# Buying A 5 Inch Red



## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

So I found em! Finally, a lfs has red bellies for sale that arent smaller then a pin head!!

It's been so long since I've owned a red I need a refresher before I get him tomorrow. 
As stated in the subject he's about 5 inches, very healthy looking. I only have space for a solo red (55gallons) so he will be alone. I need advice all over again. Atmosphere, lighting, plants, decoration, etc etc. And of course the best diets. I have a small stock of krill and beef heart already. 
Alright, advice would be wonderful. Im excited to get my first piranha again in YEARS!


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

At five inches I was feeding raw shrimp soaked in zoe or vitachem, or tilapia fillets that I cut up. The krill is fine but I'd be careful they don't get caught somewhere and start to pollute the tank, and the beef heart should be a treat only, not a staple. Personally, I would leave the krill for your cichlids and just go with the shrimp (the fish gets kinda messy when the rip into it). As for the lighting and deco stuff, that's up to you. Your lighting will depend on the plants you have and deco is all personal preference. I would plant the tank and give him a couple of hides, but nothing he can completely disappear behind otherwise you'll never see him. They aren't thrilled in bright light situations so you might want to consider getting dimmed lights or putting peat in to tint the water a little. Any other questions, let us know man!










On another note, did you cycle your tank yet? or have media from another filter?


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## Sanjo Eel (Aug 21, 2008)

Good for you Central! If I were setting up a new red tank, I would go with reddish or black gravel(I like the dark look on red bellies), live plants like water onion, and for lighting I have found that THEY prefer aqua-glo bulbs. I'll have to check on the spectrum but there is definitely some spectrums of light they do not like at all.


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## Dolphinswin (Jun 26, 2010)

You can have more than 1 red.... I would say you could have atleast 3 if not 4.


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Dolphinswin said:


> You can have more than 1 red.... I would say you could have atleast 3 if not 4.


Would not recommend this if the fish your getting is already 5 inches. You will have to upgrade very soon (with in a year or so) to a larger tank. Even with the one fish you have he will outgrown that tank very soon, I would suggest a 40B or 75 to house for life but thats me.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

Why not look into going low tech planted?
Get a couple low light plants like annubias and java fern, a nice sand or black sand substrate and some good pieces of drift wood.

I feed my guys seafood mix which I prepare myself from fresh whitefish, Tiger prawn, king prawns, squid and muscles. I just buy a large portion of each, cut them up into smaller pieces, mix them all then soak them in seachem nourish and tetra vital. After they've sat out soaking for about an hour or two and I can see they've soaked up the liquids, drain them, shake them and pack with crushed ice (it helps to keep them separated) into a plastic container. After I've done this I go and shake the container every other hour just to make sure everything freezes separated and not in large chunks. Works for me, and my P's love the constant mixture of foods. I also use TetraBits Complete, it's a sinking discus pellet and they love the stuff as a treat.


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## Dolphinswin (Jun 26, 2010)

TheSpaz13 said:


> You can have more than 1 red.... I would say you could have atleast 3 if not 4.


Would not recommend this if the fish your getting is already 5 inches. You will have to upgrade very soon (with in a year or so) to a larger tank. Even with the one fish you have he will outgrown that tank very soon, I would suggest a 40B or 75 to house for life but thats me.
[/quote]
an 8" red is fine living in a 55gal... He wont outgrow it for a long while... People add in piranhas all the time that are already big...


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Dolphinswin said:


> You can have more than 1 red.... I would say you could have atleast 3 if not 4.


Would not recommend this if the fish your getting is already 5 inches. You will have to upgrade very soon (with in a year or so) to a larger tank. Even with the one fish you have he will outgrown that tank very soon, I would suggest a 40B or 75 to house for life but thats me.
[/quote]
an 8" red is fine living in a 55gal... He wont outgrow it for a long while... People add in piranhas all the time that are already big...
[/quote]

4 8 inch reds is way overstocked for a 55gal. A solo is completely different from a shoal, and I'm talking housing for life. Why do we have to go through this every time someone gets reds?


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

^Because some people are dumb?


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Awesome advice!

To answer the above, yes the tank has been up and running for a few months actually. Black gravel only. I've had a jack dempsey pair in the tank but I moved them out last night. I just did the water change and took a look and the water parameters are just right.

And as far as adding more P's, I may have been absent from the nattereri for awhile, but I do still remember that although the size isnt enormous, more then one piranha demands MUCH more space. A solo red I believe will do fine in a 55 for quite some time. Yes I would like to add some depth to the tank in time, but adding 2 or more in a 55 to me is out of the question.

So after reading everything so far I believe I'm going with a bog wood/planted set up. I'm going to set it up with a heavily planted side and open water side. I'll of course add pics for you guys tomorrow or both the piranha and the tank









GREAT food ideas too! Thanks buds!


