piranas
 

hi
its me again
i dont now were my chinese or siamese fighting fish so i am going to start a new one...
my dad sed it would be fun to get piranas so i wanted to now if they selled the real big piranas
theones that can eat a cow in 3 mins...
katherine
katherine@netxm.com

well how big is your tank? theres a couple of diff kinds of paranas and then theres a pacu that gets 24" there a breed off of paranas.

my tank isery big
it can fit nore than 20 fish init easy
i tis big
katheirne

How many gallons is it? What are the dimensions? Please give us as much information as possible.

I don't suppose a 10 gallons tank would accommodate even a single piranha.:dunno:
You'll need 150 gallons to fit 6 piranhas. They do best in shoals rather than being alone. Let alone their being big poopers which will need a very powerful filtration system.

And the theory of them eating a cow may be true but that applies only if the cow has wounds which will most likely trigger them to attack. Piranhas don't attack until their prey has blood to attract to.
Another thing, their reputation of attacking humans is far from true. They are actually shy and will attack only if provoked.

Many countries ban such fish and you are living in a country banning piranhas, there's no way for you to obtain them. And neither will it be if your tank is not large enough for accommodations.

Not true... I've been a piranha collector, for 9 years now, and there are many different species of piranhas. Pygocentrus species are shoal fish, that are basically shy, and docile. Where as the serrasalmus genus, with the exception of maculatus, and geryis, have to be kept in tanks by themselvs, individually, because they will attack anything you put in the water, including your hand. The whole "blood" thing is completely a myth. I feed mine mice all the time, and theyre not bloody. Its hunger pains that get them to attack, Nothing more. The piranhas you're talking about in question with the cow, are Pygocetrus Notatus, Nattererri, Piraya and Ternetzi. This theory was made popular by Teddy Roosevelt, during his trip to south america. The locals blocked off the river, on both side of a walkway over the water, with nets, and filled the area with piranhas, starved them for days, then threw a cow in the water. Killer first impression of a foreign country eh? And as for tank size, 15-20 gallons per fish, is the bare minimum for ANY piranha, and most need bigger, but you can get away with 15-20.
I hope I've been helpful, and Blue, I wasnt trying to argue with you, just shed some light on our misunderstood friend, the great piranha. Good day to everyone! :D

I don't simply encourage people to keep piranhas in a tank that small. Piranhas can reach 12 inches which is far too large for a 15 gallons tank. It seems you applied that rule only to keeping a piranha in a small tank rather than in a group in a big tank.

I'll cite discus as an example. If you want to keep discus, 10 gallons per fish is the rule but that will not mean you can get away with one discus n a 10 gallons tank. 10 gallons is still far too small and some fish like socializing, not to be isolated. So for 6 discus, 55 gallons is the minimum recommended.

I'm not trying to discredit you for this but piranhas eat a lot and filtration has to be sufficient. A small tank would require almost overfiltration which is not often advisable and several water changes.
40 gallons is the minimum for a single piranha but I'd prefer keeping them in a larger tank instead of cramping them in a small tank.

y ? i have 75 gallon filter ging in my 55

Joe, in such a small tank, if you are the fish, would you want to be carried away by currents while you are alive? Of course, you'd reply no.:dunno:

sry i didnt see you said a "small" tank