impolitetype

i love the red bellied piranha but i killed my fish of four years
by accident i cant maintain a 55 gallon aquarium
help

Tommy Gun

Welcome to the forum!

I think you may be being too hard on yourself, and I am SURE that we can help you out. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this site and so you can ask any questions you may have and get either the direct answer you are looking for, or at least get pointed in the right direction.

So I take it that you have a fish tank already that you want to put some pirahnas in? If so, can you give us a detailed explaination of your set up and equipment?

If not, I would look for a bit larger aquarium for keeping pirahnas. They are by far best off being kept in a group of four or five and so most often, I have heard that 75 gallon long tank is in your best interest. You would also want to have a bit larger amount of filtration for your tank because these fish are messy eaters and a lot of waste is generated from the food as well as from the fish. Usually, a preditary fish like pirahnas are going to be higher waste producers.

So, until you can tell us a bit more about where you are right now as far as a set up and your knowledge on what you need to do or are confused about, I will wait so the information you are getting is more spacific.

P_Ranha

i feel your pain. i have a red belly for 5 yrs and another of one year.they were in a 30 gal long and they got along great.now they are in a 55 with a ternetzi and seem to get along veryt well. to think of them dying just breaks my heart.

if ur worried about the tank being the problem, ill tell u what i am doing. for filtration i have an underground filter in the tank. on the far right side is a powerhead aimed slightly towards the back wall and most of the current aimed to the opposite side of the tank. on the left side i have 2 charcoal filters. one on the far left and one towards the center on the left. also with a hanging filter on the left side in between the charcoal filters.(all of this was left over from 2 other tanks so why not use them?)

the chemicals i use is basic aquarium freshwater rock salt that can be found at any petshop that has fish. i also use blackwater extract. that will settle and unstress ur fish. also add a couple plants to the tank. they will help to climatize the tank along with the chemicals.

if u havent put anything in there since ur red belly went belly up i suggest setup ur tank how u want it and add the chemicals and let run for 48 hrs if possible. if ur in a hurry make it 24 (not suggested but i will work).triple bag ur fish and acclilmate him like a community fish. i know he will not like it but it is worth it.

if u only have one baby red belly (with a red belly) in there i suggest u feed him 2 rosies a week. that will get him hungry and to start hunting. it will also lower the carcuses left in the tank. if he eats half leave it. he will eat it later when he is hungry. at first he probably wont eat in front of u for a while until he gets hungry enough not to care if ur watching. when he gets to that point just feed him on a regular basis. that should take care of the ammonia left by dead fish. mine dont leave anything. they eat absolutely everything. head and all. i feed my red bellies and tern 1 large goldfish in the morn, lunch, and dinner. they have no problem eating in front of me and my gf.

all of this is based on my experience with piranhas. i love my babies and i bet u loved urs. if this dont work tear down, bleach, rinse, rinse, rinse, then setup and do all over again. i havent had to tear down a tank to clean then setup yet and i am keeping my fingers crossed. good luck and have fun.