# Can Piranhas tolerate 3 wpg?



## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

When i first got interested in piranhas a couple years ago, I was told not to use to much light or reflective substrates like white gravel due to the fact that piranhas can't close their eye since they lack eye lids, and that they cannot change the size of there pupils.

Did anyone have problems with your piranhas and high amounts of lighting (2.5 to 3 wpg)


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Mine is fine


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i went with a lower wattage than originally...but i got 5 watt bulbs..and my P is fine. he digs it


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

Cool thanks for your help!


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

Cool thanks for your help!


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

Puff said:


> i went with a lower wattage than originally...but i got 5 watt bulbs..and my P is fine. he digs it
> [snapback]955068[/snapback]​


5 watts pg or 5 watt bulbs? 5 watt bulbs are bretty dark.lol


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

divine said:


> When i first got interested in piranhas a couple years ago, I was told not to use to much light or reflective substrates like white gravel due to the fact that piranhas can't close their eye since they lack eye lids, and that they cannot change the size of there pupils.
> 
> Did anyone have problems with your piranhas and high amounts of lighting (2.5 to 3 wpg)


Hi divine,

No fish can close their eyes. On the other hand this doesn't have any impact on how much light they can tolerate. Fysiologically there is nothing special in Pygocentrus nor Serrasalmus species eyes pupils compared to other day active fishes.

But then again. I cannot figure out how do you plan to do the 3 WPG system?
- IF the WPG is defined to mean a regular broad spectrum (5000-6500 K) fluorescent bulb.

I myself have a 150 gallon tank. This would mean a total of 450 W of fluorescent bulbs.

Seriously speaking as my tank is 60" wide, I can use a lamp with 36 W (formerly 40 W) bulbs. Usually one lamp fixture have dual bulbs in it.
Well in order to get 3 WPG (450 W) I will need a total of 12 bulbs (6 dual bulb lamps).

They DO NOT FIT ABOVE MY AQUARIUM as it is only 24" wide!
If on the other hand I would hang them more above or away from the tank, the ligth would escape all over the room.

IMO and deducting the amount of light I use, I don't need an awesome 3 WPG.
I have two 36 W bulbs with silvery reflectors and I am able to grow Echinodorus, Vallisneria and Hygrophila with no problem. I don't have an algae problem either.

Then about the tolerance of light among Piranhas. One can draw conclusions on that simply by figuring out the situation in nature. Look at the waters of Amazon, Orinoco or Parana rivers and their tributaries. The water is full of soil particles etc.. It is very brown water. The light will certainly not penetrate it very well.
Of course Piranhas can also adapt themselves to strong light at least to some extent.

My advice is to use as much light as your plants need to grow well.
It could be somewhere around 1-1.5 WPG with a fluorescent bulb with no reflector (e.g. white interior in lamp fixture) or 0,5-1 WPG with a fluorescent bulb with a proper reflector (parable shaped, clear metallic).

I myself have 0,5 WPG. I am not, however, saying that my plants would not grow faster and better with 1-2 WPG but they do grow with 0,5 WPG with fluorescents bulb (and a good reflector). The lamp is directly on the aquarium. The distance from the bulbs to the water surface is about 1.5".

Regards,


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## edcal (Feb 19, 2005)

for larger tanks the 3 wpg target can be achieved easily by pc's or metal halide.

Swords, Vals and Hydros dont require high lighting so if thats all your growing no need for 3 wpg. but alot of the best carpets and red colored plants require 3+ wpg.

but back to the topic: im at 2 wpg (soon to be 3+) and the p's were a bit skiddish when first introduced to the lighting. they eventually got used to it.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

I just bought myself a new Jebo pc and have just under 3 wpgs, and my p has gotten used to it. Your ps will adapt so I do not think that you have anything to worry about.


