ajm

Last night I did a round trip Bristol-Bracknell-Bristol to pick up what should hopefully complete my collection (for a while anyway... )

Two 5" Pygocentrus Piraya - beautiful golden bellies, the largest growing species of piranha in the pygocentrus genus. Specimens of 24" are apparently possible!

and one female 9" Serrasalmus Elongatus - the pike piranha. This fish is probably the largest of this species in the UK and I got it for a very good price. Sadly it is not in top condition at the moment, and is suffering from a callous on the chin due to rubbing/striking the glass of the tank, which was probably too small for it. These fish need lots of room because they move like lightning! She now has my whole Rio 400 tank to herself and hopefully with pristine water and a good varied diet she will be back up to weight in no time!

I left them in darkness last night to reduce the stress for them, but I'll try and get some pics up in the next couple of days!

Jap2Scrap

Can I ask the going rate for "probably the largest of this species in the UK."?

I'm just wondering the price of exotic fish as compared to exotic reptiles, etc. I need a fulfilling hobby!

Ray

PS. Up my way I can get a supersized cod for £2.50.. battered

tmo

nice one AJM, hope they settle in ok.

ajm

LOL!

Although they are rare over here piranha are not in Koi league because:-

a) they are available in large numbers from the wild if you are willing to go to the expense and inconvenience of importing them.
b) they are very specialised, so not a huge demand

I got her for £150, she should be worth double that in top condition. A baby common red belly can be bought for about £3 because they can be bred in captivity. A large adult serrasalmus rhombeus 16" plus could fetch several hundred. Its all down to availablility and what enthusiasts are willing to pay.

Fish keeping doesn't have to be particularly expensive, although it can be VERY expensive depending on the type of fish and setup you choose!

ajm

Cheers!

The piraya seem happy with their new tank mates and look to be getting on just fine, despite being the smallest 2 fish in there at the moment. Normally I would quarantine them first but they have been on their own in a holding tank for a while already so I know their history. I acclimatised them for while by adding water from the new tank into the shipping box gradually, then put them in and they were swimming around with the rest of the shoal in minutes!

The elongatus is completely fearless. I actually wrapped her in a wet towel to take a closer look at the chin wound and heard the famous "serrasalmus grunt" for the first time. The fish actually makes a a sort of hissing (like a conger eel if you've ever heard it) and then a growl/grunt noise. Its quite disconcerting! When I plopped her in the tank she span round and was biting at me through the glass. Normally when you man handle piranha like that they go into a sulk and often play dead by lieing on their side at the bottom of the tank. Not this one!

Leslie

Good looking fish ajm

Les

messiah

How many tanks you got ajm? It seems like every fish you have has it's own Rio 400!

Would love some Piranha, but I think I need a bigger house first!

ajm

Just three tanks at the moment. Most of the fish are all in the new 375 gallon tank now, leaving the Rio 400 free for the elongatus, and a 3 footer to use as a quarantine/hospital tank.

Edited to add: I know of one keeper who has 10 tanks in his house, but he is a marine biologist so he can get away with it without seeming like too much of a freak!

ajm

Here are some pics of the serrasalmus elongatus "George"

DrEvil

Nice. My misses is still cursing the Jewel 300ltr tank I have.

ajm

LOL! Kick her out!

I'm really pleased with this fish's prgress actually. Her chin has virtually healed completely with nothing more than keeping her calm with the lights off, a bit of aquarium salt at half dose and keeping her well fed.

I am convinced she has put some weight on too which is great!

DrEvil

LOL! too costly to do that now!

Anyway, good news on your fish's recovery, thats really

Leslie

Lovely looking fish ajm, no wonder you are pleased with that.

Les

ajm

Cheers Les!

You should see how quick she can move and stop. I reckon she could out accelerate and out brake any car you care to mention! She somehow manages to stop from a full sprint almost instantly. It looks like she has run into a sheet of glass!

Maybe I could sell the secret of her "air brakes" to the aero industry.

NotoriousREV

I hope a cat eats them

Clearly, it would have to be a well armoured cat, though.

PG

Missed this one

Happy new fish

Glad everything is going well.

ajm

The problem with having a predatory fish that will not tolerate ANY other fish sharing its space and that needs loads of space is that it doesn;t make for a very interesting display tank.

In an effort to improve things I have planted some fake plants (which I hope cannot be "trimmed" too easily!) at the ends of the elong's tank and now I can switch the lights on without her going psycho, attacking her reflection and smashing her chin into the glass... which is a bonus!

I also added 30 cardinal neons to give her something to chase around and keep her mind occupied.... except she has herded them into one corner and then gone back to her spot at the other end of the tank.

So now I have one rare and highly antisocial piranha skulking behind wood and plants at one end, 30 neons hiding behind plants at the other end and 5ft of bare, empty tank in between!

No one said this would be easy I suppose!

lukey1

Wont the neons be a good snack for her? My mini shark and gold fish thought they were tasty!

ajm

Yes, she will get them all eventually... my primary concern is keeping her occupied!

ajm

Here is a picture of George the Serrasalmus elongatus taken today... as you can see her colours have come out and her red chest indicates she is in season!



And here in one of the Pygocentrus piraya showing off his lovely golden orange flaming belly!

(apologies for the blur... he wouldn't stay still!)

SWRTWannabe

And what happened to the Neons? Still got 30?

ajm

LOL!

There are still about 20 in there surprisingly! Luckily for them she prefers the whole dead sandeel I feed her... chasing tiny neons are too much effort!

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

I put 12 neons in with my p's and they lasted about 3 days

Leslie

Good photos.

Les