Red Belly Piranhas

[Gatorbait]

ok chill out

i was just looking for some information that comment wasnt saucy or rude

it was an addition to the one earlier i forgot to mention the specs of the ones i had before
and dont worry im not a 12 year old idiot that will stuff piranhas in the tank hoping theyll live happily

i cant afford a huge tank right now
would it be ok if i put down a layer of sand and live plants?
then buy 2 or 3 little tiny baby pirahnas just for a month or two until i can get a larger 100-150g tank?

I agree with the posts after this but wanted to also add....

Like mentioned, we all have the best of hearts with "wanting" to get that bigger tank and buy this fish in the hopes of it. Many times it just doesn't work out that way and then you are stuck with a predicament of too big of fish for a small tank.

It's best to wait until you already have the tank like stang said. If you're really going to buy a 150g tank then 3 red belly piranhas will be pretty boring. You could "try" to add more but with a couple month head start they will have at least 3" on the new ones and will most likely be considered food if you miss a feeding. (They need to eat 4 times a day when small so it's easy to miss a meal here and there) Then you have another problem of getting more piranhas within an inch or inch and a half of the biggest ones size.

In all honesty, this is the way I look at your last proposal even if you do get the 150g....

You can buy 3 small ones for a month or two and they will outgrow it before the couple months is up so they'll kill each other off to make room.

or

You buy 2 of them now and the dominant one kills off the subdominant because it's even more likely to happen in a tiny tank like that.

I don't see any way that 3 red belly's can coexist in such small aquaria.

 

[Carnivore]

yeah i guess ill wait and buy a 100g tank

do you think i could fit 5 in there comfortably?

 

[rabbut]

yeah i guess ill wait and buy a 100g tank

do you think i could fit 5 in there comfortably?

I would reconend a 6X2X2 tank for keeping pirana long tearm. That works out close enough to your new tank. A note, full grown RBP's are often 1foot in length, thus need the 2foot hight and wideth to turn comfortably. Try for as may as your filters will allow. As mentioned earlier, Pirana are sholing fish, so the more the merrier to a cirtain extent. 5 would be a good number, no less than that, but no more than 7 or you will overstock. What filtration did you have planed. I would recoment two large exturnals, with the outlets facing each other, so as to breack up the current, but still overfilter the tank.
HTH
rabbut

 

[Carnivore]

ok its been settled i will be able to buy a large 75-100g tank in a month
for now i have a new filter in that small tank and a heater
would i need an airator? or bubble stone?
also you said to over filter the tank? i have 2 external filters in the house right now but im only using the new carbon filter one i bought

should i completely empty my tank and wash the stones before the new arrivals?
im aware that i will have to wait a week or two to let the water flow around

my biggest question is how do you grow live plants in the aquarium?
do you they a layer of sand underneath the gravel?
or is there certain water readings to allow them to grow?

thanks
-greg

 

[Musho3210]

what do you plan on having in the tank?

Check out the planted tank section, no you dont need sand, and water conditions are down to the specific plant.

 

[rabbut]

ok its been settled i will be able to buy a large 75-100g tank in a month
for now i have a new filter in that small tank and a heater
would i need an airator? or bubble stone?
also you said to over filter the tank? i have 2 external filters in the house right now but im only using the new carbon filter one i bought

should i completely empty my tank and wash the stones before the new arrivals?
im aware that i will have to wait a week or two to let the water flow around

my biggest question is how do you grow live plants in the aquarium?
do you they a layer of sand underneath the gravel?
or is there certain water readings to allow them to grow?

thanks
-greg

Airation is optional IMO, but if the tank is unplanted, I recomend it. You need to be looking at 10 times an hour turnover rate for filtration, so in a 100g tank, you would need filters pushing out 1000 gallons an hour. The tank must be fully cycled before you introduce them, as you cannot add more piranah after the fist load, due to their social structures. I would recomend doing a fishless cycle, details [post="113861"]here[/post], before adding your livestock. I recomend cleaning and sterilising any new/old equipment before starting the cycle.
Look in the planted tank section for details on plants. They will be able to make recomendations for your set-up.
HTH
rabbut

 

[Gatorbait]

ok its been settled i will be able to buy a large 75-100g tank in a month
for now i have a new filter in that small tank and a heater
would i need an airator? or bubble stone?
also you said to over filter the tank? i have 2 external filters in the house right now but im only using the new carbon filter one i bought

should i completely empty my tank and wash the stones before the new arrivals?
im aware that i will have to wait a week or two to let the water flow around

my biggest question is how do you grow live plants in the aquarium?
do you they a layer of sand underneath the gravel?
or is there certain water readings to allow them to grow?

thanks
-greg

That's great! I know it will be hard waiting because I'm the same way but once you do get your larger setup you'll be much happier in the end.

I wouldn't worry about real plants. Red belly's will just tear them up, unless you don't mind buying more every once in a while that is. They even tear up my plastic plants and every cleaning I see where they bite them all over the bottom. lol

What are the dimensions of your 100g? Most 90g are the same as a 75g but only taller, which doesn't do anything for cichlids and piranhas. If the width is the same for a 75g and the 100g, then I would just go with the 75g and you can have 3 in there. You can try 4 but sometimes it doesn't work out and they'll kill the 4th one off to make room for their territories.

 

[juanveldez]

I am going to go against the grain here. I belive in grow out tanks and have used them from time to time. BUT and its a big but you ABSOLUTLY must have both the means and the room for the tank that will be needed in the end not the next step up. RBP's are awesome fish and I have had a few in the past. another thing to think about is if you are willing to wait, and get the larger tank up and running is there are many good mail order sources of RBPs out there and should be looked into. I have nothing but good things to say about my sources for my cichlids that I have and would say that you could probably find a few on sites such as http/www.piranha-fury.com along with some species specific advice.

 

[Musho3210]

hes not willing to wait and he left us because he thinks his lfs owner (who supposedly has been in the hobby for 20 years) gives better information to him than we do. Actually, his lfs just tells him what he wants to know so he can make money but some people just wont accept the truth and only like to hear what they want to hear. Not very easy to change someones personality....

 

[Carnivore]

actually ill take my lfs advice because its privately owned and i know the guy
hes been doin it for 20 years and he knows a good bit about fish you ignorant fool

and thanks for the advice juanveldez

 

[orange shark]

what did he suggest?

 

[OohFeeshy]

There's nothing wrong with growout tanks, but half a dozen or so piranhas in a 12 gallon for a month or two doesn't sound like a terribly good idea.

 

[Musho3210]

see? I told you guys, didnt i tell you guys? lol

 

[Carnivore]

you gotta stop jumping to conclusions musho

i have 3 pirahnas in a 17 gallon and im borrowing my friends 54 gallon in a week or so until i can get the 100g

 

[Luketendo]

so you think keeping the piranhas in that small tank for a month or two until i can get a big one is a bad idea?

I personally think you should branch out and keep smaller fish.

Guppies, Platies, Tetra, Gouramis for hard water.

Cichlids etc for soft water.

You don't need huge fish for a stunning aquarium.