# Piranhas For 55 Gallon (reds, Caribes, Black)



## Vobs56 (Aug 8, 2010)

Hi everyone,
I will be a new keeper of piranhas in the next couple of days and am also new to piranha-fury.com. I have kept fish for about 5-6 years now and have been active on Monsterfishkeepers.com, but I am coming here with my questions regarding Piranha keeping, since this seems to be the hub for Piranha information through experience. Anyways, regarding my question...I currently have a 55 gallon tank, which has been completely cycled and is ready for the Piranhas. It has 2 filters connected to it: an aqueon 55 and an aquaclear 110 running at 500 gph. At my lfs I have 3 options for Piranhas ( I will also give you the prices they are asking so you can determine whether or not it is a good/or bad deal). They have about (5-6) 7-8" Red Bellies at $70 each, (5-6) 5-6" Red Bellies at $30 each, (4) 3-4" Red Bellies at $20 each, (5-6) 2-3" Caribe Piranha at $40 each, and (1) 6-7" Black Piranha (Peru) at $150. All of the fish are in great to excellent condition and are feeding heartly on New Life Spectrum sinking pellets and goldfish/feeders. I would prefer to have a good shoal of piranhas for my 55 gallon but I was not sure how many would be suitable given my filtration and tank size. Upgrading to a 75 is a slight possibility but it would not be for a while (at least more than a year). I'm assuming I should stay away from the Black Piranha since I will be wanting a shoal and I have heard that they should be kept alone, additionally, it is a bit out of my price range for just one fish. I would pay that much for a few fish but not one. Is the price jump from the Red Bellies to the Caribe worth it? Also, is that a good price for Caribes? I have read the Caribes tend to be more aggressive, active, territorial, and less skittish opposed to the red bellies and if that's true that is what I would prefer. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone!


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

RBPs can get to 10-12" in length and in a 55 gallon your running 12" wide, so a 55 gallon wouldn't suffice for piranhas.(maybe if you get a sanchezi or a mac you could do a solo tank)

The minimum required for a true shoal of piranhas would be a 90 gallon, but yes, you can keep 4-5 in a 75 gallon if you can get you hands on it.

If the Caribes are juvenile, thats a bit steep of a price. If they are slightly larger is would be fair.

The difference between Caribe and RBP is opinion, some people will say that RBP>Caribe RBP=Caribe RBP<Caribe. The main difference is Caribe are wild caught, and RBP are bred in captivity (for the most part).

In your situation, I would buy 5 juvenile RBPs (baby) dime sized. Grow them out for the entire year you have to wait to get the 75 gallon, and then your piranhas should be 5-7" and ready for your 75 gallon.


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## Dolphinswin (Jun 26, 2010)

I wouldn't pay more than 20 bucks for any red. They get to be 6 inches or bigger in less than a year. In my opinion those caribes are priced fairly good. I just bought 5 2inchers from Shark Aquarium for 30.00 each plus 50 shipping on them. They are only wild caught so its pretty cool to say those fish came from the wild! People say there more outgoing than reds, I havent tested this but i can say they are pretty sweet. I love my caribe. That rhom would be sweeeeet but the the tank is insufficient. Also, If you can upgrade within a year to 75 you could probably get some caribe. I have a 75gal and I plan on keeping only 3 or 4 of my fish when they get to adult size. Anyways good luck to ya dude they are all awesome.


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## nilocg (Apr 5, 2010)

MPG said:


> RBPs can get to 10-12" in length and in a 55 gallon your running 12" wide, so a 55 gallon wouldn't suffice for piranhas.(maybe if you get a sanchezi or a mac you could do a solo tank)
> 
> The minimum required for a true shoal of piranhas would be a 90 gallon, but yes, you can keep 4-5 in a 75 gallon if you can get you hands on it.
> 
> ...


Honestly I think 3-4" caribe for $40 each is pretty cheap, normally they are $25 for ~1", and at 3-4" they are much less likely to eat each other.


