Is there any way of getting Piranha or something close to it

[illuminum]

...in California? I heard they're illegal. Are they or not? If they are, what can I get that resembles the piranha the most and how much would it cost me?

A friend of mine wants to get some and he was asking me about it. I had no idea so naturally I pass the question to you...

 

[SicklySweet]

Piranha's are illegal in California

Here is a map of the legal and illegal states:
http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/index.php?showtopic=13087

If you have piranha specific questions, I reccomend checking out the forum on that site (www.piranha-fury.com)

But if you're just looking for something that resembles a Piranha, I would suggest a Pacu, though they can get rather large. Search on Google for some information on them.

 

[madasafish]

Yeah, they resemble them perfectly, except for the protruding bottom lip. Don't get pacus, though. 30 inches a lot of fish to deal with, and I've heard stories from ppl with 750-gallon tanks that their pacus were mighty unhappy even in that space!

The only other fish that vaguely resemble piranhas are silver dollars (a few species). If you're looking for a nasty-looking fish, consider FW barracudas (don't get as large as the SW variety, aren't even related) and Altolamprologus compressiceps (Lake Malawi piscivore cichlid).

 

[madasafish]

I'm from NY, and you can't get piranhas here (Permit only), but you can get them in nearby New Jersey. I know a store with beautiful specimens. I've thought about bringing them back with me....

I see Oregon has no qualms about selling Piranhas...

 

[Terry]

The reason they have licences and permits on piranha is to stop people from putting unwanted/fully grown pirahna into there local waterways/rivers. A good alternative to the piranha is the Silver Dollar, it is a distant cousin of the pirahna so they look very much alike and the silver dollar only grows to 6-7in where as the red belly piranha would reach 12"+.
The downside to a dollar is the fact that they would love to eat out a tank full of plants. but in groups they look just as good as piranha and given the right conditions they will breed.

 

[Guest]

The reason they have licences and permits on piranha is to stop people from putting unwanted/fully grown pirahna into there local waterways/rivers.

Totally agree. I'm from MD, where we had the Northern Snakehead ("Frankenfish") fiasco last year. Some folks will dump fish in a local lake or stream when it gets too big or they get tired of it. Very unethical. The guy here in Maryland who dumped the pair of snakeheads even confessed to it and was not charged with any crime, even though what he did is illegal, and cost the state hundreds of thousands of $$. Not saying he should go to jail, but a hefty fine shoulda been handed out.

Also, in regards to piranha. They are boring. they just sit there 99% of the time. Totally uninteresing, untill feeding time. I must admit, feeding is pretty awesome, but gruesome too. A roommate of mine kept some back in the day, but I never really cared for them.

 

[Allivymar]

*nods* Generally, the states which ban pirahna are states where they stand a chance of surviving in the waterways. If you checked that map, you'll notice the majority of the states are southernish; warmer waters, better chance of pirahna's surviving in the wild.

I wouldn't suggest pacu either; they get pretty damn big. The larger pacus can get upwards of 4 feet long....the ones usually seen in the lfs get to be around 43 inches.

 

[ferret]

I have to give a shout out to the Oscars ;0 They won't cause you as much problems as the pacu's IMO and they have tons of character and personality. Feeding time is still a frenzy too. I don't know how closely if at all they're related. They get big and mean looking though

 

[Scottw68TN]

Pirahnas are cool to say you have but as corv said they are pretty boring and can get very ugly after they bite each other a few times. Ugly is a characteristic that can be good when its natural and healthy, but ugly because they hate there space and take it out on each other is well UGLY. Get predetors that don't do so much damage to each other. I'm with ferret Cichlids are the way to go for preds. Jack Dempseys are very aggresive. Snake heads were cool but don't see any around here, A friend had 2 back in Va beach but that was 15 years ago. arowanas are cool looking look like those chinese dragons those are few hth