keeping piranha as pets?

This is a good page to read over: http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Piranha.htm

While this site only states you need a 55 gallon minimum.. Let me say that these fish can get up to almost a foot in length, and they are a schooling fish, so you will need to keep them in a proper sized group of 4-8+. Really, 6 makes for the best school. I would suggest a 75-100 gallon tank for 6.

They can become very expensive to keep fed.

They are not for beginners, so if this will be your first fish tank... Then I advise that you rethink that and go with something a little simpler first. It sucks to put in hundreds of dollars for a fish tank set up, just to see them die and die because you have no prior experience (don't know if you do or not, just sayin').

They are dangerous, BUT not as dangerous as you might think!

I've seen people get into whole lakes and pools filled with pirana!

They are only attracted to the smell of blood along with paniced thrashing. Guess blood and thrashing = easy meal for pirana.

Piranhas are very hard fish to keep. They need a group of six or more, in a 300 gallon tank minimum. They eat live foods... They just don't make good pets.

When I was a zoo keeper we had a large tank, about 300 gallons, of adults. I wasn't there when they were introduced but i assume they were all purchased together. There were probably about 20 fish in the tank. They are pretty shy fish and always moved away from the end of the tank where I was working when I was cleaning the glass or doing partial water changes. they are quite beautiful and would be especially effective in a dark tank with night lighting. We fed live feeder gold fish and kept the tank at around 90 Farenheit with under-gravel filtering and a heater tube.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

keeping piranha as pets?

i want to get piranhas and keep them as pets, does anybody else have them who can give me advice on keeping them?

Hi there.

As with any pet, everyone has their own opinions and ways of looking after them. Your best option is to contact a shop which specialises or sells them, and ask for some beginner-advice!

I hope I helped.

You`ve got to be REALLY careful.. we went to Atlantis in Bahamas and apparently they can eat a cow within a few minutes.. apparently you have to put one in the tank at a time so they can get used to each other but I`d genuinely ask (where-ever you buy them) for advice.. I know you can keep a group together.. but its the way you put them in.. One first.. then another one and so on..