piranhas gars oddballs o my

[Khemul]

i have done a lot of research. i asked if they could get along i didn't ask what size tank i need.

Generally any research on piranhas would have answered that pretty easily for them (as well as pointed out that a lone piranha is not a good idea to begin with).

Not to sound mean or offensive here, but your statements/questions so far haven't really given the impression of someone who has researched a whole lot on these fish. It looks more like a list of 'cool' monster fish that don't really have much reason to be together, so without much more information from you on setup/experience you are going to continue getting a whole thread of "no, they will get too big" replies.

 

[Lupin]

it depends on tank size. Arrowana and piranha are illegal in some states, and arrowanna get huge. You going to need at least a 300 gallon for all of these as adults, and they will probobly kill each other anyways.

You need to be specific which arowana is illegal. It depends where the OP lives. If USA or Australia, then any Asian arowana is absolutely illegal. Silver arowanas are not illegal.

Common sense dictates any piranha should be kept by themselves. They are nippy fish and will nip and harass your other fish regardless of how big your tank is.

I'm not one to dictate about gars since I have absolutely no experience with them however may I suggest that you participate in MFK and ask further questions about gars and their compatibility there. Here's the gar forum.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=109

Only the oscar and silver arowana are compatible but you need at least 300g to be able to house the silver. They grow too long and need wider width to be able to turn well despite their better flexibility in comparison to Asian and Australian aros.

 

[herptileguy12]

i have 6 years experience with fish. i have spent the last 3 months doing research. i know piranhas need a shoal of 5 or more and i can do that but i wanted 1 because 1 is more tame then five and is less of a threat to the other fish. i have talked to people who have done this mixture of fish in a 150 gallon tank with good results but i wanted more opinions so i asked here. I KNOW I NEED I BIG TANK. I SIMPLY ASKED IF THEY CAN GET ALONG. thank you very much for all your reply's especially the ones that didn't just explain the obvious tank requirement.i live in Illinois all these fish are completely LEGAL

 

[Ballyhoo]

i have 6 years experience with fish. i have spent the last 3 months doing research. i know piranhas need a shoal of 5 or more and i can do that but i wanted 1 because 1 is more tame then five and is less of a threat to the other fish. i have talked to people who have done this mixture of fish in a 150 gallon tank with good results but i wanted more opinions so i asked here. I KNOW I NEED I BIG TANK. I SIMPLY ASKED IF THEY CAN GET ALONG. thank you very much for all your reply's especially the ones that didn't just explain the obvious tank requirement.i live in Illinois all these fish are completely LEGAL

This is irresponsible to me. You KNOW what a fish requires and yet you intentionally refuse to meet those accomidations because they aren't whta you want. well guess what, you are living in them. If you find yourself to me responsible enough to make the decision to home these fish then you need to make sure you are responsible enough to give them a proper home. You don't want a group of piranah because you are worried about aggression towards your fish, then how about not getting them instead of stressing and intentionally neglecting one.

 

[Sparkxx]

^ agree with the above post completly

if you KNOW that they need to be kept in shoals to be happy then you should. You wouldn't want to live alone if you prefered company of your own kind, would you?

how about giving more info on the setup ? even though some fish have tank requirments they also need setups requirments, like silver dollars are better with low light and in a quiet spot.

also, arowanna + piranha = no-no so take arowanna straight off that list as they need a huge tank will be injured by the piranha

EDIT: a shoal of piranha will be less of a threat than a single one.

 

[RazzleFish]

i have 6 years experience with fish. i have spent the last 3 months doing research. i know piranhas need a shoal of 5 or more and i can do that but i wanted 1 because 1 is more tame then five and is less of a threat to the other fish. i have talked to people who have done this mixture of fish in a 150 gallon tank with good results but i wanted more opinions so i asked here. I KNOW I NEED I BIG TANK. I SIMPLY ASKED IF THEY CAN GET ALONG. thank you very much for all your reply's especially the ones that didn't just explain the obvious tank requirement.i live in Illinois all these fish are completely LEGAL

A single piranha is more agressive than a shoal. Just like smaller tetras they are more skittish and tend to be more agressive without the security of a school. An alligator gar (even in a huge, heated pond) will eat the other fish as they can grow to 11 feet long! How about trying some fish that are similar but stay at a more reasonable size.

