# New Tank and P owner



## newusertoP (May 19, 2005)

Hello everybody, 
This is my first post, so hopefully someone will help me out. 
I got myself a 60 gallon acrylic tank with 9 Red-Belly Piranha's. After 4 months, 7 are left. 
This is the first time I've ever had a fish tank and had a buddy of mine helped me out along the way. I have a couple concerns...
1. My tank is is getting brown algae real bad. I will wipe it down, and 1-2 days later its back. 
2. 2 of my P's have already been eaten by the others. Am I starving them too much?
3. Where can I get some black piranhas?

I feed my fish small golfish at times and beefheart. Sometimes I'll even feed them rare steak. What other options do I have of feeding them? They are still pretty small, but the biggest one is double the size of the smallest one. Most of them have grown quite a bit since I got them, but the smallest fish doesn't seem like it's growing. 
To be honest, I think i'm starving them to death in which they have to kill eachother for food. It can go up to 2 weeks without feeding. 
If the piranhas are still in their youth, should i be feeding them more than i would if they were adults? What do you guys usually feed this type of fish and how often? I want them to be heathly adults.
Thanks for all your input guys, hopefully this forum is the shiznit..


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## phil me in (Jun 6, 2004)

the rule for piranhas is 20 gallons per fish so that mean u should only have 3-4 in that 60 gallon...if they are babies you should feed them 1-2 times a day and there diet should consist of white fish like smelt, tilapia, catfish or shrimp.... beef heart is ok for them once in a while (i wouldnt recomend using feeders in there diet because they carry diseases)....make sure u clean ur tank atleast once a week with a 25-30 percent water change and you should be fine


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## fung88 (Feb 3, 2005)

I don't reccomend feedin Goldfish that much!! Go with Shrimp, fish fillet and try pellets. Way healthier diet! Beefheart is not very good for them in the long run either it's a treat that you should be feedin once a week or so!


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## flyboy (May 11, 2004)

I have never kept P's, But as with any other fish, juvies need more food. Going two weeks without food isnt good, and will lead to a few P's getting all the food when it comes. Try to get them on dead fish like smelt. Goldfish are not nutritious at all and can carry diseases and parasites. I would feed them everyday if gotten on prepared or "dead" foods, because they are young. It seems as if they will readily take dead since you have them on steak and such. Give them shrimp too. Any meat given needs to be lean and not oily. Rhoms are solitary P's and will most likely kill all of the reds.


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## waspride (Jun 13, 2004)

Firstly, welcome to the site.

Secondly, for a 60g tank I would have no more then 4 RBPs. Most people will say 3, but you could get away with 4 for a while.

Thirdly, you have to feed these guys at least once a day if not more in their youth. Im not surprized some have been killed.

Thirdly, don't feed your fish steak. Even try to get away from feeders. Beefheart, shrimp, white fish fillets, some members even feed their Ps pellets.


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## spec-v (Feb 27, 2005)

welcome first off, your tank is a little small for 7 fish I would either get rid of 4 of them or upgrade to a larger tank. Your algea problem could be due to several factors, if your tank is getting to much nutrients or to much light. also goldfish and red meat are bad. try rather to use catfish and tiliapia fish flays that you can buy in your local grocery store. Your fish should be fed daily when in the 1-5 inch range then everyother day once they hit 8-10 inches also I would add some decor to the tank to create spaces for your fish to get out of each others way territores if you will. check out the information on this board for more help or if you like PM me and I will be willing to help more good luck and welcome to P-Fury. P.S there are alot of people on this board who are very helpful judazz, grosse gurke Mr. freeze, eltwitcho and of course Xenon they really know there stuff they should be more then helpful


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

well everyone has answerd ur q's cept the "black piranhas", so i will cover that. generally "black piranhas" are serrasalmus rhombeus, sometimes are various other species like s. sanchezi. all of which are solitary piranhas needing to be alone.i personally would recommend u get rid of the reds and get a rhom, cuz they will most likly be more aggressive(i.e. figer chasing) and u dont have to worry about murder in the tank. good luck, and happy fish keeping, welcome to the fury


