# 20 Gallon tank...is it possible?



## rance_geodes (Feb 15, 2008)

Hi i am a newbie to the board and piranhas and i will apologize in advance because this question may have been asked before (i search roughly 50 pages to see).

What i want to know is...I have a 20 gallon tank(i dont intend on going bigger)

can i have 1 or 2 of these red bellies?


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## skubasteve! (Feb 14, 2007)

If you dont plan on going bigger, than the answer is no. You could house a few babies in there for a few months (if that) but they would eventually need a larger tank. I would suggest 3 (maximum) for a 75g. Thats the smallest tank I would use for reds.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

You can have no species of piranha in there if you don't intend to upgrade...baby red bellies will outgrow that tank in a matter of months.


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## rance_geodes (Feb 15, 2008)

skubasteve! said:


> If you dont plan on going bigger, than the answer is no. You could house a few babies in there for a few months (if that) but they would eventually need a larger tank. I would suggest 3 (maximum) for a 75g. Thats the smallest tank I would use for reds.


any other type of pirahna suitible for my conditions


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Rance_geodes said:


> any other type of pirahna suitible for my conditions


No...all species will require an upgrade. The smallest tank I would recommend for life for any species of piranha would be a 40g breeder, and that would be for one fish.


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## sick fish man (Mar 21, 2006)

Ive got an S. Irritans in a 29 gallon tank and he's doing just fine, in fact he only stays in the upper left corner of the tank. So he uses like 1 gallon of space. BTW he is the smallest piranha species, so if you just get a standard 29 gallon i think you could do it. Many members would disagree with me though, so its up to you.


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## MiGsTeR (Jan 19, 2008)

Maybe a few Exodons?


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

^^^ I agree, maybe you could house some exodons in there?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

sick fish man said:


> Ive got an S. Irritans in a 29 gallon tank and he's doing just fine, in fact he only stays in the upper left corner of the tank. So he uses like 1 gallon of space. BTW he is the smallest piranha species, so if you just get a standard 29 gallon i think you could do it. Many members would disagree with me though, so its up to you.


How much physical space a fish takes up while inactive has nothing to do with the space required...with that logic you could cram a 15" rhom in a 20gal tank. A 29g would be fine to grow out a sanchezi or irritans with proper filtration and water changes, but if you want a healthy fish you will need to updrade to at least a 40g breeder for life.


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## Puddjuice (Mar 11, 2004)

If you can go up to 30 gallons I suggest a sanchezi.


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