45g Tank Piranha

[Nuice]

I have a 45g Tank, i wanted to buy some piranhas. But, i have been reading over some threads on this forum site. If i were to keep a piranha as a pet, I would need a 75g tank right? Also, since i only have a 45g, what other fish speices do yuo recommand i keep?


Thanks for all your help,

Nuice.

 

[jonny_dw]

What are your tank dimensions mate?

Theres alot of piranha species and not all require 75G tanks. Thats mainly for red bellies and other members of the pygo family.

The serrasalmus species live alone and therefore require smaller tanks. Such names include sanchezi,irritan,rhom etc theres lots!

 

[Nuice]

Sorry it took me so long,

Its, 1ft wide. by 2ft 5 inchs long, and 14 inchs deep.

 

[Gatorbait]

Sorry it took me so long,

Its, 1ft wide. by 2ft 5 inchs long, and 14 inchs deep.

How much are you willing to spend?

Are you ok with a solo fish for life in a tank?

With Serra's you can't add anything else to their tank.

 

[jonny_dw]

Its not ideal dimensions for a serrasalmus. The smaller species such as Sanchezi and Irritan when fully grown need tanks of 40x16x16". They do grow pretty slowly tho so you could have one in that tank up to when its a sub adult. However on some piranha forums Im a member of, people have said their serrasalmus have hated anything longer than 2.5ft long lol Their strange fish

 

[Nuice]

Sorry it took me so long,

Its, 1ft wide. by 2ft 5 inchs long, and 14 inchs deep.

How much are you willing to spend?

Are you ok with a solo fish for life in a tank?

With Serra's you can't add anything else to their tank.

Im hoping not to spend that much money, but really it does not have that much affect.
I am more then happy to have a solo fish in the tank.

 

[Gatorbait]

Sorry it took me so long,

Its, 1ft wide. by 2ft 5 inchs long, and 14 inchs deep.

How much are you willing to spend?

Are you ok with a solo fish for life in a tank?

With Serra's you can't add anything else to their tank.

Im hoping not to spend that much money, but really it does not have that much affect.
I am more then happy to have a solo fish in the tank.

Not that much money is relative. To me, $100 for a fish isn't that much but to others $15 is too much. Not trying to be nitpicky but hard to give good advice not knowing.

If you don't want to spend much money for the fish then red belly's would probably be your best choice but you'd have to get a minimum of a 75g tank for 3. The 40 would last a couple months but they'll get up to 8" their first year.

irritans and sanchezi are good fish. You could keep in the 40. They grow slow and are usually very aggressive fish. Some say you need a tank larger than yours and some say you don't.

rhombeus are another you could keep in a 40 for quite a few years as they grow slow but they get huge. Sometimes up to 16" but not many get that big in home aquaria. A 2" rhom would cost about $15 but they grow extremely slow. maybe an 1.5 a year. It can also take up to a year before they become accustomed to their tank and surroundings. They are pretty skittish when young until they get settled in. Some take 6 months and others longer. they will usually only eat live foods so you'll have to break them of that habit if you want to feed them anything other than live foods. They are extremely dangerous fish tho if you keep one that grows large so you may not want to deal with that.

If it were me, I'd go with a sanchezi, the purple varient. They are beautiful fish and very aggressive. A 5" fish will probably run you $50 or so, depending on stock. 3" one might cost about $25 or so? Not sure what prices are at the moment. Depends on availability. You'll just have to keep him solo. I know with other "piranhas" people say they can keep pleco's or w/e with them but this is not true with Serra's other than perhaps Geryi's where one can try a shoal but even then I wouldn't count on it working.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

 

[jonny_dw]

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

Yeah I agree a Sanchezi is your best bet. As Mr._Fishy has said the purple ones are more expensive but the red form are awesome looking fish, however It can be difficult to get hold of one as I have been finding out lol

 

[Nuice]

Sorry it took me so long,

Its, 1ft wide. by 2ft 5 inchs long, and 14 inchs deep.

How much are you willing to spend?

Are you ok with a solo fish for life in a tank?

With Serra's you can't add anything else to their tank.

