# Biggest Piraya!?



## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

Well I'm checking on info of piraya and I see TL 24". Does anyone have a Piraya over 16" or have a pic? Also, where did that info come from of the Piraya hitting 24" TL. People say Pirayas are the slowest growing pygo, so how old would a Piraya be approximately at 24". I don't know the growth rate but someone mentioned 1/2" a month or so. I'm guessing that is after they hit 4-6". Also I would assume they would grow a lot slower than that after reaching 10-12". I really want a Piraya but I would like to buy as many small ones cheaper and grow them to their worth.


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## ANDY375HH (Jul 22, 2003)

ash has one and he's got a pic of it on his website I have seen that monster in person. it s awesome


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## tecknik (Jul 18, 2003)

I think Ash has a 16 incher. I havent seen any pirayas larger than that. Anyone have a pic of a 20"+? Raptor has a 12 incher.


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

yes i've seen that piraya many times. i saw another 16" at pfish but you are not allowed to use it anywhere else without consent of the owner(specifically said not to). the piraya is dead also. i've seen huge wild rhoms but why not any pirayas?


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## jdk79 (Feb 22, 2003)

Here my opinion on the matter....very few of us have large enough aquariums to really see the true growth potential of the piraya. That one guy on Pfish had that 15 inch Piraya and he grew it to that size from 5-6 inches in only I think like 5 years in a 350 gallon tank. I would say if you would have a nice 10 foot 500 gallon tank you could grow them to 20 inches in less than 10 years from 5 inches with proper feeding and good water quality.


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## Bigbite (Nov 11, 2003)

tecknik said:


> I think Ash has a 16 incher.


 Well then, he ought to leave the fish business, and go into porno movies!









Sorry, carry on.........


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

jdk79 said:


> Here my opinion on the matter....very few of us have large enough aquariums to really see the true growth potential of the piraya. That one guy on Pfish had that 15 inch Piraya and he grew it to that size from 5-6 inches in only I think like 5 years in a 350 gallon tank. I would say if you would have a nice 10 foot 500 gallon tank you could grow them to 20 inches in less than 10 years from 5 inches with proper feeding and good water quality.


 well jdk, also in the post, someone mentions about the other pirayas in the same tank that grew up with the 15-16 incher. they all grew up from the same tank and they were all the same size when they were 5-10" i forgot. it must of been luck of the draw, the genes in that piraya or another undecided factor. the other pirayas in the same tank didn't even come close to the biggest piraya.

also bigbite, shame on you and your dirty mind!


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## AzNP (May 21, 2003)

offtopic yo boxer hope yur right hand is ok soon
...cuz looking at the entries it must hav taken u an hour at 1 wpm ahaha jk


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

i'm very skilled with 1 hand. a lot more fingers off key, i.e. spelling errors and backspaCIng. im getting used to it but im healing quick n i am left handed.. sumwut aMBYdex.. damn caps lok


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

There was a pic of wayne mah next too a piraya that was pretty damn close to 20 something inches at pred fish. I hope mine will grow to be a 20 incher in 6 years :smile:


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## Bigbite (Nov 11, 2003)

A 20 incher wouldn't need to hunt in packs.... One fish of that size could kill about amything it wanted to kill.!!!!!


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## Young Gotti (Jan 29, 2003)

> There was a pic of wayne mah next too a piraya that was pretty damn close to 20 something inches at pred fish. I hope mine will grow to be a 20 incher in 6 years


That's not Wayne in the pic. It's taken from a Japanese magazine, trust me I know Wayne.


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## als (Aug 23, 2003)

Hi, I am the owner of that 16 inch dead piraya. Just to let you know I grew her in my 125 gal. tank for the first two years. And I truely believe that pirayas are very quick growing piranhas under ideal conditions. I have raised young red breasted piranhas in the past that were 13inches. And these fish were in my 125gal. tank. But the bigger the tank you have will allow you maximum growth rate for these beauitiful fish. By the way I have never had more than 4 piranhas per tank. They need all the space possible.Good luck


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Luciano said:


> > There was a pic of wayne mah next too a piraya that was pretty damn close to 20 something inches at pred fish. I hope mine will grow to be a 20 incher in 6 years
> 
> 
> That's not Wayne in the pic. It's taken from a Japanese magazine, trust me I know Wayne.


