[acidWarp]

I'm looking into the option of going with a Spilo shoal in my 150 gal. when I get the money. I want something different than pygo's and preferably more than one fish in that tank, so I wanted to know the opinion of any members that keep spilo shoals.

 

[supragtsxr]

I made the mistak of adding a gold spilo in with my reds and he took over the tank. within 10 minutes he had all my reds huddled in a corner.

 

[WorldBelow07]

its possible to make a spilo shoal. kinda risky tho

 

[Joga Bonito]

i would love to see that

 

[One800Jonny]

Spilos are really cool fish. I think you should be A okay with a 150 gallon, I had nine in a 75 gallon which was too much, but now its been a year and a half and I have 5 in there living happily at around 6-7". One trick to the trade is always keep feeders in there at first, cuz they are extremely territorial and i found that unless there were feeders in there they fought too much. Another note is if that if you have 1 that is considerably smaller than the rest, you might have some troubles. However, 150 gallons might take care of most the problems I encountered. Good luck man, by the way, are pygo's pretty boring? cuz i was thinking about buying 1 of each for my new tank.

 

[supragtsxr]

I'll wait until you guys try it first before i take the risk of loosing several p's. It might work if you have a big enough tank. When my spilo was by himself he was quiet. but as soon as I put him with my reds he went crazy and attacked everything as soon as i put him in the tank! i had to take him out.
BTW: the spilo was easily 2" smaller than my smallest red but 3X more aggressive

 

[acidWarp]

its possible to make a spilo shoal. kinda risky tho

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I know it's risky, but I've read it's one of the few Serra's that can be shoaled (somewhat succesfully

)
I'd definitely give each fish ample room, 20+ gal/fish, I'd have no plans of trying to overstock this tank.

 

[supragtsxr]

how many would you put together anyway?

 

[acidWarp]

Spilos are really cool fish. I think you should be A okay with a 150 gallon, I had nine in a 75 gallon which was too much, but now its been a year and a half and I have 5 in there living happily at around 6-7". One trick to the trade is always keep feeders in there at first, cuz they are extremely territorial and i found that unless there were feeders in there they fought too much. Another note is if that if you have 1 that is considerably smaller than the rest, you might have some troubles. However, 150 gallons might take care of most the problems I encountered. Good luck man, by the way, are pygo's pretty boring? cuz i was thinking about buying 1 of each for my new tank.

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Yeah, I'm hoping with the 150 there is hopefully enough space for each fish to tollerate each other. How agressive are yours and are they enjoyable to keep?

Pygos aren't boring in my book at all. I have my 180 stocked with them (see my sig.) and they're awesome. I think the bigger the tank and the more you can keep together, they more entertaining they are. They tear food up before it can even touch the ground and I can spend hours chilling on my couch watching them :nod:

But, since I already have a large tank with pygos, I was looking for something different for my other tank (Variety is the spice of life, and all that sh*t :laugh: )

To supragtsxr;

I was thinking of going with 7 fish max probably, that gives them a little over 20 gallons each.

 

[supragtsxr]

I agree, pygos are cool in a shoal. I think as long as you have the space you should be able to shoal some together. Keep an eye on them though. Provide lots of cover

EDIT: you have a big tank so it should work

 

[One800Jonny]

Ya gold spilos are real great to watch. I got mine when they were around 1.5 inches or so, and it took them about a year before they would really eat in front of me. When they were 4" I put a goldfish in there that was at least 8-9" and i they chased it and ripped it to shreads, it was great. haha. Im sure with your tank being a lot bigger you'll get a lot more activity out of em than i do. Another really cool thing about em is the gold coloring. I put sand in there (which is a pain in the ass at first) but it really accents their colors. Id definitely get some.

 

[supragtsxr]

The gold color looks cooler and cooler with time. And they are way active

 

[acidWarp]

Cool, I think this will be the way I'm going to go with this tank after I use it as a temp tank when I move my 180 out of my apartment and back home this summer (Which will be a bitch and I'm not looking forward to

). Thanks guys.

 

[supragtsxr]

No prob. Good luck.....let me know how it goes

 

[Judazzz]

In a 150g, you might be able to pull it off, but prepare to have heavy losses - Serra's arent shoaling fish, not even Spilo's, Macs or Geryi. They tolerate each other's presence in a tank large enough, but don't shoal.
Understanding that, and knowing about the difference between shoaling in the Pygo-sense on the one hand, and the cohabitation of Serra's on the other hand is vital to even have a remote chance of succes - they are two entirely different things!

If you want to give it a try, I'd get 6-8 juvi's (2-3" max.), so they'll sort things out amongst themselves, and you end up with the toughest and fittest specimen. Keep the temperature somewhat on the low side - 76-78 degrees F - and add lots and lots of decor, so they fish can get away from the others if they feel the need to.
Other than that, keep them well-fed, perhaps add a constant supply of dither fish such as tetra's, small cichlids or life bearers (stay away from Cyprinids, such as goldfish, koi, barbs, danio's and other carp-like fish), and hope for the best.

A member named Winkyee has kept a shoal of Macs for a good amount of time, so maybe he can give you some more useful tips. And there were/are a few more, but I forgot their names...

Good luck, but before you start, reconsider it - the worst-case scenario is a frustrating, fruitless effort and a lot of time and money wasted. If you start a 'project' like this without thorough planning and gathering info, you'll go downhill from the very first second: that just a handful of people managed to have long-term succes is not without reason!

 

[acidWarp]

Wow, talk about a comprehensive post. Thanks Judazz, I'm going to have a long time to think about if I want to do this or not, so I will def. put some thought into it.

 

[b_ack51]

It's possible, has been done before but there are always risks with keeping piranha.

 

[WorldBelow07]

instead try 30gallons per fish

 

[hastatus]

I've kept 3 S. maculatus together for several months. The only thing that has somewhat helped is a lower temperature (76-78F) close to their native water and provided hiding places. Which they all use. There has been fin biting, mainly on the tail. But other than that, they stay within their respective niches and venture out only to eat or fight.

 

[acidWarp]

I've kept 3 S. maculatus together for several months. The only thing that has somewhat helped is a lower temperature (76-78F) close to their native water and provided hiding places. Which they all use. There has been fin biting, mainly on the tail. But other than that, they stay within their respective niches and venture out only to eat or fight.

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How much space are you giving each fish? A recommendation from you would be very welcomed

I'm really interested in seeing this work because it is something a little different than your normal pygo shoal. I was planning on planting the tank and adding more than a few peices of wood, which would probably help the situation.