Im hoping not to spend that much money, but really it does not have that much affect.
I am more then happy to have a solo fish in the tank.

Not that much money is relative. To me, $100 for a fish isn't that much but to others $15 is too much. Not trying to be nitpicky but hard to give good advice not knowing.

If you don't want to spend much money for the fish then red belly's would probably be your best choice but you'd have to get a minimum of a 75g tank for 3. The 40 would last a couple months but they'll get up to 8" their first year.

irritans and sanchezi are good fish. You could keep in the 40. They grow slow and are usually very aggressive fish. Some say you need a tank larger than yours and some say you don't.

rhombeus are another you could keep in a 40 for quite a few years as they grow slow but they get huge. Sometimes up to 16" but not many get that big in home aquaria. A 2" rhom would cost about $15 but they grow extremely slow. maybe an 1.5 a year. It can also take up to a year before they become accustomed to their tank and surroundings. They are pretty skittish when young until they get settled in. Some take 6 months and others longer. they will usually only eat live foods so you'll have to break them of that habit if you want to feed them anything other than live foods. They are extremely dangerous fish tho if you keep one that grows large so you may not want to deal with that.

If it were me, I'd go with a sanchezi, the purple varient. They are beautiful fish and very aggressive. A 5" fish will probably run you $50 or so, depending on stock. 3" one might cost about $25 or so? Not sure what prices are at the moment. Depends on availability. You'll just have to keep him solo. I know with other "piranhas" people say they can keep pleco's or w/e with them but this is not true with Serra's other than perhaps Geryi's where one can try a shoal but even then I wouldn't count on it working.

Wow thank you very much, Espically for this long explanation. Um, yes i do not mind spending up to 70$ dollas for a fish. I think i will go with the Sanchezi, Again, thanks for all your help.

 

[Gatorbait]

Nuice, you won't find them in your LFS in most cases, you'l have to buy them online. I'm not sure where you're located but if you live in the US and in a legal state you can have them shipped from Shark Aquarium and Aquascape Online

I buy all mine from and there and can vouch for both of those places being of good quality and back their fish up with good guarantees.

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

Yeah I agree a Sanchezi is your best bet. As Mr._Fishy has said the purple ones are more expensive but the red form are awesome looking fish, however It can be difficult to get hold of one as I have been finding out lol

Do you live in the US?

Aquascape Online has both red and purple varients in stock right now.

 

[Nuice]

Nuice, you won't find them in your LFS in most cases, you'l have to buy them online. I'm not sure where you're located but if you live in the US and in a legal state you can have them shipped from Shark Aquarium and Aquascape Online

I buy all mine from and there and can vouch for both of those places being of good quality and back their fish up with good guarantees.

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

Yeah I agree a Sanchezi is your best bet. As Mr._Fishy has said the purple ones are more expensive but the red form are awesome looking fish, however It can be difficult to get hold of one as I have been finding out lol

Do you live in the US?

Aquascape Online has both red and purple varients in stock right now.

I accually live in Canada, right now im visiting the Us tho. But it wouldn't survive the 4 hour drive back home. I am really considering the Sanchezi, but what about oscars?

 

[Gatorbait]

Nuice, you won't find them in your LFS in most cases, you'l have to buy them online. I'm not sure where you're located but if you live in the US and in a legal state you can have them shipped from Shark Aquarium and Aquascape Online

I buy all mine from and there and can vouch for both of those places being of good quality and back their fish up with good guarantees.

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

Yeah I agree a Sanchezi is your best bet. As Mr._Fishy has said the purple ones are more expensive but the red form are awesome looking fish, however It can be difficult to get hold of one as I have been finding out lol

Do you live in the US?

Aquascape Online has both red and purple varients in stock right now.

I accually live in Canada, right now im visiting the Us tho. But it wouldn't survive the 4 hour drive back home. I am really considering the Sanchezi, but what about oscars?

Depends on what you are looking for in a fish. Oscars aren't my thing right now but I can see why people have them. They have better personality than any other fish I've ever had. They aren't predators and I was assuming that's what you were looking for so if you mean as far as a predator fish, then no, Oscars won't give you that. If you're looking for something that isn't a predator then sure but again you'd have to have a minimum of a 75g tank, imo.

