This week I was given a beautiful 10-year-old red-bellied piranha by an acquaintance who’s moving and couldn’t take him with! They’ve been a bucket-list fish of mine for years, and I’m over the fucking moon about it. Apparently he used to have one other piranha who died a couple of months ago (the guy said they used to “play” a lot… lol), and he’s been solo in a 75g since then.
So now I’m wondering what the best course of action is here—obviously they’re shoalers, but dude hasn’t been in a proper group since he was a baby, and he’s 10 now. Do I size up his tank and try to source some other (fully mature) compatriots? Let him rock solo for the rest of his days? (Hypothetically he could have up to 5 years left, but from what I’ve been told his diet hasn’t been great, so I’m trying to manage my expectations.)
Really just trying to give this sweet puppy the lowest-stress environment I can for however much time I get to share with him. Any input would be much appreciated!
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p.s. The water actually isn’t cloudy—there’s just a fuckton of algae on the walls because his tank was against a window for years, and the only coverage he had was that java fern. Getting him kitted out with more shade and hardscape as we speak!
Posted by thylacinequeen
1 Comment
If you’ve got the space, time and money I’d go for more of them. Never have i ever owned or known anyone else who owns piranhas so I’m not well versed in what they need