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## phil me in (Jun 6, 2004)

Tibs said:


> well everyone has answerd ur q's cept the "black piranhas", so i will cover that. generally "black piranhas" are serrasalmus rhombeus, sometimes are various other species like s. sanchezi. all of which are solitary piranhas needing to be alone.i personally would recommend u get rid of the reds and get a rhom, cuz they will most likly be more aggressive(i.e. figer chasing) and u dont have to worry about murder in the tank. good luck, and happy fish keeping, welcome to the fury
> 
> 
> 
> ...


u didnt answer were to get them though....you can check out www.sharkaquarium.com or www.aquascapeonline.com, you can also ask your local fish store to order them for you


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

phil me in said:


> Tibs said:
> 
> 
> > well everyone has answerd ur q's cept the "black piranhas", so i will cover that. generally "black piranhas" are serrasalmus rhombeus, sometimes are various other species like s. sanchezi. all of which are solitary piranhas needing to be alone.i personally would recommend u get rid of the reds and get a rhom, cuz they will most likly be more aggressive(i.e. figer chasing) and u dont have to worry about murder in the tank. good luck, and happy fish keeping, welcome to the fury
> ...


o yeah i forgot to do that lol


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## CTREDBELLY (Apr 8, 2005)

u can keep that many reds in your 60gal only till the END of this summer START of fall i currently have 9 reds in a 55 all ranging from 2.5-4.5" in the 4 months i had them only ONE was killed by tankmates and thats cause i starved them for 3 days in hopes of makign a WICKED video for my fellow furians (the sh*t i do for all these bastards)









i fed my reds 2-3 times a day a diet that consisted 90-95% of WHITE meat fish, Shrimp, smelt, talipa, catfish. Also fed them Brineshrimp and beefheart as well as krill for good coloration.

"Black Piranhas" as already said is also called a Rohm and yes they are a solitary species that will NOT tollerate anything else in their tank and must be kept alone. if a second LARGER tank for your red bellys is not an option at the time then my advice is kepe them for now till they get to big trade them into you LFS for store credit and get a larger rohm if yo so desire.

welcome to P-Fury and please done be afraid to ask any questions we are all more than happy to help

PS. attached is a pic of my 55gal with my 9 reds so u can see that it can be done for a SHORT while


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

shark aquarium go here for a rhom


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## dptrackstardp (Dec 28, 2004)

:welcome:


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## WildRed (May 19, 2005)

Hi I'm new to the forum also...About the algae I find that when I get algae if I leave the light on for only a short time everyday the algae vanishes rather quickly


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## MOHO456 (May 3, 2005)

also plecos really clean up the brown algae, but they are poop factories....


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## newusertoP (May 19, 2005)

Thanks for all your help guys, glad to know this was the place to go. 
About the Rhom's, i've checked out a couple member's profiles and I've seen some tanks with 5-8 black piranha's. How is this possible when you suggest only 1? 
Also, will any website sell me Rhom's in california? Or does anyone know a shop that can sell me some? I'm in the Los Angeles area. Thanks again.


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

WELCOME TO P - FURY PEEPS


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## tweekie (Nov 3, 2004)

is that a rhom in the tank to the right of your RBP tank?


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## furious piranha (Mar 22, 2005)

in his sig it says its a brandti


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## Mack (Oct 31, 2004)

"About the Rhom's, i've checked out a couple member's profiles and I've seen some tanks with 5-8 black piranha's. How is this possible when you suggest only 1? "

I doubt it. Even if they did, I'm sure it didn't last very long.

They red-bellied piranha's scientific name is Pygocentrus nattereri. There are 2 other piranhas in the Pygocentrus genus. All of the Pygocentrus species can mixed with fairly high success rates as long as enough tank space is given.

The "black piranha" is Serrasalmus rhombeus. There are many piranhas in the Serrasalmus genus, however, you cannot put more than 1 of them in a tank as they will aggressively fin-nip and attack until eventually the tankmates are killed.