The 2 online places I gave may ship to canada. look it up on there or email them, they'll get back to you.

Definitely don't get a piranha unless you are 100% sure that's what you want. I'm not trying to cut you down or insinuate but also don't get one if you just want to show your friends how badass they are when eating because trust me, you'll be sorely disappointed. The people that get them for that reason WILL become bored with them. Yes, if you throw a fish into their tank they will kill it but I don't recommend that and it seems it would get boring after a while.

I'm not saying you want one for that reason but I'm just trying to look out for both you and the fish's best interest just in case.

You actually have to honestly want a piranha for the same reasons others want other type of fish for you to be happy in the long run.

If you do then a sanchezi would definitely be a great fish for your tank for life.

What are you looking for in a fish? Maybe then we can suggest ideas of fish you might not know. (I mean if your mind isn't set on piranhas)

 

[Nuice]

Nuice, you won't find them in your LFS in most cases, you'l have to buy them online. I'm not sure where you're located but if you live in the US and in a legal state you can have them shipped from Shark Aquarium and Aquascape Online

I buy all mine from and there and can vouch for both of those places being of good quality and back their fish up with good guarantees.

I second the sanchezi idea. I have a purple one and I am really happy with it. Behavior wise it doesn't really do too much but it is really starting to come out of its shell. Its coloration is amazing too. However, generally the purple ones are more expensive. I don't really mind paying a decent amount for a fish, but if you don't really want to spend much you could get a regular variant for usually around $40 or so.

Yeah I agree a Sanchezi is your best bet. As Mr._Fishy has said the purple ones are more expensive but the red form are awesome looking fish, however It can be difficult to get hold of one as I have been finding out lol

Do you live in the US?

Aquascape Online has both red and purple varients in stock right now.

I accually live in Canada, right now im visiting the Us tho. But it wouldn't survive the 4 hour drive back home. I am really considering the Sanchezi, but what about oscars?

Depends on what you are looking for in a fish. Oscars aren't my thing right now but I can see why people have them. They have better personality than any other fish I've ever had. They aren't predators and I was assuming that's what you were looking for so if you mean as far as a predator fish, then no, Oscars won't give you that. If you're looking for something that isn't a predator then sure but again you'd have to have a minimum of a 75g tank, imo.

The 2 online places I gave may ship to canada. look it up on there or email them, they'll get back to you.

Definitely don't get a piranha unless you are 100% sure that's what you want. I'm not trying to cut you down or insinuate but also don't get one if you just want to show your friends how badass they are when eating because trust me, you'll be sorely disappointed. The people that get them for that reason WILL become bored with them. Yes, if you throw a fish into their tank they will kill it but I don't recommend that and it seems it would get boring after a while.

I'm not saying you want one for that reason but I'm just trying to look out for both you and the fish's best interest just in case.

You actually have to honestly want a piranha for the same reasons others want other type of fish for you to be happy in the long run.

If you do then a sanchezi would definitely be a great fish for your tank for life.

What are you looking for in a fish? Maybe then we can suggest ideas of fish you might not know. (I mean if your mind isn't set on piranhas)

Um, i have emailed both the companies you have gave me, Thank you. Yes i am looking for a piranha, not to show my friends. But to care for it. I am very interrested in having one. Not, just to watch it eat, but to watch it live. My attention was that oscars were aggressive and predators as i seen that attack before. But i am fine with the Sanchezi as i always wanted a piranha. Thank you very much for all the input you have put into this thread. I am also working on becoming an active member on this forum. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Gatorbait]

Ok great.

Don't take offense about me asking why you were buying it. None was intended and it's a standard reply from me.

It might not be until Monday until you hear back from them.

Hope you get us pics when you get him and look forward to seeing you around.

Also, if you have any questions at all about care, foods etc please ask and we'll help you out.

I think you'll be very happy with your sanchezi. Just be prepared for him not to eat right away and to be shy for a bit until he settles in but every couple days keep giving him food and see if he eats.