Instead of the oscar, how about a convict cichlid OR jack dempsey cichlid OR green terror cichlid?

Instead of the piranha how about a school of silver dollars. These are actually a part of the piranha group which contains about 30 species and of those most are herbavores.

I think that a single of any of the ciclids above paired with a group of 6 silver dollars would make a nice "monstor tank" for awhile but keep in mind that even these fish will need a slightly larger tank when fully grown.

 

[msjinkzd]

hi i was wondering if the following could get along in my tank

1 silver arowanna
1 alligator gar
1 piranaha
1 oscar
thanks

I wouldn't keep cichlids with gar, period. The majority of them don't mix well as gars tend to dart and can do alot of damage to themselves.

If you decide on a gar, go with a spotted or a florida. They still get big, but are houseable for life in a big tank.

I think you should do a cool primitive tank; aro, gar, and bichir. Skip the cichlids and piranha.

 

[thebrandon]

you will end up with fish soup if you try and put all of those in a 75...by upgrading periodically do you mean every few months? Because that is what will be NEEDED by these fish if you are to keep them all in the same tank. You clearly haven't done enough research you think keeping one piranha will be ok.

I don't think you understand what you are doing to yourself here, or more importantly, the fish you are thinking about keeping. Even if you do plan on upgrading periodically, you are going to be shelling out a ridiculous amount of cash to upgrade your tank, stand, light, heater, filter ect...not to mention you will be putting a tremendous amount of stress on the fish by transferring them from tank to tank and HOPING that it is established correctly...

Either save up some sweet sweet cash to buy a HUGE tank for all of these fish, or start looking at other more compatible fish for your tank.

None of us here don't want you to have the fish. We are just worried about the well being of the fish and the stress you will be putting yourself through. The fact that you have even done some research is a huge step and puts you ahead of the game. Now continue your research, and maybe you can find some thing else you like.

I have 134 gallon tank and I wouldn't want to put those fish together in there, even as babies.

 

[msjinkzd]

just to play devil's advocate, I grew out most of my fish that are large now in 55g or 75g tanks. Its hard to make sure that the fish are eating properly when they are 2" long and in a 600g tank, not to mention the flow from teh filtration required on such a large tank is often way too much for those fish to handle when they are small.

Its perfectly appropriate to grow out fish as babies in smaller tanks then they would need at adult size, its done all the time. Its just importatn to do alot of water changes to keep the quality good as most of those fish are also quite messy eaters and prolific and large poopers.

My issue with your stocking list is that its just not a good one. Those fish are nto particularly compatable with each other and you will have difficulties no matter the tanks size.

Alligator gar are not good for the home aquaria. There are alot of gar species that are much mroe appropriate and still quite large.

My question to you is this. Which of those fish on your list is the most important to you? I would pick one, then work out a stocking arrangement around that. If its the aro, then picks tankmates best suited to an aro. If its the gar, the same. If its the cichld, then the silver dollars are an excellent choice or a larger catfish/pleco. If its the piranha, then there are choices to be made that are more appropriate for them as well.

 

[Inka4040]

I think your proposed stock list would be problematic any way you look at it. There are lots of tweaks you could make to increase long term suitability, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't put all those fish in a 75 regardless of how quickly you intend to upgrade. Try growing out 1 of those fish in the 75, and adding to the collection AFTER you've acquired suitable housing for the fish. MsJ raises a good point about it being completely OK to grow out fish in tanks smaller than they'd require (think a solitary angel fry finding food in a 55, and how ridiculous that'd be) but, this is not something that should be entered into while the permanent housing is in planning. Most people don't get around to getting proper housing for the fish they keep, and it doesn't make any sense to stock for a bigger tank you don't even know if you're gonna be able to get.