🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BywtKJ.Cwz@wrs.com> miked@wrs.com (Mike Deliman) writes:
>Question: I'd read that the red pirhana, Seraselmous Naterri (spelling?), was
>the big meanie in the pond (read: most agressive). Was this bogus info? It
>was in a book titled "Pirhana" (don't remeber the author).
>
>Observation: One of my friends up in Canada has a few Red P's. MEAN little
>buggers, about 6" long for the biggest. They are not shy. If you dump in 6
>large feeders, it only takes minutes, and all that's left is the rain of
>scales. He has 3 in a 75 gallon tank. They don't school much, but instead
>stay within each-other's sight, at a distance. (I don't blame them!)
>
>Reccomendation: don't put your hand IN the tank. These little guys will
>strike at the glass if you just wave your hand by the tank. My friend has a
>nice Far Side on it - a picture of a pet store, with a pirhana in the
>forground. If you look carefuly in the background you notice a kitty-kitty
>with 2 (front) wooden legs..... :-) !

I kept a pair of red breasted piranha (the same as red piranha ?) once.
They were each about 5" long when one killed the other. They were kept in
a 30 gal tank, so I would suggest anyone considering keeping piranha 
keep this in mind: give them a lot of space.

The survivor eventually grew to about 8" long after about 4 years. 
However, while he could be very agressive with feeders, he was actually
a very, very timid fish. While he would 'strike' at the glass
if you waved your hand at the tank, it was because he was scared to death:
he would also 'strike' at the gravel, etc. When the undergravel
lift tubes got dislodged, I thought nothing of reaching in with my
hand to replace them. I think there is next to no danger of a piranha
in a tank attacking you, based on my experience. I think your
friend has given you a snow job.

These fish were so timid that I got sick of pussy footing around the
room for fear of scaring them.