Oh, Sorry Wayne if ya see this. I shoulden't have assumed








And for the record it was 18 inches. i believe fugopuff stated.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Also, Glad to see you here to als :nod: I would have still have been in shock from losing that piraya. Welcome, it's pretty cool to see all the lost members around again


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

als said:


> Hi, I am the owner of that 16 inch dead piraya. Just to let you know I grew her in my 125 gal. tank for the first two years. And I truely believe that pirayas are very quick growing piranhas under ideal conditions. I have raised young red breasted piranhas in the past that were 13inches. And these fish were in my 125gal. tank. But the bigger the tank you have will allow you maximum growth rate for these beauitiful fish. By the way I have never had more than 4 piranhas per tank. They need all the space possible.Good luck


 al can you list your setup, feeding, and conditions on how you grew your piranhas so big.


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## EMJAY (Feb 27, 2003)

als, i dont doubt you, but i wanna see soem pics. im sure you have atleast a few of a fish you had for that long...?

also i would think piraya only grow 24" in the wild, unless you had a massive tank, i mean massive, a few thousand gallons, so they can't thinhk they are all alone.

just my opinion.

also boxer how you break your hand?


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## tecknik (Jul 18, 2003)

Raptor said:


> There was a pic of wayne mah next too a piraya that was pretty damn close to 20 something inches at pred fish. I hope mine will grow to be a 20 incher in 6 years :smile:


 Is that pic still there? I'd really like to see it


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Yes, The thread name is, one of my favorite pics, By 911 In the piranha fourum.
And emjay, The als pic is at pred fish in the piraha fourum. Hareball posted the thread.


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## als (Aug 23, 2003)

Hi Boxer, I have been very sucessfull in growing large piranhas including Serr. species. These are a few of my routines I go by. I feed all my fish daily only at night time usually two hours before the lights go out. One week I will feed only catfish fillets than the next week maybe shrimp. I am allways changing there diet. Water quality is a must , so I change one third + every other week. Certain foods may require sooner water changes. I do not change filter media that often . All lights are on timers (5pm-midnight). Serr. fish are more picky eaters , but I have finally figured them out. Another thing that most people may not understand is that I DO NOT feed live fish. I am always experimenting with what foods work with certain fishes . I hope this gives you a little detail on how I grow big piranhas. Best of Luck.


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## tecknik (Jul 18, 2003)

Raptor said:


> Yes, The thread name is, one of my favorite pics, By 911 In the piranha fourum.
> And emjay, The als pic is at pred fish in the piraha fourum. Hareball posted the thread.


 Can you send me the link to the page? I cant find it...


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

thank you for the info, do you use a powerhead or anythign? more than 1 powerhead per tank? how do you keep the fish active if no live food? i guess with all the extra space they have, they just swim around for no reason at all, even tho they do this in smaller tanks. do you feed your piranhas pellets time to time or do you continue experimenting with other non regular foods?

my rbp diet has been so far
1. cichlid pellets
2. rosie feeders.
3. freeze dried bloodworms
4. frozen brine shrimp

thats in order from most to least. i haven't tried krill, beefheart or fish fillets yet


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## Knifeman (Feb 3, 2003)

I had a conversation with Oliver Lucanus about a year ago and he mentioned that he has seen several piraya over the years that were clearly in access of 18" in length. He stated that piraya that size were not common, but were occasionally seen with some regularity. He has never seen a 20+"er, but also said that he does not discount that they exist.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

As far as I know, most (if not all), reports of 20+" piranha's (piraya, rhombeus, manueli) are from local fishermen.

Maybe some shippers have caught such big specimen, but the larger a piranha is, the tougher it is to ship them to the US/Europe, I reckon. I know this applies to manueli's - that's why specimen over 8-9" are so rare - but I see no reason this doesn't apply to the other large species to a certain extent: very large piraya and rhom's are more common, but until now, there seems to be a certain maximum size as far as availability for the trade goes.

Like Knifeman said, not having seen them doesn't mean they aren't out there - god knows how many secrets the Amazon (and other remote area's throughout the world, for that matter) still holds...


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