Aquariums, Anyone?

[DarkBaron_CB7]

I have about 500 gallons worth of water in my home, of various aquatic life. I have about 12 years experience with freshwater fish, 2 years Marine, and about 6 months of brackish.

I just accepted 2 red-bellied- pirranha from a lady who was just going to release them into the "wild". Because I did not want her to do that, I went ahead and put them in my own 29 gallon staging tank. The size is 6" from lip to peduncle. (Palm sized).

These fish are crazy! I cant get them to eat normally, and they thrash about the tank like crazed animals, which they are. they flip up and out of the water onto the floor, so I put a hood over the top. Now they just bash their faces into the plastic, causing tissue damage, (you can see bruising and actual necrotic tissue) and right now one is floating at the top like it is dead. but the minute I poke at it, it thrashes about and tries to bite my friggin hand off. yah. its a pirranha. I use a stick to poke at it.

Is there anyone here that has experience or knows anyone who has experience with these particular fish? I figure in the california area people are probably more likely to have these fish, and more likely to give me some credible advise.

These fish simply do not follow standard fishkeeping procedure.

[Ralphie]

Wow thats fucking nuts...i mean ive watched docu's on them but i never heard of them bashing themselves into shit and causing damage...wowsers....what do you mean you cant get them to eat normally?

Well i have no experience with any of that but it sounds like you have a beautifull setup at home...you should take pics i am interested in seeing !!

[cp[mike]]

throw a couple babies or little kids in the tank, thatd solve that problem.

[Dirty Harry]

How about a special n00b orientation meet in Lexington?! Swim party

[DarkBaron_CB7]

Well, by "normally" I mean fed on a semi-normal schedule. these are actual wild-caught, aka **Illegal** fish. I have to mimic their actual habitat which is the amazon. A dirty, muddy river in which there are all sorts of very large fish lurking. Pirranha are lucky to get a square meal once a week, if that, so they dont eat often. and when they do, its usually a small bite or two, as, lets say, a monkey falls into the river because it has butterfingers. Well, a nearby school of pirranha usually as about 80-120 fish. Monkeys arent that big, you gotta get what bit of food you can. -- Darwinianism.

These fish also do not eat like most people think they do, tearing luxuriously on an animal that has fallen into the water. They frequently eat dead carcasses, and when they "hit" something, they zip up from the murky depths at lightning speed, take a big bite out of the food item, and zip back down into the murky depths. As an example, True Wild Oscars are usually uninterfered with by the pirranha due to the occelaris -- an eye shaped coloring on the rear portion of their dorsal fin. This throws off the pirranha attack because they need the element of surprise.

I have been able to feed them 2 goldfish in the last two weeks, but I cannot ensure that both are getting equal meals, and as I feel a 29 gallon is sufficient for both of them, I am unwilling to separate them. Plus I do not want to lose any fingers.

I have tried cocktail shrimp, flake food, goldfish, out-of-the-package-new ground beef, and ground beef that has been sitting in the sun for 12 hours. They have only eaten the goldfish, and taken a single bite out of the shrimp. I had a buddy stick his finger in the tank like a dumbass and he got bit. He was lucky that he could see them coming at his finger, and pulled it away as the fish bit him, leaving only a tear in his finger.

Some people are dumbasses. yeah, lets put your finger in a wild pirranha tank. Maybe they will get full from the little chunk. Dare ya to teabag the tank!

[phatdoughnut]

take the tank out to a cow field and see if the cows will drink out of it.

[CustomLowz]

I have a Jucuzzi Brand Tub with Jets for 2 people, does that count if I fill it with water?

[DarkBaron_CB7]

if you can keep it under 85 degrees, throw in some salt and some marine fish and youre a marine enthusiast haha. My 125 gallon reef tank probably has more propulsion than your jacuzzi hehe. 6000 gallons an hour turnover rate through powerheads!

[DarkBaron_CB7]

By the way, your car rox the sox. Is that hydraulics or pneumatics?

[CustomLowz]

Looks mostly like this one, but alittle bigger...

[Ralphie]

That comment about the cow field...thats wicked......and ur friend is deff a moron...its pirranas...come on now.

[cp[mike]]

take the tank out to a cow field and see if the cows will drink out of it.

i just laughed out loud hard enough that my boss asked what i was doing, and if i was illegally "on the internet"

thanks for getting me in trouble.

[CustomLowz]

i just laughed out loud hard enough that my boss asked what i was doing, and if i was illegally "on the internet"

thanks for getting me in trouble.

MMMOoooooooooooWNED!!!

[phatdoughnut]

haha im glad i could make someone laugh....

[HondaB18]

got any pics? i'm curious

maybe change the hood keeping them in with a softer object like a cloth-like object thats somehow bounded tightly. try draining some water so its not full

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_...d/piranhas.htm

that website has some interesting insight. basically it says that tank should be between 75-80 degrees F, atlease a 50 gallon tank, different pH and mineral levels. and also something interesting about sticking your hand in the tank like what your friend did