Need some infomation!

[AQUA_KING]

HI i am going to get another 30 gallon tank and was thinking of piranhas. what kind can i get and how many? What do they eat? and what other things do they need.

The tank is 40" long, 18" high, and 12 "deep

thanks

AQUA_KING

[William]

There are both fish eating and vegetarian pirhanas.

one of the easies species to find and keep are red bellies and they might be a suitable first piranha. They are meat/fish eaters.

[AQUA_KING]

Could someone plez reply

AQUA_KING

[DemonShark]

William did reply but Ill add on to it

Red Bellys I would suggest since 1:Cheaper than other pirranahs
2:Sold more commercially than other pirranahs
3:Easy to keep for a pirrahana
negatives about pirrahans 4:Neat to watch them rip stuff open and eat!

1:Theyll bite your fingers off if given the chance so dont pet em!
2:Cant have a lot of diffrent kinds of fish too put in with them
Otherwise Go for it and tell us about them!

[Full3R]

but adding on there are some species you can keep with them such as oscars of similar size

[AQUA_KING]

Thanks for all of your replys, how many red bellied piranhas can i keep in a 30 gallon tank and how big do they get.

thanks

AQUA_KING

[DemonShark]

i would get a bigger tank maybe a 40 gallon or 50 gallon they get as big in the stores as frying pans

[William]

Demonshark is right that you would need to get a larger aquarium as the piranhas grow.

They are best kept in schools and i would recommend atleast 6 of them. But that also depends on how large aquarium you are able to offer them once they outgrown the one you are planning now.

[AQUA_KING]

I am going 2 get another 10 gallon in july and a 50 in december. I will proberly get them then, thanks for the info.

AQUA_KING

[askdrjason]

How are ya?

Don't you love those little underwater tasmanian devils???

I read that the general rule is 1 piranha per 10 gallons of water. As they grow, consider 15 gallons per fish. Don't forget, these are capable of growing to 18" in length given the right conditions.

The more space the better.

Piranhas travel in schools and do most of their damage in groups. The more space they have the better. Of course, this costs money!

Having a second tank is great. I call mine the hospital aquarium in case of emergency!

Overcrowding is not recommended. Remember that piranhas are very territorial fish and will fight off intruders in their personal space. As they grow, their personal space decreases.

I have 8 in a 90 gallon tank. Probably too many, however, I will wait and see what happens. Weak, injured, or sick fish are usually wiped out quickly (survival of the fittest principle!).

If you have a 55 gallon tank, buy no more than 6.

Dr. J

[Riley Blair]

Hi there, I just got two red bellied pirrahna and one of them seems to have something wrong. He's really twitchy and swimming everywhere in the tank, the other fellow just sits around chillin out. My temp in the tank hovers around the 76-78 degree mark. Its a 33 gallon tank. Ya I mean the one is going berserk, cutting back and forth super fast, even hitting the glass and bumping into the filter etc.... Just seeing if anyone has a suggestion on what is going on or what im doing wrong? or what can be done? Thank-you Riley

[Nick89]

What's your filtration? I think pirahanas need to be in a school of 3-5 or more, and that 33 gallon isnt nearly big enough for that. I'd consider a bigger tank and get more red bellied pirhanas. OH and make sure if you do get more fish, make sure the filtration is upgraded as well, as pirhanas are extremely messy fish.

[Riley Blair]

So I probably have to try and get more pirahna close to the same size..or they will eat each other....no??? As for the filtration I know theres one on it, but as for what typeit is?? What should I be using? I might be getting a 75gallon tank here soon, what do you recommend for pump size, filtration system etc?? just lookin for some input. thank-you

[Dave66]

Not to put too fine on a point on it, but Red Bellied Pirhanas reach 30 centimeters; that's a foot long, and a foot long pirhana is a LOT of fish. They also HAVE to have pristine water. They WILL NOT tolerate any ammonia or nitrite and MUST have less than 30 ppm nitrate. Thus you need MULTIPLE powerful canister filtration and large partial water changes twice weekly.
Also, you should be shopping for an aquarium in the hundreds of gallons. A 75 won't cut it.

