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New Member
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I have 3 nice size piranahs just moved theam from a 20 long to a 40 long so now they have more space. they are cool when its feeding time just watch your fingers when cleaning the tank.( joke) they dont hurt the hand that feeds theam they just look mean.
love it when its feeding time.
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Senior Member
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Hi rae3937,
Very cool. I think the skull adds a nice touch. Enjoy you fish! SGN
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Senior Member
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nice fish!
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nano reefs are fun
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Average Member
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Awesome Fish!!!!!!!
 Blub, Blub, Blub!
20 gallon: 4 Cardinal Tetras, 3 Cories, 5 Cherry Barbs,3 anubius, 4 Valisneria, 2 Amazon Swords, 1 Melon Sword, 1 Water Onion, 9 Java Fern, Java moss, Red Ludwigia, Green Cabomba, 2 Assassin Snails, 1 Mystery snail. 1 Cherry Barb fry!
Pond: 6 comets, a Shubunkin, (Closed Down for Winter)
Other pets: Peewee and Butters my two Budgies and Kitkat my Killer Cat!
Aiming to get another tank!
R.I.P list for Ammonia Spike: 4 Neon tetras, 5 Guppies, 1 Rubber lipped Plecostomus, 1 Mystery Snail, 2 female Bettas... R.I.P Newtete my Female betta  R.I.P Mr.Blubs My Red Ryukin Goldfish
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Average Member
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They're going to need a larger tank when fully grown. At least a 75 gallon at minimum.
4 gallon Finnex pico aquarium- Iwagumi tank with orange eye black tiger shrimp.10 gallon- Planted Asian biotope with CPD's, sparkling gouramis, and a breeding pair of Betta albimarginata. <link to pics of my tanks- http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic225475-16-1.aspx>
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Moderator
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Hello,
Yes, piranhas can be interesting fish, but I very rarely recommend people keep them.
For a start, small groups like your trio are rarely stable. Usually you need at least six specimens if red-bellied piranhas aren't going to turn on one another. You may be lucky and have three females, but the odds on that are slim, and most folks who try keeping fewer than six specimens end up with one big male by the end.
They're also demanding in terms of space. Your 40 gallon tank isn't nearly big enough, as Matt has just stated above. I'd be looking at a tank at least 100 gallons in size, and for best effect, you want 150-200 gallons so you can keep a decent group along with the tall plants against which these fish look most beautiful.
Next up is their behaviour. These are shy, nervous fish. Most specimens in small tanks look terrified. They aren't "fun" most of the time, and a lot of people who say they like keeping piranhas are actually the sort of people who like watching goldfish being dismembered! For people who want to watch a school of predatory fish swimming about, there are many species that do better in aquaria and settle down infinitely more quickly, for example Ctenolucius "gar" and the bucktooth tetra Exodon paradoxus.
Finally, there's diet. This isn't a difficult aspect if you know what you're doing, but sadly, in the US especially, there are still people who feed piranhas goldfish and minnows they buy from pet shops. The reasons why you should never use store-bought feeder fish have surely been explained to death by now, but on top of this, there are the issues of fat and especially thiaminase in goldfish and minnows that make them 100% unsuitable foods for any predatory fish, let alone piranhas.
(There's no need for using feeder fish in almost all situations, and only a very small number of predatory fish cannot be weaned onto alternative foods. Piranhas are easily fed on all sorts of other foods including earthworms, gut-loaded river shrimp (river shrimp contain thiaminase that you need to offset) and thiaminase-free fish and seafood such as tilapia fillet.)
Besides the meat-aspect of their diet, piranhas consume plant material too. One of the ironies of the hobby is that those aquarists who try to justify the use of feeder goldfish as "a natural part of their diet" never seem to be the ones who feed their piranhas the fruits and seeds that would truly mimic their natural diet!
All things considered, while I find piranhas interesting, I do fear that only a small minority of aquarists keep them properly.
Cheers, Neale
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Well said Neale. And I wanted to add one thing.They are scavengers in nature anyway. S they normally wouln't be chasing down fish to eat. They eat whatever falls inot the river. That just makes feeding feeder fish that much more uneccesary because the hunting aspect isn't even natural for them.
4 gallon Finnex pico aquarium- Iwagumi tank with orange eye black tiger shrimp.10 gallon- Planted Asian biotope with CPD's, sparkling gouramis, and a breeding pair of Betta albimarginata. <link to pics of my tanks- http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic225475-16-1.aspx>
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| thanks for the imput guys I feed my pirannahs a wide variety of food cod filets white fish red meat too they love the flack food too blood worms and even chicken. I understand there died and mostly give theam live feeder fish a few times a month so far they get along realy well Im soon hopeing to get a bigger tank for theam then I well use this tank for something dif. would love to get some rope fish and knife fish I had theam befor and they are cool .
love it when its feeding time.
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rae3937 (7/29/2011)
thanks for the imput guys I feed my pirannahs a wide variety of food
Glad to help, and good to know you're feeding a variety of foods.
rae3937 (7/29/2011)
cod filets white fish red meat too they love the flack food too blood worms and even chicken.
Would not use chicken or mammal meat, with the exception of beefheart. Why? Because warm-blooded animals contain fats that congeal inside cold-blooded fish. Now, it may well be true that on occasion piranhas consume mammals and birds that fall into rivers, but these aren't a major part of their diet, and the species we'd be offering, such as chickens and cows, aren't the ones piranhas are adapted to eating. If you had some sloth meat, then perhaps it'd be worth trying, but really, there's absolutely no benefit to using bird or mammal and potentially some harmful risks.
rae3937 (7/29/2011)
I understand there died and mostly give theam live feeder fish a few times a month so far they get along realy well Im soon hopeing to get a bigger tank for theam then I well use this tank for something dif. would love to get some rope fish and knife fish I had theam befor and they are cool .
Please, do not use feeder fish. There's no benefit to using them, and the risks are MUCH greater than any other sort of live food. Using feeders bought from a pet store or bait shop is simply inexcusable and should NEVER be done. If you're breeding suitable livebearers, killifish or cichlids at home, then that's something else entirely, and if gut-loaded first, these can be safe. Cyprinids (e.g., goldfish and minnows) aren't options, even if bred at home, because they contain thiaminase and lots of fat.
Cheers, Neale
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New Member
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I have convict chickids that had a lot of babys twice so I think I wont be buying feeder fish soon.
love it when its feeding time.
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