# Piranha tank and care



## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Im looking to get some piranha, what size tank do they need and how easy are they to keep?

Im thinking of getting red belly piranha.

Also is there any other specie of piranha that are easy to keep.

And whats like the maximum number you could have in a 4ft fish tank?

Or would i need a bigger tank to keep piranha?


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

Red bellies are the best to keep in a group and are readily available.

The other that you tend to see are Rhom and Golden but there solitary.

How deep is the tank and how tall?

I would say 4 in a 100g would be maximum.

They can get big and bulky although most dont nudge past 10".

I will advise that they are very skittish and nervous fish as well.

I have literally kept hundreds through the shop and at home and find them to be very dull.

A big ugly black piranha though..... now thats much cooler.

If you wanted red bellies though see if you can get hold of the Caribe's. They look like red bellies but have a shoulder spot, from the orinoco river system. Slightly stockier and a bit more aggressive.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

I dont have the tank yet lol thats why i asked what size i should get lol 

im looking at getting a 4 or 5ft tank or a 4ft bow fronted tank as they are taller then your normal 4ft tank.

And what can i feed them? Could i get like a rat or something from a pet shop and feed that? (im talking a dead one you buy for snakes)


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

Go for the biggest you can fit/afford- you'll probably get a custom tank a lot cheaper than a bowfront

I wouldn't bother with the rat- it'll make keeping the water quality high difficult, and there's easier ways of feeding them... I used pellets as the bulk of their diet, with prawns, bloodworm etc as treats.

This makes good reading 
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/fish-keeping/490070-red-bellied-piranha-care.html


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Ok cool, i was thinking you had to feed them meat lol


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

If you want them because of their reputation then you may be a bit dissapointed as they are not aggressive at all, infact they are pretty shy and easily spooked. They do get quite big and you need to keep a fair few of them as they feel safer in groups. If it's the reputation I would sugest going with a large cichlid as they have bags more attitude and aggression. But if you just like them for what they are, go for it they are quite a pretty fish with their glittery scales.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Im not going to lie to anyone, ive like piranha for ages, as for that reason i want some.

I have allways wanted the due to the way they look and the fact they are meat eaters.

So in a way yes i do want them for the reputation.

Cold water and your normal tropical fish i fined, are a stress reliever and ive had them in the past.

But there are 2 types of tank i want 

1. Piranha
2. Marine


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

i have to disagree with most of yous yes when their young their skitish and not very agressive but when they hit the 10" mark they become alot more agressive and adults can be quite agressive not as much as black piranhas or caribes but still agressive also you may find them boreing if your after a nice full tank of coloure full fish but ive never found them boreing 

55g is the minimun for 3 idealy 75g for 4 or 100g + for groups of 6 +


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Ive been told that if im wanting an aggressive fish i should get wolf cichlid (parachomis Dovii).

I would like piranha, and thinking of getting the ones the op said.

The Caribe's


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

davidlottr said:


> Ive been told that if im wanting an aggressive fish i should get wolf cichlid (parachomis Dovii).
> 
> I would like piranha, and thinking of getting the ones the op said.
> 
> The Caribe's


 
wolf cichlids are very agressive feeders but they are unbelivably boring unless your prepared to throw feeders in like goldfish and even then their only agressive at feeding time


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

if your looking for an unbelivably agressive fish get a flowerhorn, adult jag, snakehead = snakeheads are the ultimate exedons are amazing shoalers that get about 6" and they are unbelivably agressive


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

I like piranha as you can keep them in groups, thats what im looking for, with the snakeheads can you keep more then 1?


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

And when you say they grow 6" what is that inches or feet?


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

yes you can keep more than 1 snakehead 

dwarth snakeheads grow 12" (inches)

red snakeheads grow 1.5m hah yes their beasts so make shore if you do buy them get the right species 

exedons grow 6" (inches) and are extreme shoalers so need to be kept in groups like piranhas but as i said their extremely agressive you can see their teeth 

heres a few vids of dwarth snakeheads

YouTube - Dwarf Snakehead (Channa Gachua) eating frogs.

