new here and pondering getting started again

[slideways]

hi
i am new here, i actually found this site look for information on red belly piranha
now don't get the wrong impression (yes im 19 and intrigued by the though of filling my tank with a school of rbp's but this would be far from the first time i have had fish i actually grew up with my father breeding angels and we have raised some of the biggest tri color bala sharks i have ever seen (without the use of steroids, we had one that was 11-12inches long give or take) i have also delt with pretty much anything they sell at any chain pet store like petsmart or petco)

back to the topic
i recently had to sell my last group of fish i had owned since juveniles
which consisted of 3 turquoise severum (had them about 2 years and they were 6-8inches long) 4 tri color balas that were 5-6inches (only had them for 9-10months) 4 blood parrots that were about 4-6inches 1 black veil tetra (about 1.5-2inches and about 4 years old) and 2 pleco's (just jeneric black plecos from walmart i got for my birthday when i was 4 for my first tank and at the time were 14 years old and 13-14inches long)
all in a 100gallon breeder tank

well due to financial probems i needed the money and sold them to a friends mom (whom put them in a 125g long tank, and i get to visit them any time i want)

i still have my 100g breeder tank and 250gph filter and stand and gravel,rocks,decorations,250watt submersable heater,and light
and had been tossing arround the idea of getting some rbp's
because i have had pretty much everything else (ok i may not have had the most diverse lineup of fish but i have owned allot of different animals such as a dwarf pigmy hedgehog,mojave ball python,rear fanged green tree snake,flying squirrel,ferrits,cats,dogs,iguana,chinese water dragon,brarded dragon,and for a week a friend of mine brought over his hatchling (about 13inches long at the time) while he went to disneyland


sorry i have add and keep getting off topic
the question i posted this topic to ask is

is there anything i should know about rbp's before i get my tank setup?
also the tank i will be using is a 100gallon breeder (not sure of exact measurements but it's basicly the same size of a regular 55gallon but a 55 is like 48x12x21 or something this is like 48x20x22 or something in that ball park i know it's 100gallon.
anyway would that be big enough for say 10-12 red bellies?
i found a website (because the local breeder wants $30 each for a rbp that is 0.75-1inch long juvies whereas i found a reputable site that has them for $5 each or 12 for $50 i know 12 is probably to many for the size tank but thats why i am here asking the questions
also i hear that some cichlids can co habitate with piranha and the guy at the local mom and pop pet shoppe said that when the piranha tanks get to full they throw some in with tetra's and they get along fine
so i don't know


any suggestions,info,help anything is appriciated

 

[misterking]

10-12 is far too many for a 100 gallon I reckon. Your tank actually is closer to the 90 gallon mark, I'd say 4 tops long term. One thing you should realise is that RBPs get to around a foot when mature and healthy, so just imagine 10 foot long predatory fish swimming around in there, it'd be awfully cramped, and could lead to them lashing out at each other.

My suggestion is just read, read, read about them. I know other forum members have had issues with RBPs due to a lack of knowledge over the fish. Whilst they're not exactly hard to keep alive, falling into the "hardy" category in my opinion, they're a fish that requires respect and knowledge to receive maximum enjoyment. I wouldn't listen to the store-owners advice, true they live with tetras in the wild but they also eat tetras in the wild, and hungry fish will not miss an opportunity for an easy meal. The same applies for cichlids, if hungry a piranha will very likely attempt to eat it. In home aquaria, it is best to keep them in a species-only tank, i.e. only with RBPs, even plecos have been known to suffer damage from piranha in tanks.

I hope that helps, I've never kept them but have done a lot of reading on them because I find them fascinating, so what I've written is more a collection of other people's experience.

 

[slideways]

thanks
i thought 12 would be to many but their on sale (lol)

but on a serious note i have been reading about them and it says that they need 1 gallon of water per 1inch of fish, well 4 fully grown (at 12inches each though according to what i have read them ususally only get 9-11inches in captivity not sure if that is true just what i have read) equils out to needing about 48gallons of water (according to the 1inch-1gallon rule) according to that i think in my tank (which i asked my dad whom i got it off of, he said it's like 25years old and when he bought it, it was sold as a 120 and when he measured it by filling with 1gallon milk jugs he said that full of water with 2inches from the top of the tank and 80lbs of gravel and rocks in the tank it held 106gallon i can't prove this but when i get the time i'll measure it and see if i remember the math i learned in high school)


i personally think that 5-6 rbps plus decortations,rocks,gravel,heater and such
would be fine but if you really think that 4is the max that would be happy in my setup thats all i will go with

 

[misterking]

You could try 5/6, I mean a foot is really the maximum size wild, you'd be lucky to get a bigger fish than that in captivity I was just thinking on the safe side. It may be a case of the measurements are wrong for your tank and therefore when I've converted it it's come out wrong.

