Piranha and a buddy????

cheyenna · Feb 23, 2007

My son (11) wants a Piranha for his birthday. We set up a 55 gallon tank in his room and are going to get a fish this weekend.
What will be a good tank mate for a piranha??? We do not want alot of fish in there just one to give him company. Will another Piranha be a good choice.
Should I get a rather small one so it will adjust better to it's tank mates????

Thanks.....

Also, will it eat a sucker fish????:help:

liv2padl · Feb 23, 2007

the best fish to keep with piranha are ... other piranha. this is a schooling species which does best in groups of 5 or more. such a group needs 'swimming' room and unfortunately, a 55 gallon tank simply isn't large enough.

Squawkbert · Feb 23, 2007

I hate to disagree here, but it depends. Lots of people who start out w/ multiple P's end up w/ just one big one.

If you want multiples, stick to a less aggressive variety. In any case, try for a species that doesn't get too big (some will grow to >12"!).

I would expect most P species to pretty much ignore most Plecos & raphael cats (again, stick to smaller types, common Plecos will also outgrow a 55).

phaedraeos · Feb 23, 2007

I have seen all sorts of fish torn up by pirhanas including plecos and oscars. I do not suggest keeping any other species with them.

jamie1972 · Feb 23, 2007

Will he be responsible for the fish? Or will you be taking care of them? Has he had fish in his room before?

My son would like to have a great white shark in the pool out back....but he's not getting one. lol

jm1212 · Feb 23, 2007

do you really want to start out with pirhana? there are so many things that could go wrong

when i was in 7th grade, my science teacher had a tank with pirhana in it, and i dont even know how many kids joked around about putting their hands in the tank etc., and these kids were a year or two older than your son is now.

Squawkbert · Feb 23, 2007

There was a single 8" RB Pirhana in a 29 in the house when I was a tot. He jumped out during a semi-annual PWC. My dad picked him up by the tail.

OOPS! Fish turned up and took a nice bite out of the large pad of his thumb.

"Gus" was a cool fish, but I've never been interested in keeping Pirhana.

Other species exhibit far more aggression w/o the potential for needing stitches.

sirasoni · Feb 24, 2007

if your son insists on a p, get him one of the smaller serra. species. they are solitary fish anyways, so you don't need to worry about it feeling "lonely" or something.

legendaryfrog · Feb 24, 2007

jm1212 said:
when i was in 7th grade, my science teacher had a tank with pirhana in it, and i dont even know how many kids joked around about putting their hands in the tank etc., and these kids were a year or two older than your son is now.

Same here, except in HIGH SCHOOL.

Go to your son and say - Listen here son, me and your mother dont think you can handle having such a violent creature in your room. Maybe its best that we.........move it downstairs and fill it with less dangerous fish.

DebbyS · Feb 24, 2007

Aren't tetras at least distantly related to piranhas? Maybe your son could do some research and find out what kind of piranha is actually good for the set up. If he's part of the planning, he may be even more apt to do the upkeep


zoomed.com	hikariusa.com		aqaimports.com	Store

Search

Search

Piranha and a buddy????

cheyenna

Registered Member

liv2padl

cichlidophile

Squawkbert

Senior padder

phaedraeos

AC Members

jamie1972

AC Members

jm1212

Pterophyllum scalare

Squawkbert

Senior padder

sirasoni

AC Members

legendaryfrog

Tactical Refreshment Action

DebbyS

AC Members