YouTube - Snakehead eating goldfish

YouTube - Snakehead feeding

heres a red snakehead

YouTube - snakehead vs Big ass 10 inch bass

but as i said if you have the right size tank 75g + snakeheads can be kept together

exodons

YouTube - Exodons Boil over fish flakes

YouTube - My 97 Bucktooth Tetras


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

exodons

are these meat eaters?

YouTube - Exodons Boil over fish flakes

this video is what im after but meat eaters

im not so much after some big arse fish, im looking for a group of meat eating fish.


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## exoticsadmirer (Oct 22, 2009)

i would suggest if you are getting red bellied piranhas make sure they are piranha and not pacus lol


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

What do you mean?

Can anyone tell me what small'ish meat eating fish are out there i can keep in a tank together please?

Also what is the smallest piranha you can get?

Im looking for that boil looking feeding frenzy.


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

what he ment was some shops sell red bellied piranhas as pacus which get 3-4ft long 

so your after a meaty shoaler that will boil over food well piranhas are not what your looking for caribes or red bellys their deff not what you want a shoal of 3-6 caribes would just carmly rip apart a mouse or fish but wouldnt go crazy over them like you see in the movies 

exodons are meat eaters they will take flakes but mainly meat eaters one of the main reasons they like flakes is because most of flake fish food is made up of fish, shrimps, ect 

but they will boil like you seen in the video over just about anything that contains meat flakes, other fish, mice, ect really their what your looking for they will rip large oddballs apart


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Right so thats what i want lol 

do you know what sort of price they go for?
how big do they get?
How many could i have in your not 4ft tank?


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

berry1 said:


> if your looking for an unbelivably agressive fish get a flowerhorn, adult jag, snakehead = snakeheads are the ultimate exedons are amazing shoalers that get about 6" and they are unbelivably agressive


Sorry mate but your saying a Jag or flowerhorn is more aggressive than a Dovii???

No, im just sorry but they aint.

Some snake heads then yeah absolutely, they can be nuts....But as far as cichlids go then your Dovii is a great feeder and more interesting than Piranha.

Not doubting what you know or trying to cause an argument, but I 2 am just giving my own experience having kept various species of piranha over 2 decades and I have always found that they are skittish and when you say aggressive..... towards others then yes they can be I wouldnt be putting my money on a big red belly if it ran into a big wolf.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Ive been looking on you tube, and see some people keep exodons and piranha in the same tank.

I like the look of the snake heads, but not the wolf one to much.

With the snake heads, whats the min size tank for say 2 or 3?


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## Riff (Nov 12, 2009)

Exodons are really hard to get hold of, i know people that have tried to get some for ages, in a 4ft tank, you could have 30/40 ish easily, but any i have seen were about £6 each :gasp:
The smallest piranha that ive had at adult size is a Sanchezi, about 6 inch fully grown and will be happy in a 3ft tank for life, but cant live with any other fish, so its 1 fish in a tank.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Riff said:


> Exodons are really hard to get hold of, i know people that have tried to get some for ages, in a 4ft tank, you could have 30/40 ish easily, but any i have seen were about £6 each :gasp:
> The smallest piranha that ive had at adult size is a Sanchezi, about 6 inch fully grown and will be happy in a 3ft tank for life, but cant live with any other fish, so its 1 fish in a tank.


what would be the easyer one to get?
Piranha red belly or that other one?
Snakehead?

As them exodons are hard to get hold of.

Also what sort of price would i be looking at?


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## Riff (Nov 12, 2009)

It would be easier to get a red belly, almost all LFS do them, sanchezi's are imported and are wild caught, they are about £60 each where as red belly's are £5 each.
I dont know much about snakeheads, although i know some dont require a heated tank and take little to maintain as they dont like the water being to fresh, with Piranha, your looking at 30 to 40% weekly water changes.


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Most Piranha I've seen have always been really boring. If you want the fish for the reputation of them, your best getting some Silver dollars or an oscar as most people wont be able to tell the difference  :lol:


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

Ok so a lot of people have been saying piranha are boring.

What fish are not boring, you cant do anything with them tbh, so its more of a display animal, so its going to be boring.

How do you class a fish as boring?

I like to watch them swim about, and find it peaceful, so not that boring to me but if you think about it all they do is swim in the water, so then you can class that as boring.


