# Just bought 2 Red Bellys!



## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

Just been down to my local petshop in sunderaland and saw 2 gorgeous little red belly piranhas..

I dont have my tank set up yet so i payed for them and they said i could collect them monday!

Im chuffed 

if anyone has a heater or pump for sale, please give me a shout as i desperately need them before monday or i lose my money!


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

jonnyboy said:


> Just been down to my local petshop in sunderaland and saw 2 gorgeous little red belly piranhas..
> 
> I dont have my tank set up yet so i payed for them and they said i could collect them monday!
> 
> ...


nice one mate,if you want a heater and pump i would say buy it new.that why you know what you are getting.plus if something goes wrong with it you can take it back.:2thumb:


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

he tryed to charge me 65 quid for them both... i was pretty sure i could get them cheaper on here mate


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

5 days - surley isn't enough time for the tank to cycle?.


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

jonnyboy said:


> he tryed to charge me 65 quid for them both... i was pretty sure i could get them cheaper on here mate


how big is your tank mate,is your set up new or are you looking to replace heater and pump on mature tank.if its a new tank i would get that up and running first before buying fish.:2thumb:


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

its had fish in before mate... im going to get heater and pump sorted tonight or tomorrow


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Hi JonnyBoy, 

I've kept Tropical fish for a while now. and i would consider £65.00 extremely cheap for a heater+pump (by pump i assume you mean filter or are you talking about a power head?) when you consider a Ehiem Professional range filter with set you back over £200 for the top model. What are the dimensions and capacity of your tank? also have you had water in it for at least 6weeks previous and some form of filtration system to prevent the fish when being introduced getting "New Tank Syndrome" as Red Bellies require a very large tank they should also be kept in a pack not pairs as they are group hunters .
Below there's some more info on themRed-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri/Serrasalmus nattereri) with photos / pictures


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

what you have to think off is the pump and heater up to the job,for the fish and the size of the tank.i run all of my tanks on two pumps as i keep cichlids.i think it would be the same for rbp as they are large fish and produce lots of mess.:2thumb:


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

so i need pump heater and filter? or is the filter in the pump? all ive got is the tank and i was going to buy everything else second hand


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

You need to buy the largest external canister filter you can afford for piranhas,you then need to cycle your tank for a few weeks before adding fish.An air-pump can be added for extra oxygenation but shouldnt be needed if you get a decent external filter.


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Eheims are damned expensive when compared to other makes of similar size but they are very good and parts are easy to get hold of. I've got a professional 3e which is rated for tanks upto 1200 litres in size. It uses microprocessor technology to control the filter. 

£65 isn't bad for a pump and a heater.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Just as an example i've got a tank with a couple of oscars in they are extremly messy feeders and eat anything they can for my filtration i have 2 Ehiem Pro 2's running just for them i would assume you'd need much better filtration for the RB's as there pure meat eaters.


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

im hopefully getting a fluval 304 for 40 quid


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

£40 is good for a Fluval 304.


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## cardi (Jul 17, 2008)

ebay is your friend for equipment...and buy a book on fish keeping as you'll need to learn a lot. My first tropical fish were red bellied piranhas they're great fish but very shy. That was some 15 years ago now I've got a full marine reef with corals now, its very addictive (and expensive)

You will need a BIG tank and very efficient filtration as they are messy eaters.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Fluval are good filters. what is the size of the tank your keeping them in also are you only going to have the pair ?


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

its a 91L tank... and yeah, some people have said keep either 6, 8 or you can keep 1 on its own... I went to local petshop and he said that he has had those 2 together and they're fine.

has anyone around the north east got a filter i could borrow/buy? im getting them monday and need to get sorted


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## Reptilover (Jan 15, 2007)

Ooh, good luck ever thought of keeping some Silver dollars with them aswell, they are closely related and live with each other in the streams of the amazon, it would make ur tank look abit mroe "Varied".


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## James_T (Jan 31, 2008)

You can buy a eheim classic 2217 (rated upto 600L) for less than £60 from zoo plus - It's the one we recommend for aquatic turtles.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

even if you get your tank set up today it isnt going to be ready to add the fish on monday...red bellys are meat eaters so produce a lot of waste you need a very mature tank and filter to be able to break the waste down and i am afraid your tank will not be mature enough by monday for any fish let alone red bellys and they will out grow the tank you have


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

i know they will out grow it, its just for the time being, and ive been told if i put something in the water then it will be fine for monday


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

If one is smaller than the other then it will eventually be eaten, despite what the man in the shop said. I didn't know your tank was only 91 litres and I don't think you should get them. They should be kept in a permanent set-up from the start, also you will be suprised how fast these things grow.


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

you will pay for this set up, you will then pay again for the right set up.what the max size tank you can go up to?

do it right from the start get the biggest tank you can get,then i would think about stocking it.91 lit is far to small mate,the guy at your lfs should have told you all this.


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

I would take them back and ask for something more suitable.


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## DarkEntity (Jul 4, 2008)

1) you will never get the tank ready by monday
2) the tank is WAY too small for the fish
3) you are totally unprepared for the fish ie...heater, filter, decor to name a few...
4) do you have any idea how boring and dull Piranha are? :lol2:
5) 2 Piranah will soon become 1 as they dont live in pairs, Piranah in the wild live in massive groups where aggression is split over all the fish so not one gets picked on continuosly.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

jacko19 said:


> Hi JonnyBoy,
> 
> I've kept Tropical fish for a while now. and i would consider £65.00 extremely cheap for a heater+pump (by pump i assume you mean filter or are you talking about a power head?) when you consider a Ehiem Professional range filter with set you back over £200 for the top model. What are the dimensions and capacity of your tank? also have you had water in it for at least 6weeks previous and some form of filtration system to prevent the fish when being introduced getting "New Tank Syndrome" as Red Bellies require a very large tank they should also be kept in a pack not pairs as they are group hunters .
> Below there's some more info on themRed-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri/Serrasalmus nattereri) with photos / pictures


6 weeks? Seriously? 6 weeks!?

