whatsafish7

I was just wondering after i cycle my tank i just got i was wondering since they are legal would i be a nice fit in my tank. I f it is a nice fit would 2 be too much. I like pirrahnas and think they are beautiful fish but would two bab y red belly pirrahnas be too much or will 1 be too much please help?

atmmachine816

greg remember i told you it should be ok in it but two would be to much and they would most likely fight since they like to be in groups of six or more

whatsafish7

oh ok but i really want two. my dad went to this place by my moms work and found 40 baby red belly pirrahnas for $7.99 each. He said they are anywhere from the size of a nickel to the size of a dime.

atmmachine816

but they grow 8-12 inches long and fairly high too

whatsafish7

i know but the tank is 16 ft high and shouldent it be big enough i mean 1 does no grow 20 inches or more. i know it might be dirty but i can always by an extra filter and i would do frequent water changes and i would my vacom my gravel a lot

Jon

16 ft high 40 gallon tank? WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF!!!?

im assuming you meant inches or what?

whatsafish7

yes i meant inches im srry but is that good

Marc

Well - they'd be fine... for now. Depending on how big they get, though, you may need to look for somewhere to put them if they do end up getting too large.

Two foot-long fish in a 40 gallon might be a bit cramped.

whatsafish7

they get anywhere form 8-12 inches will they be a good fiut

Marc

Like I said - they may end up cramped if they get to be full sized.

whatsafish7

but other than that you think they will be good if they are like 8 inches

Marc

Honestly, I think you should get just one to be safe.

whatsafish7

ok

Jon

they can live in 30 gallons and are sometimes kept in smaller tanks... 40 should be fine for 2.

atmmachine816

no they cant live in 30 gallons in good health and two in a 40 there would be fighting most likely and you would have to get another filter greg and you dont have money for that right now

Jon

yes they can if you have a reason why not please say it but this site itself says they can!

atmmachine816

a pirhana in a 30 would work but not for optimal conditions think of it this way put yourself in the tank and think about it you wont have much room to turn around and not much room to swim back and forth and you would have to have excellent filteration and gravel vacuum a lot

its an opinion more than anything else and the way i think of if a fish is too big i put myself in his/her position

Marc

Because they get to be almost a foot long. Most 10 gallon tanks aren't even a foot wide. Most 30 gallon tanks are hardly a foot wide! That and they'll be very cramped - just because they're kept a certain way doesn't mean they should be kept that way.

atmmachine816

thank you marc pirhanas can get a foot long most 30s are a foot deep thats not much room to turn around

Jon

30 gallons are fine for pirahnas and a 40 gallon moreover... they do not grow that quickly and i doubt the pirahnas he buys will ever reach a full 12 inches. They will do just fine in a 40 gallon. Im not sure why you are so worried about filtration although they eat rich expensive foods they arent that intense polluters.

Marc

Jon, how would you like it if you were crammed into a space where you brushed the sides whenever you turned around? Especially if the tank is decorated - it's going to be a tight fit regardless of whether or not they get to be a foot long.

And as for waste... pirahnas are messy eaters - just because they only make the normal amount of uh.. 'waste' doesn't mean that's the only way to dirty the water.

atmmachine816

hello they like LIVE food and they do not eat everything so they leave a lot of waste around so you need to have good filteration to keep good water quality and yes they do grow quickkly most red bellies grow from dime size to 4-6 inches in just 3-4 months

atmmachine816

i believe it is time to admit defeat Jon this debate seems to have been won

basically its go fit all your belongins in your bathroom and dont clean it for a month and see how you like it

Jon

My neighbor has had pirahnas for almost a year and they are only 4 inches long. He keeps 2 in a 29 gallon and they are comfortable... trust me they have no problems turning around... im willing to be my life his pirhanas will never get 12 inches and furthermore they wont get even to 8 in the first year or two.

They may eat live food and leave some of it but if he only has 2 pirahnas in a 40 gallon thats only 10-20 inches of fish when they get large. That wouldnt even be close to the amount that would justify another filter.

Jon

why would i admit defeat you know nothign you just see the potential and assume that his tiny pirahnas are going to be cramped...

atmmachine816

do you know all the information in his pirhanas maybe there not the same type my friend is going to get maybe he doesnt do things right and maybe they are physically growing to there tank but there internal organs are sitll gowing and eventually they will die because of this this happens a lot with goldfish

atmmachine816

lets wait for gunnie and butterfly to cast there votes on what they believe would work in the meantime i need to get my hw done and i will try to be back on later

chao everybody

Jon

he has redbellied pirahnas and i would seriously doubt their insides are growing whilst there exteriors are staying the same because they seem very active and happy.

Marc

Jon, you don't need to argue over anything and everything. I really have to say that you read something off of a website and automatically assume that it's going to be a fact no matter what.

Your neighbor may have had them for a year - but they were probably an inch or two when he bought them - if you grew from 4x your original size in a year, that'd be a HUGE growth spurt.

Buying fish is a commitment to the well-being of the fish and it is a long-term one at that. If you're going to get fish you have to plan ahead.

Jon

Im not the one that started this arguement i just said that the redbellied pirahnas would do well in a 40 which i believe they would. Someone tried to rebuke my opinion which is what started the arguement.

From the sounds of it the pirahnas that he is looking at are tiny. Even if they grew to be 4-5 inches in the first year they would still be fine in the tank. There is no way they would grow over 6-7 inches in the first year and they would be fine in that tank up to 7-8". Im not trying to argue every little thing but you are trying to tell me that I am wrong and your only justification is that in the very unlikely even that they actually attain a length of 10"+ they would be cramped.

I may have read something off of a website but I actually do research. I have talked to a friend about his previously and have looked into pirahnas. I am confident they would be fine in this tank.

While it is good to plan ahead you dont have to plan for the extremely unlikely... There is a higher probabilty that he will get a new larger tank than the fish will grow out of his. In the worst case scenario he would have to get rid of 1.

Also your arguement that if the pirahna would grow to 12" it wouldnt be able to turn around would not work very well because he is getting a pirahana regardless, 2 wouldnt change the fact that a 12" pirahna cant turn around in his tank. I seriously doubt 2 small red-bellied pirahnas would be cramped in this tank however the final decision belongs to neither of us. Hopefully Whatsafish7 will do his own research and establish his own opinions. He is the only one whom's opinion actually counts when it comes down to it.