Two Piranhas Dead

1408 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Piranha_man, May 1, 2017

themanwithnoname

Discussion Starter · Apr 25, 2017

Hi, about two or three months ago I bought 3 baby piranhas and put them in a 150 gallon tank. I had the proper set up: heating, filtration, hiding spots, etc. Well about a week ago I noticed that two out of the three piranhas that I have had bite marks all over their fins. I looked it up and everything I read said it was completely normal for them to do this and that they do this to kinda get the message of "stop what you're doing or I'll kill you" out there. Well a day after I noticed that, I found the body of the smallest piranha in the tank dead. The piranhas grew at different sizes, there was a small one, a medium sized one, and a big one. So I looked it up again and what I read said "it happens sometimes, it's just survival of the fittest". Well this morning I found the medium sized piranha half eaten by the big piranha. I took out the body and disposed of it. I just want to know if I did anything wrong. I keep the temperature at 75 degrees, the piranhas have places to hide for when they fight, I do 20-30% water changes every week, the lighting is dim, and I frequently clean the tank. Was it survival of the fittest or is there a factor I hadn't thought about? Thank you

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Ægir

· #2 · Apr 26, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

Any time they are different sizes, you are playing a risk. If you have a 150 gal tank, your best bet would be 10 or so small fry (around 1") and grow them out to 5 or 6. I would suggest no decor or hiding spots as that creates a territory to fight over.

What kind of filtration are you using?

How frequently are you feeding and what is the diet?

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Piranha_man

· #3 · Apr 27, 2017

^^ What he said.

Also, what do you mean by "I frequently clean the tank"?

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themanwithnoname

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 29, 2017

Ægir said:
^^ What he said.

Also, what do you mean by "I frequently clean the tank"?

As in of the debris caused by the food

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Ægir

· #5 · Apr 29, 2017

A single penguin 350 is not enough, you need to get 3 or 4 more of them... OR a large canister filter. FX6 or a pair of smaller ones would work.

Feeding should be done once a day when they are smaller, and then reduced to every other day or smaller portions daily. I would also cut out the beef heart, and only feed it occasionally. Possibly replace it with some good quality pellets.

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Piranha_man

· #6 · May 1, 2017

Ægir said:
A single penguin 350 is not enough, you need to get 3 or 4 more of them... OR a large canister filter. FX6 or a pair of smaller ones would work.

Feeding should be done once a day when they are smaller, and then reduced to every other day or smaller portions daily. I would also cut out the beef heart, and only feed it occasionally. Possibly replace it with some good quality pellets.

^^ What he said.

I've got 2 AC 110s and a large canister filter on my 150.

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