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## *michael* (Jan 14, 2011)

davidlottr said:


> Ok so a lot of people have been saying piranha are boring.
> 
> What fish are not boring, you cant do anything with them tbh, so its more of a display animal, so its going to be boring.
> 
> ...


I've not personally kept Piranha, but the ones that I've seen have been very shy and hidden in their vegetation.
A fish that I have kept are silver dollars easy to fool people into believing they're piranha and have loads of personality IMO


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

davidlottr said:


> Ok so a lot of people have been saying piranha are boring.
> 
> What fish are not boring, you cant do anything with them tbh, so its more of a display animal, so its going to be boring.
> 
> ...


Fish actually can have personallitys. If you want something cool and has the wow factor and will interact with you I'd really research Puffer fish!! Any Brackish/freshwater species will do well in a tank of your size.:2thumb:


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

(caribe) doviis are extremely agressive but very inactive unless at feeding time thats why a flowerhorn or jag is a better choice for an active agressive fish in my experience any way but tbh i find flowerhorns to be much more agressive than jags and even more than doviis but really their all agressive nuters


exodons can be kept with yung piranhas but when the piranhas fully grow to 12" they will start eating the exodons 


snakeheads the min tank size for 2 dwarth snakeheads would be 55g for 3 your looking at 75g 

if you get bigger species like red snakeheads jees for 2 your looking at 300g + thats why your better sticking to the dwarths or rainbows

exodons are hard to get but if you find an exotic fish shop like manchester pets and exotics, warf aquatics ect they will order them for you and if you where to get 20-40 they would do a deal on the price normaly they go for between 4-6 pound each but as i said they will do huge discounts on 20-40 

snakeheads easy to maintain are you jokeing ??? WHAT ??? their far from easy to maintain some do require a un heated tank but some dont mind a heater but they dont need clean water well i have to dissagree they need good filtration because of their huge bioload and they do require clean water in the wild the waters mucky but thats mainly down to lack of oxygen and muddy sand bedds

i dont think a silver dollars what your looking for but i also dont think a piranhas well suited to your needs 

i think idealy your best species are

exodons 
dwarth/rainbow snakeheads 

also i dont think oscars or cichlids are the best option because you state you want a fish that can be kept together and is extremely agressive so that boiles down to

exodons
dwarth/rainbow cichlids


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## Riff (Nov 12, 2009)

snakeheads easy to maintain are you jokeing ??? WHAT ??? their far from easy to maintain some do require a un heated tank but some dont mind a heater but they dont need clean water well i have to dissagree they need good filtration because of their huge bioload and they do require clean water in the wild the waters mucky but thats mainly down to lack of oxygen and muddy sand bedds

As i said, SOME snakeheads dont need or require a heated tank, and dont require regular water changes.
I used to be in contact on another forum of a snakehead keeper, im not sure what type of snakehead it was, they were only about 7 or 8 inch fully grown, he was the first to breed these, he had multiple breedings from the pair he had, it was about 3 years ago.
Im going to try and find the thread and get some info.


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## *michael* (Jan 14, 2011)

berry1 said:


> *I don't think silver dollars are what you're looking for,* but I also don't think piranhas are suited to your needs.


I also don't think Silver dollars are what s/he's looking for, I just think they have more personality than Piranhas, but having a similar look. 

My next door neighbours had a pair of Jags that seemed quite boring, but he stated that they could wipe out his tanks :gasp:



P.S I re-worded what I've quoted so it makes more sense


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

i also have 2 silver dollars about 5" long they literally eat whole aquarium plants in about 2 mins or less but they always hid and my two any way seem more shy than my piranhas i have kept but i agree their very similar to ??? piranhas 

yes an adult male jag could destroy a whole tank of agressive oscars or even larger south american cichlids their pure evil when their adults not as much when their juvs 

snakeheads all im saying is all fish need amonia, nitrate free water no matter if their snakeheads or tetras if you dont do regular water changes with a large dirty fish with a huge bioload like a snakehead amonia will soon build up and could stress the snakehead and even kill it would be interesting to get the info from that breeder like what was his filtration because im guessing it was huge 

i have kept red snakeheads, rainbow snakeheads, dwarth snakeheads the red ones are frigging beasts keep well away from them if you dont have space for a 300g + tank i learnt the hard way it out grown my 200g tank and cost me tones : victory:


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

Aggressive, micropeltis..... Oh yeah!!!!

