# 5 red bellies for a 55 gallon?



## FeederFish33 (Jan 22, 2003)

Can 5 red bellies live in a 55 gallon, or is that too much?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

You will be fine if they are 6" and under, but in my opinion, once they begin to get larger they look out of place in a small tank. You would be better with a 75 gallon, still tight when they get bigger, but the additional width will help them get away from aggression and give them more room to relax.


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

I am with Grosse, a lot of people say it is 20g a fish regardless but I dont subscribe to that theory. You should be fine with that amount of fish in there until 6 inches or so. It will be fine for the first 6-8 months you have your fish (possibly a year).


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Xenon said:


> I am with Grosse, a lot of people say it is 20g a fish regardless but I dont subscribe to that theory. You should be fine with that amount of fish in there until 6 inches or so. It will be fine for the first 6-8 months you have your fish (possibly a year).


So true. There's alot of gray areas in that theory especially with piranhas considering they are not a schooling fish in the true sense. They need room to get away from each other.


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## RAZORTEETH (Feb 6, 2003)

new to the piranha scene and i have a question what kind of scavenger fish can be used to keep the bottom of the tank clean without being eaten?


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## FeederFish33 (Jan 22, 2003)

none. ps will eat anything. ur best bet is a crayfish because they are inexpensive and do a good job cleaning up. However, make sure it is not too big because it will eat ps. I lost one p, and had I not been there to save it, I would have lost another. Both to a big red crayfish.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Dont get a regular crayfish, get a red lobster, they are tougher. Regular crayfish get eaten in my tank. Also, I have had great success with a pleco for eating algea and other scraps.


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## MPower (Jan 29, 2003)

Plecos are sucessful with p's. Get one that are larger than you ps. Everything is a waste of money.


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## JEARBEAR (Jan 30, 2003)

It all depends on the size of the reds, if there small babies you can keep them in there awhile but if they are big like 5-6 inches and up you mite have some costly problems


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

best thing to do about the 5 in a 55 is to let them grow up in there until the point when you will know you will need a bigger tank soon...but maybe you will get lucky and have no problems... if you want your piranhas to be less aggresive you can try getting them on cooked benas and peas for food. This is said to lower aggresion levels amongst them... If this is an alternative to you


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

RAZORTEETH said:


> new to the piranha scene and i have a question what kind of scavenger fish can be used to keep the bottom of the tank clean without being eaten?


I have two pleco's with my reds for 9 months, and they're fine (they earned their place in the tank through a number of fin nips  ). Besides that, I keep 4 spotted and 2 striped talking catfish, which are perfectly safe, because they're nocturnal, and hide as long as the p's are active.
These fish together are a clean-up dreamteam!


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

Yes a common pleco should do just fine...works for me and other tanks i have seen


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

SnowCichlid said:


> Yes a common pleco should do just fine...works for me and other tanks i have seen


Agreed. I've also had success with pecos in pygo tanks.


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## ezlife (Jan 25, 2003)

Right now I have a 55 with (5) baby RB (1) oscar (3) crabs (20) snails.

yes it will work if your RB are babies, but once they get big you will need a bigger tank or give a couple away. So in a way, yes and no.

Crabs are ok, sometimes crayfish are too agressive i heard so i went with crabs. they hold there ground ok and can hide in the rock holes at night.


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

hey ezlife...those crabs wount last forever...wait till the P's get a little bigger... they will become crab sandwitches...


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## Natural.Playboy (Jan 22, 2003)

my crayfish always try to eat my p's but they are too slow and sluggish to get them


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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

Natural.Playboy said:


> my crayfish always try to eat my p's but they are too slow and sluggish to get them


yeah but wait till your P's get bigger and/or really hungry


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