NEED A LITTLE HELP FOR MY PIRANHAS

[decgoth]

I was just given an 80gal tank that i plan on moving my "babies" into after i move, and i want to put in live plants this time.

what kind of substrate should i have in there? someone said to just put in aquatic plant dirt but i don't want to risk them dying(i've had the piranhas since they were 1 1/2in long and now they're about 6" long) and i'll be REAL unhappy if i lost them.

Also what kind of plants should go in there? I need to get a hood for the tank so I'm not sure what kind of lighting it's gonna need(never had one this big for fish before only snakes).

We've been feeding them live fish since we got them(1st blood worms and flake food when they were little, then rosies now goldfish). should there be anything else added to their diets?

Any help would be appreciated :D

[William]

Which species of Piranha are we talking about.

[decgoth]

sorry thought i put that in. I have 2 red bellies

[William]

OK. well in that case I would use a medium fine gravel in the bottom of the tank. (or whatever you are using now) Aquatic plant dirt is not necessary for you plants and is a little harder to maintain than gravel.

As for plants you vill have to choose hardy plants such as Vallisneria species, crinum species, anubias, javafern. The lighting requirements depends on which plants species you get and the height of your tank.

You should not feed them just goldfish as goldfish doesn't contain everything your Piranhas need. Vary their diet with goldfish, shrimp, meat from other fish, crab meat etc.

[decgoth]

the 80gal tank dimensions are 48L x 12W x 21H. right now i have the larger stones,don't know if this is allowed but here the link to the pic of the piranha tank http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=showPhoto&albumID=550207210&photoID=2955282550088500061&security=ntrQax

in regards to shrimp, is it regular shrimp(raw & deveined) or brine shrimp? is there somewhere that suggests what kind of fish meat? I want to make sure that i have happy 'babies' and they grow the way they are supposed to.

[William]

The link is ok.

I meant regular shrimp. the kind you can by frozen at the super market, just defrost them and feed them to your fish.

[decgoth]

ok great...ty

[decgoth]

THANKS SO MUCH for the shrimp tip. i forgot i had some in the freezer. i defrosted one and tried it. they LOVED it.

[William]

Good to hear. Most fish love shrimp.

[decgoth]

frisky little buggers they were after having it lol. haven't seen them that frisky since they were real small. how many shrimp are they "allowed" to have in a week? they had 1 today but don't want to over do it.

[William]

I can't really say an exact number but it is okay to give them as many they can eat within a few minutes and you can feed them shrimps several times a week if you want to.

A suggestion would be that you vary between giving them feeders and shrimps. SO every other meal is shrimp.

[decgoth]

ok so giving 2 or 3 is safe? what other 'goodies' can i give them that's safe. i know bloodworms are ok i've given them those before.

with the shrimp, shells on is ok right? or should the shells be removed first? I removed the tail from the last one.

[William]

The shells is up to you. Shrimp shells conatin color enhancing substances but can give digestive problem in some fish. I don't think this is going to be a problem with an predator like red bellie piranhas but you still have to choose.

2-3 are safe as long as they eat them within a few minutes. so are 20 ;-)

Others things you can offer them is crab meat, clams (without shells), chicken (not to often) and different types of frozen (or fresh) fish.