What You Need to Know About Owning a Piranha

So you're thinking that you want to purchase a piranha because they're ferocious. While they can be fun to keep and watch they will require a decent amount of work. If you have an exact piranha that you want, you will want to make sure you have a big enough tank to keep the piranha in. You don't want to place the piranha in a tank which is 10 gallons if your fish will reach a total of 12 inches in length. Make sure that you know the facts about the fish that you are getting. You want to check out the fish to make sure it's not ill before you purchase the fish.

You will want to try and replicate the fishes environment as much as possible. Usually these fish will hide in different types of live plants. You will want to purchase a number of plants to put in the aquarium. If you don't have any decorations or plants in the tank, the fish will not do well. The fish will become stressed out because it has no cover. In the wild, these fish need to be protected. Without any plants or decorations the fish will feel as if it could be eaten at any moment. The fish will become sick and probably get a disease as well.

If you purchase a piranha you want to make sure that the fish is in a tank with decorations so that the fish isn't already stressed out. You will need to look for signs of illness such as torn tins, white spots or any open sores. You don't want to purchase a fish which is already sick. Fish are hard to treat if they have a disease or illness. You don't want to purchase the fish no matter how bad you feel for the fish. If the fish happens to die when you get the fish you will usually have some type of return policy but you will need to bring the fish in to get refunded. You might also be required to bring in a water sample as well.

These fish are carnivores. That means that you will need to feed the fish some type of live food. You can purchase different types of feeder fish. You can purchase minnows or you can purchase feeder goldfish. The best choice is minnows because feeder fish are usually sick when you get them from a pet store. Minnows are usually never sick. If your fish eats a sick fish than your fish will get very sick and you will need to treat the fish for the illness.