[billthomason]

Hey everyone. I have been raising two RB for about two months. They were tiny, less than an inch when I got them and are well over two inches now and have gotten quite wide and tall(for lack of a better word). I have heard all the stories that you're not supposed to raise only two together. But I am determined to do it. I think that given enough food, and love, they'll grow happy together from baby-dom to adulthood. Let me know what you guys think.

Bill

Oh yeah, i add this on here, I put feeder fish in there all the time to focus their aggression on. There are still two guppies which have actually been in there for a few weeks and are growing quite nicely themselves (They're even getting pretty aggressive at feeding time). I put in a dozen big rosy reds in there over spring break, they were like more than half the size of the piranha. the first night, they killed five of them, and when i got back, not a trace of them was left.

 

[WebHostExpert]

Hey everyone. I have been raising two RB for about two months. They were tiny, less than an inch when I got them and are well over two inches now and have gotten quite wide and tall(for lack of a better word). I have heard all the stories that you're not supposed to raise only two together. But I am determined to do it. I think that given enough food, and love, they'll grow happy together from baby-dom to adulthood. Let me know what you guys think.

Bill

I wish you the best of luck and hope you succeed. The problem with only two p's in a tank is the fact that they will constanly pick on each other, fin nipping could result, maybe worse.

MAD

 

[billthomason]

Yeah, they've already nipped each others fins on a few occasions. Nothing serious though. They've grown back quickly and nicely. Heck, maybe one day they'll mate, how can you tell what gender they are, besides peeking at them when they're changing?

Bill

 

[WebHostExpert]

most piranhas in general are not sexually dimorphism. you can't tell by simply looking at them. you won't know tell one starts laying eggs.

Look in the piranha husbandry section, theres a topic in there about it.. here:
http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/in...=ST&f=14&t=1384

MAD

 

[Petzl88]

What size tank do you have them in? Sometimes if you have enough space they will be fine. Sometimes that is not the case. In one tank I had small two inch reds that had plenty of room but one still killed the other.

It just depends on the personality of the fishes.

 

[WebHostExpert]

In one tank I had small two inch reds that had plenty of room but one still killed the other.

^ Does that not prove anything..

MAD

 

[thePACK]

it can be done..i had two cariba for over 4 months in a tank..and they had the usual fin bite but otherwise they were fine.. tank space is highly needed for it to work out though(my opinion)..i had them in a 100g so i think all that free space helped out ..so good luck in whatever you do..

 

[MPower]

When I had my first 2 cariba they were in a 100g. 72x18x18 and they didn't have any nips on them. 2 in a tank can work if you have a big enough tank. Also you will need to upgrade your tank.

 

[WebHostExpert]

But the fact is he has a 20 gal tank.
not even close to 100gal.

MAD

 

[Innes]

I have 2 RBPs together in a 20 gallon, and they have been fine for a year, They do live with a large severum, which is in charge of the tank - this may be like a 3rd piranha to them, but so far so good.

I am not saying it is always as good as this for everyone, as it is not

 

[DiXoN]

i had 2 reds that lived together for @ 1year upto 7'' with no problems apart from the occasional fight but that is normal with p's any way ,i did add another 2 but nothing changed the 2 larger ones still had fought every now and then .
i do think it is better having more than 2 but different fish may act differently .the only problem i faced was when i wanted to add more finding matching sizes proved difficult so added 2 over 3 '' smaller but still had no problems due to the way i had the tank set out this was all in a 55 gal take your own conclusions from that
dixon

 

[Judazzz]

There are no iron laws when it comes to piranha behaviour: you simply cannot predict what they will do under certain circumstances, and for every 'rule' there's an exception, as your case shows us

I'd still buy a larger tank when they grow bigger: 20 gallons is pretty cramped for two larger reds. Also, I'd still think about getting some more reds once you'd get a larger tank!

But anyways, good luck with your two reds!

 

[bharath]

i have 2 4" rbps in a 50gal.no problems except the occassional fin nip

 

[thePACK]

But the fact is he has a 20 gal tank.
not even close to 100gal.

MAD

oh ..then your cutting it close... in such confined space the more aggressive one will then pick on the other..

 

[Xenon]

i have 2 4" rbps in a 50gal.no problems except the occassional fin nip

Welcome to the site man!

I think chances are in a tank that small one of them is going to get smoked. I would put a few other fishies in there that you dont care about and hopefully their aggression will be focused on them rather than each other.

 

[sccavee]

I have 2 RBPs together in a 20 gallon, and they have been fine for a year, They do live with a large severum, which is in charge of the tank - this may be like a 3rd piranha to them, but so far so good.

I am not saying it is always as good as this for everyone, as it is not

How in the world do you have almost full grown Reds and a large Severum in a 20G??? Man that has to be tight.

 

[hastatus]

Judazzz Posted on Mar 28 2003, 01:06 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are no iron laws when it comes to piranha behaviour: you simply cannot predict what they will do under certain circumstances, and for every 'rule' there's an exception, as your case shows us

And the exception is only good as long as the toothy (and usually hungry) pirana allows it.

 

[Innes]

I have 2 RBPs together in a 20 gallon, and they have been fine for a year, They do live with a large severum, which is in charge of the tank - this may be like a 3rd piranha to them, but so far so good.

I am not saying it is always as good as this for everyone, as it is not

How in the world do you have almost full grown Reds and a large Severum in a 20G??? Man that has to be tight.

unfortunalty I think my piranhas growth is a bit stunted

they are only about 4-5" after a year, but they are still slowly growing and the severum is around 7", they have quite a bit of space each, and it doesn't seem to bother them being in a small tank.
I do have plans of upgrading my tank, but their are many factors working against me for that.

 

[Mr. Hannibal]

Nothing to worry about...my experience: 2 Cariba together for about 7 years and no nips, bites, wounds, etc.
They were well fed and plenty of room!