Piranha Man

And here's my Favourite pic. These are the only Piranha's with blood red eyes. He's got a set of Chiclet's about a cm long in that mouth. Hope you guy's enjoy.

And here's his cage. 6ft long. Fish 36 cm measured by me head to tail.

I feed him African Cichlids. Just Kidding. :boxed:

I think you covered it Ron! Thank you sir. Excellent. I will read agian. Thanks! Pat

I gotcha! Sorry 'bout that. The most reasonalby priced piranha would be your domestic red belly piranha. In the tank you described you could permanantly house 6 of them. As for prices in the 2-3" range. I've seen them as low $10 piece. Actually Riverside in Calgary has good prices on there Red Belly's from what I have seen. The last 4"ers i bought were 2 for $25. Red Belly's while somewhat common are none the less a great piranha. They grow well and are the typical 'make the water boil' eating fish. And they can breed. The only bad part about a breeding pair of p's are that they turn into red devil/ dovii like fish. While I'm writing that brings me to an issue that comes up alot with new piranha owners. People will often complain that their piranha isn't aggressive like alot of Cichlids.... chasing you through the glass. That is true in most cases but WHY would you want a fish as dangerous as the Piranha is to be that way? If you get bit by an adult piranha you will be in alot of trouble. And if it's quite large you will literally lose digits. My guy would remove a bite the size of a raquet ball out of me if he got a hold of me. Some people complain that they dont move around alot. It's because they are opportunistic predators and will watch you all day if they have to. The trick to solving this is to run a powerhead.

Awesome! Tell me more.

Good questions. A Red Belly at a true, not eyeballed, 2" today, along with typical fish care, will vary in size depending on frequency of eating. If you feed him everyday he will be 6 inches in probably 4-5 months and about 7-8 inches in 1 year. They will grow to about 11" after 3 yrs and maybe hit 12" with the right care and space. In the future if your serious about 1 fish I can get you a Black Piranha at a very reasonable price. I maybe getting 4 all around 4". That would be your best bet as they eat less and grow slower after 6". Plus they look more stealth and hate anything in their tank. Once a Black piranha hits about 6" he will only grow 1/2" per year. He would be good for years and years in a 40g+ tank with a powerhead. In fact I've contended thata 40g breeder is the perfect tank for any piranha under 10". A Piranha of the Pygo genus is not well suited for a medium tank for long. As for behaviour... piranha's don't uproot. They have bitten air lines though. They are quite a self-sufficient investment.

Exodons would be your best bet as no piranha's stay that small. I hear there's nothing like a swarm of exodons at feeding time.

Well remember... all Piranha's, except Red Bellies, are wild caught. Prices vary widely from LFS to LFS. It's hard to say... and depending on their size. Of course with all fish, with size increase, goes price increase. When you get into large Rhombeus 12" all the way to 18" it gets pricey, but rightfully so. A true Black Piranha, like I own, is found mainly with the exporters in Iquitos Peru. Of the 30 odd exporters only about a handful will handle these fish to ship. So a rare monster indeed... especially in Canada.

The gold fish issue is real... but withany carnivore. It has a growth inhibitor called Thiaminase. It's an enzyme that ingests Vitamin B1. As for shoaling vs. solitary... here it is: There are 4 genus' of Piranha. The two main ones are the ones that have the classic Piranha type predators, if you know what I mean. Pygocentrus (AKA. PYGO) Genus: There are 3 species that fall under this. Red Belly, or Nattereri. Piraya, which grow the biggest of all the piranha. And the most aggressive of this genus the Caribe, or cariba. All Pygos can be mixed. Expect aggression until they reach 7" plus however. You can keep any of these guys solitary. As for it being unhealthy... quite the opposite as Piranha's don't really shoal in the true sense of the word. They tolerate each other. Cannibalism is not rare in the Juvi-subadult stages. But with that said you are generally pretty safe. Serrasalmus (AKA. SERRA) Genus: This is the genus containing the widest variety of species. Sadly they are the most aggressive. Sadly i say because they MUST be kept solitary with a few exceptions, which doesn't make for an exciting tank.. The Violet Line piranha, or Geryii species seem to tolerate each other well in a decent sized tank. But these are very expensive. The infamous "Black Piranha" is of this genus. This name has little meaning to exporters because as juvenilles there are about a handful of serras that all look identical until subadult stages. The true "Black" piranha in hobbiest circles is the Rhombeus. It along with one other rare species, grows the largest of the Serra's. What makes them so intriguing is that depending on the river in SA they come from they have varying looks to them. The most common expressions used to describe the Rhombeus, if locality isn't known, is Black or Diamond. Diamond have a glitter to their body and Black's are a charcoal/ slate color. Interestingly the majority of Blacks are found in Peru in the Nanay river. They seem to grow the largest of all the varients. A biologist/exporter I talk with on MSN has caught black's that were 21". The greatest identifying mark of a Rhombeus, which is the very thing hobbiests go wild over, is they are the only piranha with a blood red eye. While Black (Rhombeus) piranha's grow huge they are very slow in aquariums. In fact the largeat reported growth in an aquarium for a Rhombeus is less than 12". For a person who wants to keep just one solitary piranha, say in like a 30 gallon... you could get away with any number of Serra's as most dont grow past 8-9". Of couse by then over 40g would be sufficient. also a powerhead is important as they are found in currents. As for any solitary set-up any piranha will thrive. I would recommend a Serra species as they are stealth hunters and grow slowly. One further note i should mention is... Piranha's can be pricey because of one important fact. They do not breed in captivity. Only the common Red Belly. That's why you see them everywhere. Outside of them if you get your hands on a Piranha, don't take that literally, you will have yourself a wild caught fish. If you Tanker, or anyone else are interested in scoring a rare piranha let me know. If you have a profile your looking for in a Piranha I can help you.

Yes. Cariba's. They grow twice as fast and are twice as aggressive.

Let me know for future orders or general discussion. I love em. Had 'em off and on since 1986. By now most here have seen my favourite specimin TITUS.

I have a friend from out of province ask me what the going rate is on captive bred discus here, and I am absolutely clueless. I have always respected the discus guru's as I have applied their principles to my Piranha's and always get exceptional growth because of it. So teach me. What are there varieties and what do they fetch in these parts?

Sweeeeet fish!!!! They ate each other in transit? Holy Canoly. Very cool.

Just a 5 lb Piranha. lol He doesn't bother little fish.

I've always been into predators. So enlighten me.

Neoprodigy... Are those the Goliath? Are those all yours? Please continue to contribute. Love MFK btw.

Hey Dan! Welcome Buddy! You'll enjoy the maturity level of the sight. As well the members are true hobbiests. ***FYI Dan is a rep for Canada's only Piranha wholesaler. :beer:

No, just one I would like to have. I can't remember where I got the pic. There's a hundred in that tank is all I remember. Putting your hand in that tank would be like putting your hand in a hornets nest. :boxed:

Is that a styrofoam background? If so where did you get it?

Exodons. Wicked feeding frenzies.

My piranha is 14" and 5 lbs... he has no interest in eating tetras. That video will illustrate what he views as a meal. Now my little 4" Compressus piranha, however, would clear my tank in about a week!

Yes sir Jason. That video is about 4 weeks old actually. Your fish along with 150 neons 15 blackskirts, and 2 red tail sharks cohabit with him in a 108g now. Once the plants grow a little more I will post more pics.

Enjoy! http://www.zippyvideos.com/160083584211481...tus/*piranhaman

Yes it will leach. There is a guy online who tested it and it did leach. Black Beauty is the origional product, slag black sand. As for Moon sand big al's has it as well as all petsmarts for $30.