piranha's no matter what!

[shakedown]

Well, I wanted to ask a ? to all of the Pirahna lovers out there. My friend who is following in my footsteps with his aquarium setup has stumbled across some websites that sell piranhas by mail. He explains that he wants them and I should go in on the order as well. He's done quite a bit of reading and told me that if we decide to get them, get a few at once and make sure they are relatively the same size( I guess they will school). We both have 55g tanks and he wants to split an order of 6-8 red bellies between the two of us. Well, I'm not to "hip" on the idea, 1. I have an established tank with beautiful cichlids and 2. I live in Florida where these fish are illegal. He wants to have them sent to a friends addess and then have them reshipped to FL. Does anyone know the laws for this? I mean, what do I do? Other than having my lawyers number memorized and my bail money ready. *laughingc

 

[wayne]

Well 1 it's obviouly illegal, and for good reason.
If you and your friend split 6-8 it's fair to assume you'll end up with 3 or 4 each. A 55 is too small for these fish. Also, 3 to 4 is not enough fish to get them too school, and what will happen is that 3 or 4 will be 'eroded' till theirs only one boring, nervous fish.
Then your friend will dump it in a river. And that's why laws exist.
And yes they'll probably kill your cichlids.

 

[shakedown]

I assumed thats why the laws were made in the first place, also by looking at the US map, its easily derived that most southern states have made them illegal. Most likely due to the tempatures down here.... on the other hand, I have read NUMEROUS places online now that a 55gallon would suffice for just a few.
Anyone know the laws on having these fish? Is possesion of the fish illegal? What about more than one fish... is that multiple counts? Transportating them accross state lines? This could get messy.....

 

[dattack]

Trust me on this. I have owned piranhas before, and they have no personality. Very skittish fish and I have never seen them eat feeders until I am away.

 

[AnThRaXiD]

well i got piranhas as you can see in my pictures address...
they are cool but i have mine in a 175g there are 12 red bellies...
about the law you said... you got a lot of visits in your house from ppl to check if you got piranhas in your aquarium? (i guess that even the thought of getting caught for this is -99.9%) also they can get shipped as pacus!
btw about you having a 55g no more than 4 rbps can get in... the results can differ.... you say you will have cichlids with them... 1st scenario the cichlids while begging you for food can stress the piranhas to death...2nd scenario piranhas eat your cichlids..then one of them tries to dominate the little school...and the rest of the piranhas die from stress and fin nips..then the solitaire red belly because its a shoaling fish becomes veeery skitish and eventualy will die to....
if you still want piranhas try serrasalmus which are solitare piranhas...that will be either serasalmus Rhombeus (black piranha) either serrasalmus spilopleura! good luck man!

 

[redbellypiranha]

I bought

Some mail order pacu's once and they shipped my Piranha by mistake and I didn't even know!!

 

[10 Gal. newbe]

Are piranas illegal in southern calif.???????

 

[redbellypiranha]

Yes they are legal!

 

[piranha198220]

sorry dattack piranhas are not as skiddish as you think i have owed piranhas for along time and i know most things about them mine will eat whatever i put in the tank from rats to feeders

and AnThRaXiD piranhas can go months with not eating in the wild during the dry seson food is slim to none so piranhas have a natral thing for that but when they are little like under 2" yes they need to eat atleast every 2 weeks also in a 55gal tank 3 would be overcrowding the tank there is a rule for piranhas 20gal per piranha for tanks under 65galand a spilo is a schooling fish i have had 5 gold spilos school for a long time with no problems

but yes they will eat your other fish piranhas should be keped with piranhas a pleco will work with piranhas but my golds always eat the eyes

dont mean to bust your balls guys just trying to state the facts

Piranha198220

 

[red belly pacus]

Thats the way my piranhas were to they would kill any amount of goldfish I put in the tank just out spite they only eat what they need at the time and then kill the rest I dont care if the fish was a foot bigger then them they would still attack it till it was dead. Also you my want to check out getting a permit they do allow it sometimes depending on who you know check with your lfs on paperwork.

 

[Badplankton]

Actually i think piranhas are wimpy fish and i bet your cichlids would take them out,a buddy of mine had 10 in a 55 (they were small) and they were the most skitish fish ive ever seen he even had a swordtail that would chase them around i wouldnt even bother with them