pygocentrus nattereri (sometimes you'll get some with a little reds go above lateral line)

There's an other variant of nattereri which has a yellow belly and get bigger, aka Ternetzi

Pygocentrus Cariba (sure you already know what it looks like)

Pygocentrus Piraya

 

[Peanut_Power]

Nice!!! I'd almost rather just have a tank of piraya if I did Pygos. They definitely have the more color for sure. Wow. They are definitely more pricey too!!! $150 a pop on AquaScape, and they don't even have any in stock.

On the upside though, looks like they got in some small caribe, just about same price/size as George has. Interesting.

 

[jp80911]

pirayas are def. nice but they tend to be more cannibalistic than other pygos when they reach certain size so you need to watch out. Shark Aquarium gets small ones 2-3" once a while, last couple patches were $100 each, if you buy more maybe you can get a discount from G.
last year AquaticScapes was selling them for $50 each, see if you can get the same quantity discount 5 or more at $20 each like Shark Aquarium has.

 

[bomber]

Piraya's have that Bulldog face and I love it.