# Lost Another Piraya



## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

Well 2nd piraya dead in past couple weeks wtf ..... Anyone know what's causing the aggression ? I feed them really well Friday whole tilipia , then I was away sat and Sunday , came home last night feed them lots of pellets , so around 5am I'm up doing some studying for my team I coach then I hear a bunch of splashing so I run to the tank flick the light on and they are all having a late night snack , after a few seconds I realized he was a doner so I figured I'd film the rest for them members here at least who care to see Btw this was the largest piranha in my shoal Check out this video on YouTube:


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

man, sorry for the loss, again...it really sux.
maybe it was weak/sick/old? and they decided it doesn't fit in the pack anymore??


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Sorry to hear about this Mackey.
When did you add those new plants and decor in the tank? Might be causing them to set up territories, just a guess but that might be the problem

I would also drop the temp a couple degrees


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## Domelotta (Apr 25, 2007)

I think decor of any sort brings aggression (plants, driftwood, etc.). My schoal set up their own territories accordingly and I lost 2 because of it so far. As they get more accustomed to their tank and their tankmates there seems to be more fighting in territories. The only thing I did to fix it a little was move around some plants and drop the temp. It has worked so far. No more fatalities.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

I agree a lower temp´+ no deco might help... anyway Piraya is known to do that every now and then...


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Being hungry has nothing to do with what happened. I fed my caribe, and a few days later one was dead. I went two weeks with out a feeding before and no deaths.

I do have driftwood and plants in my tank and it seems as if they are constantly fighting over territory. One will chase the others out of the area it hangs out, etc. Just FYI.

I really dont think there is anything you can do, it just happens which is the worst thing about keeping pygos.


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2011)

Sorry to hear about you loosing another fish.
Just drop your temperature a bit, other then that there's nothing you can really do. The decor no decor thing has no actual effect IMO as people including myself still loose fish due to aggression with or without it.


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

Sorry for your loss dmack, i would also do a lower temp


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

...Sorry about your loss Mackey...I don't think lowering the temperature will do any good..With any big pygo shoal, casualties are to expected...Especially when they establish territories and boundaries...More often than not, this is the rule, not the exception..It's just the nature of the beast...Happens in the wild all the time...Personally, this is one of the main reasons why I prefer a solo rhom over a pygo shoal..


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

I added the plants Thursday last week so probably that's what did it feefa I was thinking that to I just thought if I keep them well fed the first few weeks it would help dammm I was dead wrong......


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

Yea I know it's the nature of them , but I do think it can some- what be avoided or certain things can be done to avoid losing so many , just weird cause I've had them over a year now all of a sudden I'm losing th back to back , could it be with me having the lights off 4 days straight ? What temp you guys suggest ?


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

75-76? I think it's kind of hard with mix shoal. Ternetzi and Piraya (according opefe the water temperature of rio Sao Francisco is 21-24°C which is 70-75°F, not sure why in the care sheet the temperature is much higher) are from cooler water than cariba and reds so even at lower temperature they will still be more aggressive than cariba and reds.
I have a friend with 19 pygos (few piraya and most are cariba and one red) in a 300g and eventually it went down to just 3 large piraya in his 300g, his tank temperature went to high 80's in the summer time which is when most of the killing took place and the piraya went crazy on the caribas.


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

Yeah but surprising that the Piraya died instead of the smaller P's... What size was he in comparison to the others?


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

Yea I have 2 very aggressive in the shoal 1 tern and 1 piraya they are always chasing and biting I see them two do it all the time , even people who don't know anything about fish when they see my tank they even notice it 1st time seeing them. Maybe get rid of the two of them ????? Gonna be hard to do it but I'm actually thinking of it.... Especially the tern well nevermind the orange piraya is just as worse. Im sure I mentioned this before 9months ago but the aggressive term I have use to be alot lighter then all of sudden he is very a dark same with the piraya if anyone can notice in re video clip I have a orange piraya that's dark and a dark piraya they weren't like that from the beginning , so does that mean anything ?I assume they use their colors to show different moods , health , etc ... Does anyone know more on this ?


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

If you have it narrowed down to the two problems would consider getting rid of them. It sucks and threes always going to be one problem child but your probably going to be better off just replacing those two fish...replace them and stop the casualities


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## bomber (Jan 18, 2010)

Overstocked and them being animals. Sorry for your loss.


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

way overstocked, plus piraya are known to kill everything in there tank till they are solo if they don't have the space. opefe states 125 gallon minimum for a single piraya and also say keeping multiple piraya is sketchy in one aquarium. Having the lights on probably effected them because they do "sleep" at night and most of the aggresion happens during the daytime. Sorry for the loss but i would cut down the shoal significantly and turn the tank temp down to low 70's and keep feeding till they swell up its usualy not a good sign when they only leave the head. From my experience the bigger the pygos the more they killed with a few chunks or one big bite never finishing to the head that seems like a red flag as to them being hungry. Juvies on the other hand would eat each other till they exploded


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

maknwar said:


> Being hungry has nothing to do with what happened. I fed my caribe, and a few days later one was dead. I went two weeks with out a feeding before and no deaths.
> 
> I do have driftwood and plants in my tank and it seems as if they are constantly fighting over territory. One will chase the others out of the area it hangs out, etc. Just FYI.
> 
> I really dont think there is anything you can do, it just happens which is the worst thing about keeping pygos.


i agree with this, about hunger not being the cause. i have gone 6 weeks before with little to no food, with my cariba, and they were fine. it was when i was trying to simulate the dry season for breeding. i did try 3 times with my group, so, i don't think hunger plays a role.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Yeah...the hunger theory is just goofy imo. This kind of thing happens over territorial disputes that go wrong. I also believe understocking creates more problems then overstocking....


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Damn D that sucks but the tank does look good. Sorry for the loss

Damn D that sucks but the tank does look good. Sorry for the loss


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