Keeping Piranha

jiffy

Anyone here keep Piranha? I'm setting up an Amazonian theme tropical tank and I'd like to stock it with Piranha.

So, I'm looking for advice on keeping them and on places to buy them. Are they even legal to keep here?

Cheers,

Matt

RotalicaV

I am also interested in keeping some piranha, ive done some reading but it was a few weeks ago. Best bet is to buy a book, or google for a fan site (theres a few good ones). Yes they are legal, my brother had one a few years back, in a three foot tank. Brilliant fish.

Theres a guy on this forum who has an online fish supply shop, emailed him for information on buying them but he never got back to me. I rang petshop down in blanch, they had them but recently sold out. They were selling them at 25 euro each.

I'm in the process of sourcing a three foot tank (hopefully sutable for two piranha), but i can't really find anything right yet. Anyone got one for sale?

dark_jedi_ire

Just ended yesterday

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5634882125&sspagename=ADM I was going to buy it myself but the miss`s put the foot down,

Sure he wouldnt mind you contacting him About it.. and as far as Im aware didnt sell. Its a 3ft 3" hagan ,

I have a large south american tank Myself , mostly chiclids and discus and some tetras , but if you are going piranha go red bellys, and I have seen them in Newlands cross garden center, and if not in stock they will happyly get them for you for the next week,

have a look here
http://www.tropicalfishfinder.co.uk/article_detail.asp?id=15

and

http://www.firsttankguide.net/piranha.php

and

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile7.html

Rob

jiffy

Dark Jedi, thanks for the links, I had a quick look and they will most definately be useful as I know very little about them.

I have a tank in mind it's a 400l (105Gallon) on a stand and I'd love to get some sort of Amazonian theme going.

Being a diver and shark lover (I've dived with Oceanic, Hammerheads, Great Whites, Leopards, Basking and the fabulous Dogfish) I was intending to stock it with sharks but I really like the Piranha's and it's not some macho thing because of their reputation I just think they are cool fish that I'll never get to see in the wild !

Matt

The Free Man

we used to have pirhana when i was a kid. they kept eating the little neons, and after a few months they got huge. we had two, and they kept taking lumps out of eachother too :eek:

dark_jedi_ire

Hiya

No probs

The hugh difference is of Course salt and freshwater piranhas being fresh water,

fresh Water,= easyier and cheaper to set up and maintain.

Salkwater = mainly for the very Expereinced and someone who has a fair bit of cash avaible,

But Im sure Someone Will Say different
Just hve a look at sample marine Setups and the check out the difference between them,

Im told FishFX in Dun laoghaire are the best around for Marine,

Again couold be wrong, as I only have freshwater tanks,



Rob

dark_jedi_ire

Hiya freeman

Yeh natural behavoir for some piranha species , they nip and eat each others fins etc as they are high in calories etc and a good source of food for each other when food is short. so it is common, and neons are like feeding biscuits
to a bear... chomp chomp.

Watch out for the BBC or Discovery or Aniaml Planet they had a whole programme about them a couple of weeks back, on how they behave eat survive etc, interesting or maybe Im just sad



Rob

jiffy

dark_jedi_ire wrote:

The hugh difference is of Course salt and freshwater piranhas being fresh water,

fresh Water,= easyier and cheaper to set up and maintain.

Salkwater = mainly for the very Expereinced and someone who has a fair bit of cash avaible,

Rob

Absolutely and a major factor in my decision. I'll do some web research but from what I've read so far, the Red Bellied Piranha seem like the best bet as they can be kept together. I don't really want a big tank with one solitary specimen fish !

Am I right in thinking that any other fish would be considered food and so are a no-no unless of course you don't want to keep them

I have a 3 1/2 year old son, would I be best to lock the flip up front used for feeding ? I'd hate him to grow up with less fingers than he should have ! Having said that he never puts his fingers in the cold water tank !!

Are Piranha's known for jumping? The fish in the cold water tank we have will bang of the underside of the hood every now and again :eek:

Thanks for all the replies. I didn't expect anything really being such an obscure topic.

Matt

dark_jedi_ire

Hiya the red bellie diffo Seems to be the best around, From what from what I have Seen and read,

Looks at the sites I Sent you and you will get a fair idea of tank Mates, Etc

a large shoal will hunt so beware, keep them well feed ( and not over feed) and they will leave ost tank Mates alone,

Depending on size and if they have grown up with the tank Mates or not, if they grown up together they tend to not see them as food, etc

But have a read on those links and you will get a good idea,

and google is your friend,

Just seach tropical fish piranhas and you will find all the knowledge you need,

any question give me a shout



Rob

dark_jedi_ire

Hiya

to Add to that ,

the lid with All tanks I think should be secured, to a certain degree I have marbled hatches that take to the air any chance they get, its like escape to victory in there, Any tie the lid if off they start a jumping. and many fish do jump.

Mostly the fish are much more scaried of you than you of them, the only thing I would suggest is to watch when the become accustomed to you and get to know when its feeding time, from What I have seen they tend to frenzy a little so just something to look out for, but generally they will not
attack a finger or hand unless they are starving and you have a cut or Something

again reading is your best bet,

As piranhas are members for the tetra family, watching a shoal of say in my case anyway of sarpea tetras at feeding time is like watching sharks at a bait ball.

hahaha

boroughmal

sorry for not getting back to you but at the moment there are no pirhana for supply in the country exept those in quarantine. Imports from the u.k. are on hold due to eec regs for live imports. I am waiting for three importers to get back to me with stocks at the moment. & I will contact you then
Regards

jiffy

boroughmal wrote:

sorry for not getting back to you but at the moment there are no pirhana for supply in the country exept those in quarantine. Imports from the u.k. are on hold due to eec regs for live imports. I am waiting for three importers to get back to me with stocks at the moment. & I will contact you then

Thanks for that, just send an email to the store about aquariums and kit so hope to hear from you soon.

Matt

Reptile Lover

Hi if your still looking for tanks try this Irish site i know its for reptiles but many reptile owners have tanks for sale,worth a try. http://www.forumsvibe.com/reptiles/