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Well the problem of the 55 isn't the volume of the tank so much as it is the dimensions of it. The limitation of only being a foot from front to back means the fish is pretty much stretching the difference, you'll see what I mean when he gets to about 8 inches. I currently have 3 in a 55 and they are between 6-8inches but I'm going to get a 75gal set up this weekend or next.

Make sure your set up for the plants, you have some flourish, the right spectrum bulb and maybe even some root tabs. Ideally, you'll want some type of substrate like eco-complete or something that will help with root development. Ba20's the man to talk to about most things plants so maybe shoot him a pm if you need advice, but I know a bunch of people have planted tanks.

In my setup I had a piece of driftwood on one side and the opposite side was planted but I left the middle open. It worked out well because I would drop their food in the middle of the tank and they all came flyin out to eat. It also broke up the tank pretty good so they all had their own territory.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Well an update...a bit anticlimactic but I decided to be a good hobbyist and wait until I have a large set up.

Im looking into a 75 gallon so I can have 3-4 reds together. After re-reading all about them and tapping into what I remember from them in the past I remember they are much more natural in a shoal then on their own. So although every ounce of me wants even one, I am holding off until I absolutely have a great tank for the species. 
None the less I thank you all for the info, and hopfully someone with a solo red or looking into one will find this thread useful.


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Why not get a sanchezi...they should stay solo and don't get as large as RBP. They grow so slow from what i've read even one at 4" could last a long while in a 55g set-up. And in my opinion they look way better then RBP.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Ive never seen a sanchezi for sale around here. Nattereri and Rhombeus (rarely) is all I ever found.


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

Buy one online from one of the sponsors, they had a flat shipping rate before, not sure if its still going on.


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2011)

Good choice on deciding to go with a shoal


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Much better choice. The sanchezi will fit in a 55 100x better then a red and you'll definitely be happier with more then one RBP. But I'm going to offer a different solution here...why not use the 55 to grow out a small shoal. If you get like 4 reds at 3-4 inches, you can keep them in there for a little and move them to a 75 later. IDK, that's what I would do, but for me half the fun is watching the fish grow over time.


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

spaz you read my mind. Ive been sitting here staring at the tank all night deciding on what to do. And thats what I decided. 
It's this simple. It's been sooooo long since I had piranha and I remember the joy of watching these guys day to day. Cichlids are my passion, but piranha...they are in a field all their own. I almost NEED to get back into them. 
So without further delay thats my plan. I figure a small shoal of jevenilles will last several months in the 55...plenty of time to get a nice setup in order


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

Central said:


> spaz you read my mind. Ive been sitting here staring at the tank all night deciding on what to do. And thats what I decided.
> It's this simple. It's been sooooo long since I had piranha and I remember the joy of watching these guys day to day. Cichlids are my passion, but piranha...they are in a field all their own. I almost NEED to get back into them.
> So without further delay thats my plan. I figure a small shoal of jevenilles will last several months in the 55...plenty of time to get a nice setup in order


Good Luck with your shoal Central!


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Central said:


> spaz you read my mind. Ive been sitting here staring at the tank all night deciding on what to do. And thats what I decided.
> It's this simple. It's been sooooo long since I had piranha and I remember the joy of watching these guys day to day. Cichlids are my passion, but piranha...they are in a field all their own. I almost NEED to get back into them.
> So without further delay thats my plan. I figure a small shoal of jevenilles will last several months in the 55...plenty of time to get a nice setup in order


See, I am good for something...lol. Get like 5-6 3inchers and you'll be set and when you go to a 75 setup you should still be good Your probably going to lose one to cannibalism between now and then and 5 would be but will work in that setup for a while. If you get them at 3 inches, you'll have well over six months to upgrade tanks. How big are you planning on getting them anyway? And bring us pics!


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

Ok, I am going a different route spaz...
I'm getting a solo red for now
I'm actually picking him up tomorrow morning down the street. It's the one I originally talked about above. Im going to start with a solo red in the 55.

Down the road (few months) I am going to invest in a 75 gallon tank and set it up with 5 reds (baby size)

I'll post pics tomorrow in here with my new red. Should be a nice and easy way to get back into piranha. fyi, he's a solid 5 inches long. Check back tomorrow for pics


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## Da' Manster! (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi Central,
Well to be honest, I agree with DW...I've had a 55 gallon tank my whole life and at different times I've had rhoms, pygos, elongs and manny's....If you do a Pygo shoal, you can definitely do three reds or three caribe in a 55...I've done it with no problems whatsoever!..







...the "width" theory is blown way out of proportion because very seldom do piranhas in the aquarium get bigger than a foot in a length, especially pygos...If you like, you can get a juvi rhom (around 3 - 4 inches) and he will be fine in there for at least several years...Once again, (you probably missed it) but I raised a black diamond rhom from dime size to 9.5 inches in a 55 gallon...It took roughly 5 years for him to acheive that...Just keep your water parameters in check, have ample filtration and do your water changes and you'll be just fine!...







...Everything else will take care of itself.


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