# Life expectancy and memory span



## WarMachine (Apr 25, 2004)

I tried finding this info on the net, but had no luck.

Does anyone have a realistic life expectancy of any Piranha living in captivity?

I also couldn't find any info on their memory span. I was told by a couple of LFS here that feeders have a memory span of 3seconds...but my piranhas obviously recognize familiar people, so does anyone have an idea of their memory?


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## Runningmad (Aug 13, 2003)

i've read posts that p's in captivity can live upwards of 30 years. as far as memory span, i don't believe its much, i mean few seconds at most.


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## Niche (Mar 9, 2004)

i believe goldfish may have a few second memory but fish such as piranhas and cichlids are alot "smarter". Most of the cichlids i have owed knew that i was the one that fed them. most people here will say there piranhas will recognize them


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## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

I have had one of my rhoms for ten years now.


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## WarMachine (Apr 25, 2004)

My one RBP recognizes me and my girlfriend since we feed him and spend time with him, but whenever someone else enters the room, he hides and doesn't come out until they're gone, they must have something going on in their brain.


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## NTcaribe (Apr 8, 2004)

my piranhas recognize their routine they always eat at about 3:30pm and always eat in a certain spot of the tank


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## Enriqo_Suavez (Mar 31, 2004)

I don't know about piranhas memory, but when I put 2 dozen feeders in the tank, at first they all swim all over it. When I come back an hour later, the ones that are left are all sitting on the opposite side of the tank from my spilo, so I guess they learned to stay away from him


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## chiefkyle (May 3, 2004)

If anyone here watches "Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel (http://dsc.discovery.com/schedule/series.jsp?series=24344&gid=11489) then you might have seen the episode were the Mythbusters test the memory of Goldfish. (Myth was goldfish memory is only a few seconds)

Their conclusion was that fish have a memory far longer than a few seconds. The test was in 50 gallon tanks with dividers that had a single hole for the fish to get through each divider till finaly reaching food on the other end of the tank.

Day 1: Fish took an hour or longer to navigate the holes.
Day 3: Fish took only 45 seconds to reach the food.

Conclusion: Fish can remeber for more than a few seconds.

Routine seems to be the key.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Most popular P species (P. Nattereri, Cariba & Piraya/ S. Rhombeus) are suppose to live over 30 years...sadly sometimes they live for a shorter period (less than 20 years)...IMO it depends on care and Ps genes...







!


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