in college, my friend's roomate had a tank of piranha. i was fascinated by these fish, but never thought about keeping them because i didn't grow up with fish or other pets of any kind. i didn't think i could handle the responsibility.
this christmas, my girlfriend gave me 2 hermit crabs, which i've kept in a 10 gallon. as i became comfortable with the semi-daily maintenance, i found myself fascinated again with piranha (but not any other fish - i wanted something "awesome"). last month, after a few weeks of research, i sprung for a 29 gallon tank with the intent of keeping a single prianha for life.
in the process of "fishy" cycling with some barbs, i decided against getting a piranha. i found out the 29g is way too small, and i figured i'd probably lose interest in watching the piranha after a few weeks or months. rather than give up and/or return my tank, i decided to go with a freshwater setup.
i now have a few barbs in my 29 g, nearing the end of the cycling process, and i can't wait to start adding other freshwater community fish and finding out where this hobby takes me. and who knows, maybe somewhere down the line i'll have a large tank where i can admire a school of healthy piranha.