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

Thanks for everyone advice. it has been really helpful. I want to carpet about 1/2 of my tank. so i think i am going to make my own lighting fixture out of metal bent no a metal brake with end plates that hold a computer fan on each side.

two choices

a: 2 250w metal halides and 2 60" 140w VHO grand total of 780 watts/240 gals = 3.25 wpg

b: 3 175w metal halides and 2 36" 95w VHO grand total of 715 watt/240gal =2.9 wpg

I am leaning towards choice b. I will use reflectors either way. I am going to put the VHOs on a timer to turn on 15 to 30 mins before the MH and to stay on 15 to 30 mins after the MH as to have dawn and dusk and also help the piranhas know the light is coming.

5500k or 6500k for MH?

thanks again for everyone's help and input


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

divine said:


> Thanks for everyone advice. it has been really helpful. I want to carpet about 1/2 of my tank. so i think i am going to make my own lighting fixture out of metal bent no a metal brake with end plates that hold a computer fan on each side.
> 
> two choices
> 
> ...


That is a cool idea, the dusk/dawn thing. Getting lights for such a large tank is wicked expensive but real plants are definitely the way to go if you can. Post pics when you have completed your setup, look forward to it.


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## Blitz023 (Feb 19, 2004)

my 8" tern is fine. i have a 96watt on a 40g. He's fine with it.


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

Well I am feeling broke now. I bought everything I need and I don't think I will regret any of the purchases. I will start another thread on how to / how I setup my tank in about a month or two with lots of pictures.

240gal tank
-trickle filteration
-15w UV sterilizer
-pressurized CO2 injection
-3 175w Metal halide
-165w 72" VHO
-custom light fixture
-My roomate worked in a fiberglass plant and he is going to help me make two caves to hide the overflows

Thanks again to everyone who has responded to this thread and my other recent threads to help me make the decisions i needed to make about equipment.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

You don't even want to hear this but the wet dry is going to do an amazing job oxygenating your water, and make it really hard to keep a decent amount of CO2 disolved in the water...

BUT, the good news is that if you just run the metal halides you'll be putting out 2 watts per gallon which can grow a nice variety of plants and you won't need CO2 at that light intensity. You've got a great list of stuff there, just not all of it is compatible for it to do what it does best is all. It'll be one kick ass tank when you get it going though


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## divine (Jan 3, 2005)

I have heard this before. I got an huge external co2 reactor that needs to be plumbed in the system , So i figure i will try it plumbed into the main tank. and see how it goes. I am also going to try and seal the wet/dry as air tight as possible with some sort of gasket in between the lid and tank of the wet/dry tank. And maybe a gasket in between the main tank and glass lid. But i know i am fighting against the odd so some failure won't be to disappointing. I am not going to put the fish i like (cheap ones) in there until i have worked out all the problems and bugs.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

you know what...i just realized i fucked up. i only have 5 watt lights on his tank. it is dim. but he likes it, and his colour shimmers in the dim light, really cool looking.

so anyways, ignore what i said...i was just stoned when i wrote it...my bad


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

divine said:


> I have heard this before. I got an huge external co2 reactor that needs to be plumbed in the system , So i figure i will try it plumbed into the main tank. and see how it goes. I am also going to try and seal the wet/dry as air tight as possible with some sort of gasket in between the lid and tank of the wet/dry tank. And maybe a gasket in between the main tank and glass lid. But i know i am fighting against the odd so some failure won't be to disappointing. I am not going to put the fish i like (cheap ones) in there until i have worked out all the problems and bugs.
> [snapback]957356[/snapback]​


That stuff sounds like it may work, or at least help an awful lot. With a pressurized CO2 system you could probably just crank up the CO2 output to compensate for how much is lost, but you'd better watch your ph real closely.

Can't wait to see it set up though, I think it's gonna be great.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Puff said:


> you know what...i just realized i fucked up. *i only have 5 watt lights on his tank*. it is dim. but he likes it, and his colour shimmers in the dim light, really cool looking.
> 
> so anyways, ignore what i said...i was just stoned when i wrote it...my bad
> [snapback]957376[/snapback]​


?


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

pushing almost 4 wpg and mine if accting mor out going and aggressive than ever.


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