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## Sanjo Eel (Aug 21, 2008)

If all I had was a 55 and I wanted piranhas, I would get 4-5 red bellies, and plan on upgrading to at least a 75 gallon within 2 years. If you will not be able to upgrade go with a solo fish like a sanchezi or a small black.
Piranha need lots of room, at least 25 gallons per fish for redbellies. I have 5 big reds in a 135 and they couldn't be happier.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Vobs56 said:


> Hi everyone,
> I will be a new keeper of piranhas in the next couple of days and am also new to piranha-fury.com. I have kept fish for about 5-6 years now and have been active on Monsterfishkeepers.com, WELCOMEbut I am coming here with my questions regarding Piranha keeping, since this seems to be the hub for Piranha information through experience. Anyways, regarding my question...I currently have a 55 gallon tank, which has been completely cycled and is ready for the Piranhas. It has 2 filters connected to it: an aqueon 55 and an aquaclear 110 running at 500 gph. At my lfs I have 3 options for Piranhas ( I will also give you the prices they are asking so you can determine whether or not it is a good/or bad deal). They have about (5-6) 7-8" Red Bellies at $70 each, (5-6) 5-6" Red Bellies at $30 each, (4) 3-4" Red Bellies at $20 each, (5-6) 2-3" Caribe Piranha at $40 each, and (1) 6-7" Black Piranha (Peru) at $150.The large reds are way overpriced. The ones for 30$ and less are fine, but they grow so fast you may want to just buy them as babies around an inch and grow them yourself as they will hit 6" in a year and people seem to become more attached to fish that they grew from small rather then bought large. You can also determine their health and allow them to grow really large if their conditions allow it. The caribe are a good price, but like said tank shouldnt be anything more then a temporary. All of the fish are in great to excellent condition and are feeding heartly on New Life Spectrum sinking pellets and goldfish/feeders.The lfs gets a plus for the pellets, but a negitive for the feeders I would prefer to have a good shoal of piranhas for my 55 gallon but I was not sure how many would be suitable given my filtration and tank size. Upgrading to a 75 is a slight possibility but it would not be for a while (at least more than a year)If you got them small you could upgrade in around a year as they will only be 6". Id buy 5-6 baby reds then upgrade around a year, You can then thin the shoal abit, but you may loose some along the way so its best to have extra. I'm assuming I should stay away from the Black Piranha since I will be wanting a shoal and I have heard that they should be kept alone, Correct. If you want a shoal in the 55 permanetly look at exodons. additionally, it is a bit out of my price range for just one fish.Bit high of a price, but still not too bad. You could probably find one locally from a hobbiest much cheaper. generally they will go for around 100$ at that size from a hobbiest I would pay that much for a few fish but not one. Is the price jump from the Red Bellies to the Caribe worth it?caribe look nicer imo and are less skiddish, reds will often bash their faces off things as they flee since they are usually pretty skiddish Also, is that a good price for Caribes? I have read the Caribes tend to be more aggressive, active, territorial, and less skittish opposed to the red bellies and if that's true that is what I would prefer. Any help would be greatly appreciated! more or less true, but its generally up to the individual group. If you want the caribe get them soon as caribe season is ending soon meaning stores wont be getting small caribe in and mayby only the occational large one that costs alot more.
> 
> Thanks everyone!


a group of 4-6 caribe would be a good number to start. You should be fine upgrading at around a year mayby a bit sooner, but when they get larger i would switch out the aqueon filter for a large cannister like xp3 or ehiem 2217 then when you move them to the 75 you can just transfer the cannister and ac110 over


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

I dont think a 55 is good for any pygo species unless it's only temp. as a grow out.

You can get that 6-7" _S. Rhombeus_ it will not grow that fast at the length and will easily be happy 1 year until you get a 75. The 150 tag is a lot, IMO, where do you live? There is a member where I live selling a 7" Bolivian _S. Rhombeus_ for $60...

And


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

First off welcome to Piranha-Fury. Unfortuneatly a 55g just plain out sucks for any Pygo (Red or Caribe). The rhom would grow much slower and could be fine in that tank for about a year, but then I would definitely upgrade to a 75g. Piranhas really need a good wide footprint for a tank. I don't like keeping Ps in anything skinnier then 18".

That is a good price for the caribe as well and IMO it would be worth it to spend the extra $$$ on them. If you buy the Caribe try your best to upgrade to the 75g within 6 months, because those guys will be pushing 5"-7" by then. You would have to do several water changes to keep your water quality good as well.

Personally I would avoid trying to keep any PYGO in that size tank, but it's up to you my friend. Just try to upgrade ASAP. Good Luck and welcome my friend.


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