Dave

[gm72]

Dave has it spot on. Absolutely correct on multiple fronts.

[squirt_12]

Yeah...i don't remember who i was talking to but....they said that for a SMALL school of red belly pirahnas (sp?), they need ATLEAST a 300g tank to live in the minimum conditions. So if you have 2 in a 30g i would upgrade FAST to a bigger tank. Because they will grow.

[SoCalxPiranhaxKing]

Two RedBelly’s are going to fight constantly. You should have at least three so try to get one more as close to the same size as the two you already have. Your going to need at least a 60gal to keep three redbelly’s until they hit around 6".But after that just like "Dave66" says there going to need 100gal+ tanks because they do get big especially the females. I would also recommend you use titanium or stainless steel heaters instead of glass. I’ve heard stories about piranhas cracking glass heaters even ebo-jager's.:hmm3grin2orange: Don’t worry about them darting around, there going to do that especially the young ones. But be careful not to panic them I’ve seen juveniles panic and knock themselves out running into the glass.:14: They can be really skittish!

[piranha_brad]

Genaral rule of thumb for piranhas are 20 gallons per fish because they are so messy. Usually two together is a bad idea, but all depends on the p's attitude. I have 4 in a 90gal. two are 4" and the other two are 7" and they get along fine, again just depends one their attitude. Adequate filtration is also a must, i have 2 AQ 110's, a penguin powerhead and a Rena xp2 on mine and water is crystal clear. Have fun with them they are great fish. If u plan on keeping the 30g...get a single serra species like a hollandi or a mean ass sanchez. I have an empty 33g that I'm going to put a sanchez in soon...

[Demjor19]

Genaral rule of thumb for piranhas are 20 gallons per fish because they are so messy. Usually two together is a bad idea, but all depends on the p's attitude. I have 4 in a 90gal. two are 4" and the other two are 7" and they get along fine, again just depends one their attitude. Adequate filtration is also a must, i have 2 AQ 110's, a penguin powerhead and a Rena xp2 on mine and water is crystal clear. Have fun with them they are great fish. If u plan on keeping the 30g...get a single serra species like a hollandi or a mean ass sanchez. I have an empty 33g that I'm going to put a sanchez in soon...

i agree w/ this. if you want a piranha, but dont have the room for a shoal of redbellies...get a small serra species. i have a 6" S. Sanchezi and that is about full grown...they normally do not reach over 6-7 inches. only single specimens can be kept in a tank (due to there temperament), but they are great fish. just a suggestion.

[Gawd_oOo]

Two RedBelly’s are going to fight constantly. You should have at least three so try to get one more as close to the same size as the two you already have. Your going to need at least a 60gal to keep three redbelly’s until they hit around 6".But after that just like "Dave66" says there going to need 100gal+ tanks because they do get big especially the females. I would also recommend you use titanium or stainless steel heaters instead of glass. I’ve heard stories about piranhas cracking glass heaters even ebo-jager's.:hmm3grin2orange: Don’t worry about them darting around, there going to do that especially the young ones. But be careful not to panic them I’ve seen juveniles panic and knock themselves out running into the glass.:14: They can be really skittish!

I'll second the comment about titanium or stainless heaters, or just bury the glass one in the substrate. One of mine was taking great pleasure in hitting the heater off the glass, constantly. So I buried it. Now I'm just waiting for them to chop down on the wire.
And Yeah they can be very skittish, Set up the tank for them in an area that gets no traffic in the house, corner of a bedroom, basement, den, etc.

[Don P]

If your still going to get a 30 gal. I would have (1) piranha ,If you would like too see It grow too it's fullist...Red-Bellies can grow up to 12ins.