Hey I'm just getting my tank setup, waiting for the good bacteria to settle in, and I'm starting to look for a piranha species. I want to have an average sized shoal (4-5) in my 75 gallon tank but I want a smaller sized piranha species. I've been looking on some similar forums but most people just gave me their own inexperienced opinion and they didn't seem very knowledgeable. Everyone on this forum seems to know their stuff, so if anybody knows of a species that stays relatively small in comparison to the average ft long piranha that would be great. Thanks for the help
Small Piranhas
- Thread starter tdalke
- Start date
if you want a shoal for your 75g that pretty much leaves you with pygos, nattereri is the smallest out of the three species (nattereri, cariba and piraya). you could keep about 4-5 in 75g for life as long as your filtration can keep up with the bio load. however they are still capable of reaching 12" but will take a very long time. pygos grows fairly fast (about an inch a month) up to around 6" then slow down to maybe an inch or two per year with proper care and diet.
jp80911;3897965; said:
+1 You were probably hoping for something that stops at the 6-8 inch range?
yeah I want something thats slow growing (highly doubtful for piranhas) and has a relatively small body as a mature adult
tdalke;3898259; said:
They're all slow growing...ONCE they hit that 5-6 inch mark. Like "jp" said, only an inch a year once they become sub adults. Most of the smaller species have to be kept solo so it'd defeat the purpose of obtaining them as they'd just kill each other off.
klink67;3898286; said:
those are Serra. Maculatus, they are one of the few serra. species that can be kept together, however, it's not always guaranteed that it'll work out as plan. some had success (usually in a tank bigger than 75g) and some left with just one.
jp80911;3897965; said:
hey jack,
I'm just curious, we always recommend pygos to people for small shoals, but what about S. maculatus? They stay smaller. Is it because they need more room to shoal without killing each other? Just wondering...
If you're looking for shoaling and a. Feeding frenzy, you may want to look into Exodons (Exodon Paradoxus). they average just under 4" max so you could get a good sized shoal in your 75. And there quite a bit more active than the piranha you're looking at.