got some red bellies today..

[iheartmyed9]

Got some piranha today. Two of them in a 60 gallon tank. Plan to get maybe one or two more. No plants other than Anubis since the Africans were in there before I switched to the piranha. I'm planning on getting some feeder fish tomorrow. Anything else I might need? This is my first experience with these fish

 

[Terrance]

Get a quarantine tank if you get feeders. Or you can buy healthy feeders from breeders. Don't feed goldfish since they are the worst feeders out there.

Feeders are too much hassle iMO. You're better off feeding raw frozen crustaceans or fish fillet from the grocery store. Don't get anymore RBP until you get a 125+ gal tank.

Edit: are you sure you have piranha? It's easy to mistaken them as Pacu

 

[iheartmyed9]

I'm in TN and there legal here and I bought them from a reputable LFS here and they were labeled as red belly piranha.

 

[iheartmyed9]

Also I was told they might have a tendency to attack plants. I want the tank kind of heavily planted.

 

[Ibrahim]

Also I was told they might have a tendency to attack plants. I want the tank kind of heavily planted.

Don't wrry they won't. I've had them before. Also you can feed them beefheart, bloodworms and super worms. That's what I fed mine.

 

[Terrance]

Reputable or not, it's best to identify the species apart. Identify Red Bellied Pacu from a Red Bellied Piranha

These fish are extremely messy. Get the most filtration as possible for your tank. Plants are good, but you may be better off without "heavily" planting your tank.

 

[iheartmyed9]

According to the images they are piranha. Same big jaw.

 

[iheartmyed9]

I'll put some pics up when they start coming out. Its been very cold here so I'm heading out today to get a supplemental heater for my tank. What temp are these guys most happy at? What plants are good? Low light plants only for now.

 

[Terrance]

Awesome. You'll see how dirty the water becomes after feeding. Clean up after them. Get a net and try to scoop out all the tiny floating pieces of food. You must do at least 50% water changes every single week. A siphon is your best cleanup crew.

 

[iheartmyed9]

I got a water changer. There very small still. Maybe no bigger then 1.5" but they have a piggish nose and hinged looking jaw as the piranha in the pic and the big ones for sale in a larger tank at the store. So my insulation isn't so top notch at my new house and even with the 200 watt heater pretty maxed out the water stays low around 70-74 degrees or sometimes less on these nights its been 19 degrees outside. Its a sand bottom with rocks and a CAE around 2" long that I couldn't catch to save my life when I gave my mbuna away.

 

[Ibrahim]

Awesome. You'll see how dirty the water becomes after feeding. Clean up after them. Get a net and try to scoop out all the tiny floating pieces of food. You must do at least 50% water changes every single week. A siphon is your best cleanup crew.

I had 6 RBP and 2 pacu in my 55g 3 years ago and they weren't that dirty. I was extremely new to the hobby back then and was ill informed so.... I got rid of them a couple weeks later though

 

[Terrance]

What was your feeding method?

 

[Ibrahim]

What was your feeding method?

Guppies, beefheart and bloodworms. Usually 2 cubes of beefheart and 3 guppies in the morning then 2 cubes of bloodworms and 3 guppies at night. I feed them feeder goldfish once in a while

 

[Terrance]

Beefheart and blood worms should cause messy water. I see it on YouTube of these fish tearing up a piece of Beefheart, a bunch of small pieces was floating everywhere.

It wouldn't be messy if you throwing small pieces where they dont have to take bites off the food. That's what I do for my monster.

 

[Ibrahim]

Beefheart and blood worms should cause messy water. I see it on YouTube of these fish tearing up a piece of Beefheart, a bunch of small pieces was floating everywhere.

It wouldn't be messy if you throwing small pieces where they dont have to take bites off the food. That's what I do for my monster.

I had 2 aqueon 55 on my tank I've got a video on YouTube of them.

 

[Terrance]

Which one is yours?

 

[Ibrahim]

Which one is yours?

 

[Terrance]

Cool those feeders were bite sized, but I saw lots of particles floating around. IMO that was messy. Sometimes a siphon can't pick up the particles that lay on the substrate.

 

[Ibrahim]

Cool those feeders were bite sized, but I saw lots of particles floating around. IMO that was messy. Sometimes a siphon can't pick up the particles that lay on the substrate.

Thanks but it clears up in 30 mins and that was 50 feeders which I fed just for the entertainment of youtubers. I would never feed that much in a day specially since it costs around $15 for 50 feeders

 

[iheartmyed9]

I got some ghost shrimp and some guppies for them to feast on and I don't know if its OK but I've game them a small amount of cichild food. Hikari gold that I used to feed my mbuna. What kind of brand of fish food would I give these guys? I know there illegal in a lot of northern states where they wouldnt survive but legal here in the south where they would thrive.