Poll: Pirhana or Seahorse

paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Honestly, piranha are a real let down...people think they are super cool, and they are not. What do you hope to do with them? PLEASE tell me you are not going to have friends over to watch them eat feeder goldfish
You will likely be bored by it. And Pacu's...even more bland (not to mention REAL tough to get rid of once they grow). I would truly reconsider the piranha purchase.
My dad had one, he fed it hotdogs LOL. And yes, I had all my friends over every weekend and we would be like what could we make em eat. Went from hotdog to chicken leg to goldfish, all over the spectrum of amazingly funny but stupid things to make it eat.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
you've got little tiny seahorses, and huge pirhanas. seahorses are like awwwww, so cute and pirhanas are like OW! hes biting my hand! and u have pirhanas who are illgeal in some states, and seahorses..... its like wat do i want? a pitbull or a poodle. GO for the pitbull! the PIRHANA! alot of people have seahorses, not many people can say they have a pirhana
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Odd that you don't see traveling exhibits of pirhana at public aquaria. Seahorses bring people in

Not that I just randomly suggest people keep seahorses though...
Really this is only something you can answer, and it depends what you are trying to get out of it.
Honestly, if you think that it is cool to feed piranha....it will wear off after awhile. Actually a short while, IME. If that is what you think is an attraction...go to see the tank at feeding time at an aquarium and be done with it. But fair warning, you may find it boring there too...when I fed, most people were pretty surprised and let down. We didn't keep them half starved, so it wasn't a show. And they were surprised that we kept tetra's in with them too. I have been diving in a tank full of piranha, pulling out uneaten food.
But if you do decide that, do be sure they are not Pacu, which are real tough to tell apart for people who are not experienced (and frequently people who are).
 
rara12

rara12

Member
Hi, i actually work at Absolutely Fish and can tell you my first hand experience with both.
The only pirhanas that you can have more then one of that we have in stock would be the red belly pirhanas and to be honest they are kinda lame. The feeder guppies we gave them actually established a breeding population so, not really what you might expect for a pirhana. We do have Black pirhanas in but you can only house one. These guys are mean, destroy goldfish within seconds.
On the flip side, we have some very nice sea horses and pipe fish. Our sea horses are all captive bred and the ones we usually have in stock are the black ones, or the orang to yellow ones. We also have a very large blick pipe fish and always have the ringed and dragon pipe fish in. We actually have stripped cling fish in with them. Its a great tank to look at, full of color.
So if you have the abbility to take care of a sea horse tank and feed them the amount they need then go for it, i know you would be happy with your choice. If you do decide to do the pirhana tank, as it would be easier, may i suggest getting the vampire tetra we have instead. It eats like a champ (only live foods im afraid). Its very cool, it acknologes you as you go to the tank. You can even keep several of them together. A great fish that half the staff wishes they could keep. Just my 2 cents.
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
Originally Posted by Lysol
Pirhanas are illegal in a lot of states
Legal in NYS. Piranhas are freshwater / brackish fish - not SW. Besides - watching piranhas is like watching mollasses flowing down the wall.
 
rc1626

rc1626

Member
Have kept many a pirahna but never a sea horse.
As stated in an earlier reply Red Belly pirahna are the most popular but are rather skiddish unless in a small school, (5 or more) you need at least a 75g for that which they will soon outgrow. Put your hand up to or even in the tank and they swim for cover but in a small school when food was dropped in they would go to town on it in a hurry.
Black pirahnas are by far the most aggressive, can only be kept alone but can be kept in a smaller tank. Had one once in a 30g and the thing would follow my finger everywhere when I ran it accross the outside of the tank. I never put my hand in that tank!!!
Any pirahna you get will be very dirty and it is very important to keep the tank as clean as possible although they are tolerant of a lot.
Here in NY I believe they are illegal to possess unless you have a permit issued by the department of environmental conservation. I was able to get them through a few local pet shop/aquarium stores via special order with no permit.
As stated in an earlier reply they are somewhat boring and don't move all that much until feeding time.
Not having ever kept a seahorse I don't know what to tell you. Do your research on both and make your decision from that.
HTH! Good Luck!
Rob
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
somebody above mentioned an all-out fw community tank.
that would be my recommendation.
s/h are quite tough to care for (from what i've seen on here- lots of dedication), and i've had piranha personally, but not for the "tear to pieces" factor- mine were babies.
if you want a wow factor, step up to the plate and spring for a noice discus tank or a red-belly catfish tank. only problem with these is that they both require larger tanks, especially the r/t cat, as they can grow quite big.
... just sayin
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Odd that you don't see traveling exhibits of pirhana at public aquaria. Seahorses bring people in

I think that aquarium in Houston that Landrys owns has a pirana tank. If I remember right, it didn't look all too interesting. but It was a beautiful tank.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Yes, oddly enough, I used to care for that tank.

I really can't stand that aquarium, but I do want one of those spotted sting rays that they have that are fresh water. Do you know what they are called?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Oddly enough, I cared for those as well, but don't remember anything other than the fact they were permit animals.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by crabsrkewl
I think they're just called spotted rays and I'm pretty sure they need at least two hundred gallon tank.
Oh, it would be a BIG tank,
I do love that tall cylinder tank that the stairway wraps around. Green Morays amaze me.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by stdreb27
I really can't stand that aquarium, but I do want one of those spotted sting rays that they have that are fresh water. Do you know what they are called?
There are many types of FW rays. They start small with T-cups and go larger from there. T-cups are the cheapest starting at $70 retail. Montoros are a much heartier species. They do require a larger tank as they grow to over two feet in diameter (can grow to over three feet in a very large tank but top off at about two and a half usualy). A hearty specimen though.
 
crabsrkewl

crabsrkewl

Member
No I'm kidding feel free to talk about whatever you want I think I'll go with the one that wasnt in any of the categories and get a heavily planted freshwater or a seahorse tank.
 
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