Don't feed your piranhas goldfish. It will stunt their growth and you also face the high risk of introducing diseases to your tank. Shrimp and krill are two awesome foods for red-bellies that will really bring out their color.

You should also get rid of some of them or get a bigger tank. 3 would be OK for a long time in a 60 gallon. If you decide to get a bigger tank, keep in mind that length and width are more important to piranhas than height. A general rule on here is 20 gallons per fish, but that is not always true. For 7 red-bellies I would recommend a 150 gallon tank for life.


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

WildRed said:


> Hi I'm new to the forum also...About the algae I find that when I get algae if I leave the light on for only a short time everyday the algae vanishes rather quickly
> [snapback]1031861[/snapback]​


Also, if you have live plants in your tank they will comsume a lot of your nitrates in the tank and that means there would be no food for the algae, so it would die and wouldn't grow back.








~Taylor~


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## jasert39 (May 1, 2003)

no one here as a bunch of rhoms in one tank...i dont think anyway. Many people just list the piranhas that they own and have many tanks to keep different serra's in. Welcome to the site...just to warn you, you will become addicted. And learn alot of good info from the members of pfury.


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## newusertoP (May 19, 2005)

Thanks again for your info. I guess the picture I saw were a different kind of piranah. 
As for the food; shrimp, krill, catfish filet etc....where should i go to get these items and how should i prepare it for the fish?


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## Scrappy (Oct 21, 2004)

You can get most of the filets and shrimp at your grocery store. For krill, mealworms, earthworms, etc... you'll need to go to your local fish store. (LFS)

Just cut the filets into the portion you plan on feeding them, put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. When it's feeding time put the frozen portion in a small cup of tankwater and when it's thawed, toss it in.

You can also put the portions of food into icecube trays, fill with water and freeze. It will keep alot longer in the freezer that way.

btw, I'd keep the reds and learn from them. If you get a Rhom you can only screw-up once and your tank will be empty. With those reds, some might survive if you mess something up.

Good luck and welcome.


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## TormenT (Apr 1, 2004)

when i read this i thought it was gonna be a burn fest. Good to see we are helping more than roasting.

gl with ur fish and get rid of a few of those big boys


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## newusertoP (May 19, 2005)

I know that many of you disagree with me having 7 fish in this tank, but would you guys really want me to just throw them away? 
None of my other friends no longer have fish tanks so giving them away wouldn't be an option. If i just kept them in here, what can go wrong????


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

They will just eat each other and constantly pick on each other to the point that they look like sewer rats if they don't actually kill each other. With that many fish in that tank each fish will be deprived of it's space making it unhappy and unhealthy. Just get rid of some somehow. I'm sure that the fishstore would buy them back to re-sell. If you go less fish, each one will be happy, healthy, and will look good.
~Taylor~


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## newusertoP (May 19, 2005)

About the picture I saw, you can find it here...
http://tinypic.com/5b4lzl

What kind of piranhas are these?


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

newusertoP said:


> About the picture I saw, you can find it here...
> http://tinypic.com/5b4lzl
> 
> What kind of piranhas are these?
> [snapback]1035694[/snapback]​


Believe it or not they are Pygocentrus nattereri (red bellied piranha). They are just so dark because they are either just sexually mature or all breeding, but it's 1 of the 2. It also just comes with age.
~Taylor~


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## Mack (Oct 31, 2004)

Yeah, red-bellies when breeding or stressed (???or in dark tanks???) can turn almost black.


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## Scrappy (Oct 21, 2004)

7 reds is pushing it, but it's not unheard of. With the tank that overstocked you have to stay on top of waterchanges and have a ton of filtration.

But honestly, I wouldn't get rid of any. Chances are you'll have 2 or so die for whatever reason, then you should be ok as far as stocking.

The main thing you'll have to watch out for is when one of your p's dies (and isn't eaten) he can foul the water pretty fast. So all it takes is for a fish to die while you're gone for a day or two and all the rest will be dead.


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