# how many piranha per tank?



## Guest (Jan 4, 2003)

Alot of people say 20gallons per piranha for a tank. So if you had a 200g tank, 10 piranha would be i good amount to put in the tank. What do you think of this? I know alot of people have more the 20g's per piranha.


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

i have a 190g it's 6' long 2' wide and 26" tall. i had 10 reds 7"-11", 4 7" caribe, 1 7" piraya and 1 8" ternetzi. they lived in perfect harmony. if you're talking pygos it can be good to overstock them, as long as you have a large tank. you also have to feed well and do extra gravel vacs and water changes. id say in a 200 you can have around 15 pygos. size is also important though. i have 2 12" caribe and 2 12" ternetzi, 1 12" piraya and 1 10" piraya in a 190. so in this case 6 is actually overcrowding the tank. they get along well. this is just a temp setup, they have an 8' 220g.
wes


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## Show_Me_The_Teeth (Dec 4, 2002)

I think of its wrong for some fish but right for others. I have 13 piranhas in a 200g and it doesn't look right. But some fish do better with more fish per gallon than others. Heres what I posted in another board a few days ago concerning this:

I got a 200g and I have 13 p's. They eat like no tomorrow and when not fed they nip at each other. They can take down 72 feeders in one night, night after night. So with this tank you might want to decide what kind of fish do you want. Ternetzis I have found need more space than a Red belly. Not because they get bigger but their aggression is way higher and need more space just like a piraya. But over stocked reds do better than open space reds in my opinion. When they are more crowded they tend to leave each other alone. I think thats because no one red can actually claim a part of the tank his territory. There would be to many challengers and I think thats why they don't and so aggression isn't a problem. As far as how many I would go with 8-10g per fish for reds. Caribe I'm not sure but I think you might get away with 15-20g per fish. Ternetzis and Pirayas are more than 20g per fish. They are very unpredictable. Ask anyone on the board and they will all tell you everything was ok then one morning the whole tank was dead. But since these tend to be a higher price fish and you probably want a big school I would grow up some reds. It will help reduce the aggression too if they grew up together. Thats how I have seen the spilo guys make their spilos co-exist. Any questions just ask.

One more thing try and keep the tank bare but do have some decorations. Like I said we don't want them to establish territory.

SMTT


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

i do the opposite. i keep a lot of decorations in the tank. it gives them hiding spots. i have 3 pieces of driftwood and some plants in with the medium sized pygos. my large ones tank is pretty bare though.
wes


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## Show_Me_The_Teeth (Dec 4, 2002)

This is exactly why I love different boards and with intelligent members. We all have different experiences and different outcomes. Thanks for sharing WES!!!

SMTT


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

Yeah I agree with Wes, I think decorations in the tank make it better for the fish and the owners. You can see the decorations in the tank in the video. There are a lot of places for the piranha to go and hide if they dont feel like being social. To me, putting the fish in a tank with no decorations would be like putting them too much on "display" and not giving them a chance to lead a semi-normal existence.


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2003)

i was thinking about that and was going to ask it be4 i read the responses. I was thinking only a piece of driftwood and 1 or 2 plants. My big tank went from a 280g to a 180g







but thats better then my 55g. How does 9 cariba and 3 ternetzi sound in a 180g?


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

12 fish sounds great. good luck.
wes


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2003)

thanks, order the tank tonight, getting the 180g. What would you put in it if it was your tank? I really want george or some1 to get those 2inch cariba in again or those 1.5inch ternetzi in


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

i like buying the fish when they get bigger than that. i seen ternetzis that were brought in at 1"-2" and they grew to 8". they were not very nice. my one i brought in at 8" was way better and thicker. id get at least all 3 wild caught pygos. just not reds.

wes


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## WebHostExpert (Jan 16, 2003)

I have herd alot about keeping to many red's in a tank. I have always abided by this unknown rule. But now I have 41 red's 39 6" and 2 adults that I put in when they where done breeding. the adults are about 10"s they are much bigger then the rest. they all live together, they do fight once in awhile. they are in a 240g with decor. live amazon swords and fake wood. I change the water enough there is not a water quality isue. I was against doing this setup. But now im not. they are very mean and are getting meaner. The way they eat is unlike any other p ive seen. I will get some video on here sooner or later. I have a couple of pics on my web site. not many though. 
later
www.wideopenwest.com/~solow99


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

I would not want to be one of those little fishies in the middle of that crew!!!


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

i have a 180gal with 15 reds. most of them are 5"-6" i have 1 7" with one eye . and a 10".
im selling the 5"-6" for larger p's.


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## tommo (Jan 16, 2003)

i keep 4 6"reds in a 60g tank with decor and they seem happy enough so far


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