My thought on keeping a maximum you could keep in that tank is purely just so you don't run into temperament issues - I remember a current forum member looked into his RBP tank one day to find one with a chunk ripped out of its head (owch!). However, if you buy them small and add them all from the same source and at the same time, this should (theoretically) be fine. At first, RBPs are surprisingly shy fish and it does take them a while to settle into their environment, and so if they begin as a nice-sized shoal (4+) and become accustomed to this arrangement, making sure you only disturb them when necessary (i.e, water changes), you should be fine.

 

[OrangeCones]

thanks
i have been reading about them and it says that they need 1 gallon of water per 1inch of fish, well 4 fully grown (at 12inches each though according to what i have read them ususally only get 9-11inches in captivity not sure if that is true just what i have read) equils out to needing about 48gallons of water (according to the 1inch-1gallon rule)

The 'one inch per gallon rule' is very outdated, and only applied to small slim bodied fish. You might get away with ten 1" rasbora, but would you put a 10inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank? A 10gallon tank is 20" by 10" and 12" high. He'd barely be able to move in that tank size!

i think in my tank (which i asked my dad whom i got it off of, he said it's like 25years old and when he bought it, it was sold as a 120 and when he measured it by filling with 1gallon milk jugs he said that full of water with 2inches from the top of the tank and 80lbs of gravel and rocks in the tank it held 106gallon.

Just measure the length, width, and height in inches and divide by 231. That will tell you the volume in gallons. No need for the gallon milk jug method!

 

[slideways]

The 'one inch per gallon rule' is very outdated, and only applied to small slim bodied fish. You might get away with ten 1" rasbora, but would you put a 10inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank? A 10gallon tank is 20" by 10" and 12" high. He'd barely be able to move in that tank size!



Just measure the length, width, and height in inches and divide by 231. That will tell you the volume in gallons. No need for the gallon milk jug method!

no i would never put an oscar in a 10 gallon tank (unless it was a tiny oscar and only in there long enough to setup a bigger tank or until it out grew the tank

also i just measured the tank it's 48 long 22 deep and 26 tall
according to math (48x22x26 devided by 231 and you get about 118 and change

 

[misterking]

Nice, that should hold 5 or 6 RBPs comfortably. As I said though, they can get quite large so you'll have to keep an eye on that, and also their temperament. Make sure you really read up on keeping these fascinating fish so you're not disappointed.

 

[slideways]

Nice, that should hold 5 or 6 RBPs comfortably. As I said though, they can get quite large so you'll have to keep an eye on that, and also their temperament. Make sure you really read up on keeping these fascinating fish so you're not disappointed.

no worries on that i have been trying to talk my dad in to letting me get some rbps for almost 4 years now and have just finally convinced him i'll be able to take care of them correctly
but either way he wants me to get some discus or angels or oscars or something but he don't understand why i want piranha isin't because their piranha it's because their something new i haven't been able to work with yet
i was going to get a freashwater ray but their a little expensive (cheapest i have found was like $100 for a "peacock" ray or something like that, and i had pondered starting a 10g saltwater but i like my big tank)

 

[slideways]

also it will be a little while before i get the piranha being as my tank is sitting empty so im going to have to cycle it
and i won't have any money until i sell my car (anyone intersted in a 1988 ford thunderbird turbo coupe??? only 117k miles 5speed over $1000 in new parts??? i though it was worth a try, guess i'll just have to stick with craigslist)

 

[OrangeCones]

no worries on that i have been trying to talk my dad in to letting me get some rbps for almost 4 years now

Make sure they are legal where you live too. They are not where I am and a local fish store was fined $5000 for having 3 that a customer had turned in since they outgrew his tank.

 

[slideways]

Make sure they are legal where you live too. They are not where I am and a local fish store was fined $5000 for having 3 that a customer had turned in since they outgrew his tank.

im pretty sure they are there are a couple pet stores that sell them (the little mom and pop shoppes)
im in ohio are they legal in ohio?
i would assume so as they couldn't endanger the native wildlife because it gets way to cold here (it's been in high 30's low 40's for 2 weeks now)