Woah someones a little over cautious. If you're fishless cycling then maybe if it doesn't work properly. But cycling with fish. then nothing happens in 6 weeks that doesn't happen in 24hours.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

jacko19 said:


> Fluval are good filters. what is the size of the tank your keeping them in also are you only going to have the pair ?


fluval are bargain basement, chinese mass produced crap. They do the job, just. and its very close.

You want quality and quantity with piranha and fluval provide neither. Look at the Rena XP series of external filters. for the decent size one its at least 85 quid but way worth it.


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## jonnyboy (Apr 22, 2008)

not sure if ill get my money back now


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## DarkEntity (Jul 4, 2008)

mike515 said:


> fluval are bargain basement, chinese mass produced crap. They do the job, just. and its very close.
> 
> You want quality and quantity with piranha and fluval provide neither. Look at the Rena XP series of external filters. for the decent size one its at least 85 quid but way worth it.


Rena are as bad...being how the filter is the 2nd most important piece of kit after the Tank imo Eheim are the only brand to use.


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

eheim had a bit of a back seat in the market for a while a few years back but they have came back with a bang they are by far the best filter out there, expensive filters but when you see the work they do youll understand why


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

mike515 said:


> fluval are bargain basement, chinese mass produced crap. They do the job, just. and its very close.
> 
> Fluval are perfectly adequate for a small tank like a 91ltr also Rena Tanks YES:notworthy: but there xp series filters are absolute junk.
> Me personally I'm Eheim all the way love them:2thumb:.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

mike515 said:


> 6 weeks? Seriously? 6 weeks!?
> 
> Woah someones a little over cautious. If you're fishless cycling then maybe if it doesn't work properly. But cycling with fish. then nothing happens in 6 weeks that doesn't happen in 24hours.


I've attached a few links to well established fish aquarists :notworthy:stating recommended ways to cycle a tank ( fishless or with a couple of hardy fish) i disagree and would find it extremely challenging to find someone who actually cared about the well being of the fish and who would then put them into a Non cycled!! tank as 24hr is no way long enough for the levels of nitrates and the Ph to become safe for the fish true some people will Blag it and get lucky the first time if they have the correct fish aka (Hardy) but this will no doubtable shorten the life expectancy of the fish witch many people don't get.


http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php
www.ratemy*fishtank*.com/articles/80
www.*fish*lore.com/Nitrogen*Cycle*.htm


Changing subject how big are your peacock's ? my brothers got some and there huge and eat everything and anything. and i love them lol :flrt:


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Also take a look at Esfa's article on fishless cycling.

Eheim have just launched a new version of the Ecco series at the Interzoo show in Germany. The priming handle on the top of the filter has been improved.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

lol Thats the only thing wrong with the Eheims that stupid pump on the top that dosn't work lol many a time have i sucked up water trying to prime the pumps lol.


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

The Fluval FX5 (rated for tanks upto 1200 litres) uses an external pump and doesn't need priming.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Pleccy22 said:


> Also take a look at Esfa's article on fishless cycling.
> 
> Eheim have just launched a new version of the Ecco series at the Interzoo show in Germany. The priming handle on the top of the filter has been improved.


 
i no i was commenting on the new Eheims :notworthy:


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## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

Can they not hold them for a bit longer?

Get on ebay, get your self a decent external, I got one for around £60 for my old malawi tank, and it was fine for that, so should be fine for 2 red bellys, I would also say that you are going to need more than two and a larger tank for them, I kept 2 and ended up with 1 and a half.

you need more than one or you they will end up eating each other.

I would say if they cant hold them, try and get the money back, and be patient, make sure you have a suffcient set up before you consider purchasing the fish


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## retri (Mar 5, 2008)

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/aqua...ft-rena-tank-stand-equipment.html#post2115807

this would be good for them


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

I would say even that size tank is to small i have my Oscars in a 600 ltr tank and i would say that is about the smallest size for them to thrive in sure the RB's will probably be ok for a year but they grow extremly fast so you will just find yourself upgrading always better to go bigger. :2thumb:


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

The Rena tank should be big enough, pihrana rarely grow to more than around 27cm in length and don't move around much so they don't demand a lot of swimming space.


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

I would say unless you plan on upgrading your tank in a matter of months to house these fish, chose something else. They grow very big very quickly.

The guys in the shop should have explained this to you, they also should have told you about setting up your tank and cycling it. I dont quite see why they sold you the fish before you set the tank up, as red bellys are readily available. You need to work out now really if you can afford to rehouse these fish in the next few months again into a much bigger tank.

As for filtration, i personally would really rate the Rena XP filters now. Years ago they used to have big problems with them. They then made several modifications to them, copying whatever they could from Eheim filters without copyright issues. The new models i personally think were great, and i hardly had any returned to me after they were realeased. I did however still get the same amount of high returns on fluval filters, regardless of how many 'improvements' they made to them. 

I would personally still go for an eheim if you can afford one, they are excellent filters, and i have always used them where i can on my tanks.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. : victory:


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

DarkEntity said:


> Rena are as bad...being how the filter is the 2nd most important piece of kit after the Tank imo Eheim are the only brand to use.


difference is that rena still work. They may be cheap. But they do the job well, so if anything they are good.

Eheim has always been the best really. Also one of the more expensive though


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Eheim all the way:2thumb:


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