But TBH I think you need to really research fish a bit more.

All the fish your looking at need monsterous filtration and big tanks.

Your LFS will have red bellies but not caribes.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

caribe said:


> Aggressive, micropeltis..... Oh yeah!!!!
> 
> But TBH I think you need to really research fish a bit more.
> 
> ...



ok if i had just gone out and got some fish and had not asked anything about them and came on here as said i was having problems, then i would understand you tell me to research fish.

As i have posted this thread asking about them what do you think i am doing?

With all the filters and bits i can get what ever i need as i know someone who owns a fish shop. And i can get it all at just a lil over cost price.

I dont have the tank or anything right now this is why i am asking what size tank they need, if you can keep more then one.

Im not some noob to keeping fish ive had fish all my life, just have not done anything with these sort of fish.
But have done 
pond fish
cold water tank fish
tropical water fish

also had a number of other aquatic animals


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

A big Cichlid is definitely worth looking into. They're very dominant fish. Have you looked at Texas Cichlids? A lovely colourful Cichlid with a mouth full of teeth. Or the good old Oscar, very active fish that love to make a tank their own by moving everything around. They'll even try and move rocks bigger than themselves.

I've kept snakeheads in the past and to be honest unless it was feeding time found them a little boring. Another alternative to snakeheads are Polypterus. They have the same sort of shape and will also eat any other fish they can fit in their mouths.

I saw mention of silver dollars and it is true that people mistake them for piranhas, I've had numerous people think that's what I had in my tank. I have a group of 4 very large ones that are very active. Feeding time isn't anything amazing but now and again they get excited and the room is filled with the sound of splashing water while they feed for a few seconds. But as other people have said, I don't think they're what you're after.


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## davidlottr (Nov 14, 2009)

_simon_ said:


> A big Cichlid is definitely worth looking into. They're very dominant fish. Have you looked at Texas Cichlids? A lovely colourful Cichlid with a mouth full of teeth. Or the good old Oscar, very active fish that love to make a tank their own by moving everything around. They'll even try and move rocks bigger than themselves.
> 
> I've kept snakeheads in the past and to be honest unless it was feeding time found them a little boring. Another alternative to snakeheads are Polypterus. They have the same sort of shape and will also eat any other fish they can fit in their mouths.
> 
> I saw mention of silver dollars and it is true that people mistake them for piranhas, I've had numerous people think that's what I had in my tank. I have a group of 4 very large ones that are very active. Feeding time isn't anything amazing but now and again they get excited and the room is filled with the sound of splashing water while they feed for a few seconds. But as other people have said, I don't think they're what you're after.


ive see a few Cichlid's i like the look of and do like Oscar's, but i think i might just go with what i started wanting in the first place, and thats some red belly piranha.


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## berry1 (Sep 25, 2010)

I've kept snakeheads in the past and to be honest unless it was feeding time found them a little boring. Another alternative to snakeheads are Polypterus. They have the same sort of shape and will also eat any other fish they can fit in their mouths.


i have to dissagree i have kept a large amount of snakeheads and if their kept in 3-4s they will constantly chase each other also at feeding time they can eat fish nearly half their lengh

polypterus are totally different mate they have a little similarity but realy polypterus are a type of birchir and are more like an eel than a snakehead they will eat fish but they just dont hold the same amount of agression as a snakehead 

snakeheads are an invasive species and thats why their banned, illegal in alot of countrys they have wiped out alot of the freshwater fish populations in asia and some other countrys thats why i love them their beasts 

as i said if you like piranhas shore mate go get some red bellys but just dont be suprised when their not as agressive as you want 

if it was me i would deff ask for an exotic aquatic shop to order me some exodons 

or second on my list would be a trio of dwarth snakeheads

im actually gona contact manchester pets and exotics and try and get some exodons ordered the manager last time i spoke to him he said he can get almost any fish species imported


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## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

davidlottr said:


> i know someone who owns a fish shop.


..would ask to see there order lists and it will give you a better idea of whats available to you.

Probably P.Natteri (excuse my spelling)
Or S.Rhombeus


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