piranhas anyone?

[JulieFurry]

Does anyone have any piranhas? I have a pair of red bellied piranhas in a 75 gallon tank. Their about 5 inches long right now but are still young and are still growing we think.

 

[STARFYRE]

Hey Julie! I've never had piranhas. I heard they get huge, and are very messy...as in they create more ammonia, faster than most fish. I also heard that they will bite you, so be cautious when putting your hands in the tank.

 

[JulieFurry]

piranhas are illegal in a lot of states so sometimes their cousins, the pacu, are sold under the piranha name. The pacu's get humungous though piranhas can get to be about 12 inches or so, depending on the species. They are really messy though because they eat lots of frozen, foods and leave quite a bit of mess. I do weekly 25% water changes religiously though and also have 2 filters in their tank and I clean the filters every month as well. My two don't really seem to mind me going in there for tank maintence much. I always make sure they are well fed before doing anything. Piranhas are very nervous fish and don't go looking to attack someone's hand. They would rather hide from my hand than stay by it. They usually go into the castle when I start cleaning. I'm sure if I didn't feed them for a week or so then they would be tempted to try to nip at me though. My two get a balanced diet of flakes, pellets, frozen, freeze dried, and also some live such as mealworms (no fish just the mealworms). They haven't had any problems with each other either, but they were housed with a catfish for quite some time and then finally decided that they no longer wished to share a tank with him anymore.

 

[rich311k]

Moved to general fresh water. Piranha are not cichlids. They are not legal in NY so
I know little about keeping them.

 

[theotheragentm]

They eat live feeders too. My friend keeps a tank with a few of these things. I've always wanted a piranha tank and a Bond Villain Chair.

 

[JulieFurry]

Their really cool fish. When I got them they were the size of a dime they were really small. I think that they are easy to take care of myself. It's just regular tank maintence really to me. They were in a 30 gallon but we upgraded to a 75. We were going to turn the 75 into a saltwater but decided to put the piranhas in there instead.

 

[dsmalls]

I guess once you get piranhas, all tank landscaping ceases. Unless, perhaps, you get those pincher things....

A while back, I toyed with the idea of getting a piranha, but their size kinda turned me off. Very cool fish, nonetheless.

 

[JulieFurry]

I guess once you get piranhas, all tank landscaping ceases. Unless, perhaps, you get those pincher things....

A while back, I toyed with the idea of getting a piranha, but their size kinda turned me off. Very cool fish, nonetheless.

I still stick my hands in there for tank cleaning and when I replace the plants that have become uprooted. They don't bother me much. Their more scared of me than I am of them. Although I do take precautions like giving them a full meal with something good like frozen beef hearts before I do this.

 

[piranha]

I've owned several species including serrasalmus spilopluera,serrasalmus rhombeus, pygocentrus notatus for twenty years. Beautiful,interesting,hardy sometimes unpredictable. Great fish to own. You can speak to us piranha owners exclusively at piranhafury.com A more recommended food would be whitefish in their diet. Good luck with your reds.