pirhana newbie

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guido

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Hey everyone im new to the pirhana game, at the moment i have a twenty gallon tank with two wild red bellies and a red tiger oscar. I used black gravel with several plants, an aqua clear 300, and a 100 watt heater. At the moment ive been feeding the lil bastard feeder fish and blood worms. other than than i placed the fish coath and crap and am also going to buy the amonia pack for my filter(if that makes any sense). My first question is what is the difference btween a wild red belly and a regular red belly, if there is a difference at all(that how they were listed at the place i got em). The second question is what else should i do to keep these sucker happy, i do realize i have to buy a bigger tank eventually but right now they are about an 1 inch and a half. so please help the stupid guy :hyper:
 
hey cool fish i was going to get one myself till i got some unecpected fry anyways sounds like a good diet i htink the difference is mainly that the wild ones are caught and the others are bred in captivity the caught ones may be cheaper. i would feed them worms cut up from the garden once in a while and insects that may have high protene levals as well as the feeder fish blood worms are fine but i would not use them as the main food as such as they lack some of the things needed i think. im shure otheres will add more.
 
Hi guido, Ican omly offer one bit of advice being I've never kept piranah, Get a larger tank. 20 gallons is too small for the fish you have. a tiger oscar needs at least a 55gallon and the piranah I would have in a 90 gallon minimum.
 
strange you should say that 20 gal might be a little on the small side for 1 but i dont think a 90 would be required for a fish that grows to a maximum of 10"is the bio load more intence because its a meat eater or is it the requisite that it is a shoeling fish to be kept in groups? i didnt look atthe size of the tank but i spose its something that will need to be considered if the fish are going to grow.
 
Why do you say that Tanked?

Having kept a piranha years ago, I tend to disagree. Mine never created much of a bioload and I would say he was from 6-8 inches long at the time. He was all alone in a 30 gallon long (US gallons) and had plenty of room to swim and chase feeders around. He was a very healthy specimen until I had to move to a very small place and donated him to the science lab of my local high school. There, even after my going in explaining how to take care of him, sadly, he passed away. With proper filtration, those 3 fish should be fine in a 55 gallon as they grow larger. I really wouldn't recommend anything less than that though.

Also the difference in a wild and regular is that the wild one will have come from a better gene pool in most cases.......a more pure line so to speak, while the regular one was tank bred and chances are was bred with brother and sister, etc. down the lines so its isn't pure anymore. In some cases this can weaken a strain as in the case with guppies, platys, swordtails, and even the much-loved bettas. A wild caught specimen is worth more money especially to breeders.

Allie
 
I really appreciate all the help guys , now let me ask you another question. i put about 20 feeder fish in the tank the other day with my 2 p's and 1 oscar, now it looks obvious that they ate most of them, but it also looks as if they have bitten each others tails and fins. Though the damage doesnt seem to be detramental to their health seeing that they can still swim fine and just as well there is not damage to the bodies otherwise. My question is should i be worried about this or just let it slide? what to do? :unsure:
 
Not sure on that one as my pirhana was alone and the oscar only had a common pleco as his mate, I never had the problem. They are all pretty aggressive fish and sometimes that just doesn't work out for tankmates. Maybe CM could offer some advice on this.

My only advice would be provide more hiding places if you don't have them as this could be a major territorial dispute. Seperating them would probably work out even better. Are the pirhanas a pair as in male/female or two males? If it is two males then I doubt they would live peacefully together.
Allie
 
Well quite honestly i have no idea on the sex of the fish. For that matter how do you tell the sex of oscars and pirhanas? :unsure: As for the hiding places thats a really great idea the only problem is i cant find any relly good caves for these lil bastards , im considering buying a reptile cave for the tank, and comment on that?
 
Not sure on sexing them.....CM would probably know more about that than I do. As for hiding places, some bushy plants and slate caves or even flower pots, I know they aren't as attractive but will work. I don't know a lot about the reptile supplies but a lot of the lfs around here do have snap together plastic caves that are actually pretty attractive if covered in gravel and put together well.

Good Luck!

Allie
 
My family had a red-belly and it reached to about 12". I would not say the bio load is bad becuause they do tear up the feeders, but he apparently ate all of it. Red-bellies are hard to sex, there isnt really a good sexual difference. Here is a link for you to try (hope it helps) - Red-Belly Piranha :thumbs:
 
hey fellas, i appreciate all the help. the the lil angry bastardsare growing and seem pretty content. Occasionally i notice they bite each other but it seems to b e accidental a lot(one fish bunks into another). I have been using a product called metephix and pouring it in the tank all the time, this way when they bite each other they at least heal quickly when it happens. i also changed there diet, besides the ocassional feeder fish, i use frozen bloodworms and beefheart, this way the oscar in the tank gets a chance to eat too. i just hope the oscar grows a lil quicker so this way he doesnt seem out number by the pirhanas. I also think the when the fish get to be bigger then three inches i am going to get bigger than a 20 and move to a sixty and keep at that. if there is anything else you guys come up with please let me know, as i will keep you posted and will soon have some pics for you all as well. :hyper:
 
playfulalliecat said:
Why do you say that Tanked?
my reason for saying that is guido stated he had 2 piranah and a tiger oscar in a 20 gallon. I was thinking of a home for all of the fish nt just 1 piranah. sorry for any confusion. :crazy:
 
guido said:
hey fellas, i appreciate all the help. the the lil angry bastardsare growing and seem pretty content. Occasionally i notice they bite each other but it seems to b e accidental a lot(one fish bunks into another). I have been using a product called metephix and pouring it in  the tank all the time, this way when they bite each other they at least heal quickly when it happens. i also changed there diet, besides the ocassional feeder fish, i use frozen bloodworms and beefheart, this way the oscar in the tank gets a chance to eat too. i just hope the oscar grows a lil quicker so this way he doesnt seem out number by the pirhanas. I also think the when the fish get to be bigger then three inches i am going to get bigger than a 20 and move to a sixty and keep at that. if there is anything else you guys come up with please let me know, as i will keep you posted and will soon have some pics for you all as well. :hyper:
I would lay off the medication. Just ensure your water is clean and that's all you need to do.
Almost all piranhas are fin nippers and this is perfectly normal behaviour. The fins are very nuitritious and a "handy" source of food since they live in shoals. Fins will grow back in about a week unless it's down to the meat, (and even then I've seen it grow back in some cases) This is Mother Natures way of ensuring they survive into maturation.

I would move that Red Tiger Oscar tho. Especially in a tank that small. They will kill him off or stress him so bad that his immune system fails and he could get a disease, thus passing it on to the rest of your tank inhabitants.

You'll need to get at least a 55g very soon. Like in about 3 months depending on how good they grow. I wouldn't be afraid to put 3 red belly p's in a 55g and maybe 5 in a 75g. Kind of go by that general rule.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. :)
 

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