Red bellied piranha for sale in a US petstore???? Ok to buy it?

[Cookie]

Hi -

I was browsing around the tanks at a local pet store (in the US) and I
came across a tank that had 1 small spotted fish with an underbite and
a redish belly. The tank was labeled "red bellied piranha". Isn't that
illegal? I have always wanted one, and would it be ok if I bought it?
Could it be a Pacu? How can you tell? No, I have never (and will
never) release fish into the wild.

Cookie

[NetMax]

"Cookie" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi -
>
> I was browsing around the tanks at a local pet store (in the US) and I
> came across a tank that had 1 small spotted fish with an underbite and
> a redish belly. The tank was labeled "red bellied piranha". Isn't that
> illegal? I have always wanted one, and would it be ok if I bought it?
> Could it be a Pacu? How can you tell? No, I have never (and will
> never) release fish into the wild.
>
> Cookie

The legality might vary by state. In general, the further north you are,
the less likely it is to become invasive if set loose.

I think that the most obvious difference which could be easily described,
between a young Pacu and a similarly sized (and coloured) Piranha is the
visible teeth on the Piranha. I believe Pacus have chewing teeth in the
back of their mouth, near their throat.
--
http://www.netmax.tk/

[Cookie]

"NetMax" > wrote in message >...
> "Cookie" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Hi -
> >
> > I was browsing around the tanks at a local pet store (in the US) and I
> > came across a tank that had 1 small spotted fish with an underbite and
> > a redish belly. The tank was labeled "red bellied piranha". Isn't that
> > illegal? I have always wanted one, and would it be ok if I bought it?
> > Could it be a Pacu? How can you tell? No, I have never (and will
> > never) release fish into the wild.
> >
> > Cookie
>
> The legality might vary by state. In general, the further north you are,
> the less likely it is to become invasive if set loose.
>
> I think that the most obvious difference which could be easily described,
> between a young Pacu and a similarly sized (and coloured) Piranha is the
> visible teeth on the Piranha. I believe Pacus have chewing teeth in the
> back of their mouth, near their throat.

We are in MN. Would a piranha be ok with 2 oscars and a 5 inch
needlenose gar? One is 7 inches, the other is 4 inches. I think that
the pirnaha is 2 inches. Are they hard to take care of? I did some
research, and they don't sound hard to care for. Would one beat up the
oscars? Right now, what worries me is that 1) the piranha will
probably be way too aggressive 2) the oscars eating it!


Cookie

[PurityFailed]

>Would a piranha be ok with 2 oscars and a 5 inch
>needlenose gar?

>Cookie

I've never kept them, but they're a friend of mine's fish of choice. He has
several tanks of them and through him blabbering on about them (which I love) I
got the idea that they're happy in groups at least when they're young and itty
bitty. I imagine it lingers through adulthood though. He's had the setups for
years and it doesn't really seem all that hard. I wasn't the one doing
maintenance though.

From watching his livingroom tanks, the guys really didn't seem all that
aggressive. Then again it was a large species tank (120 gal) with plenty of
hiding spots. Most of the time they just clustered together facing one
direction and hung out. I do recall a disaster when he tried to introduce a
juvenile that was somewhat smaller than the others. He really should have left
the little guy in the grow out tank a bit longer. (shudder)

I hope that was somewhat on-topic. ;)

Jessica
-Yet another baffled victim of a fish that decided to go MIA.

[luminos]

You should know that these are the most skittish, scared fish that need room
and hate company. We kept a tank with some in the Midwest and they were,
frankly, pretty uninteresting.

[NetMax]

"Cookie" > wrote in message
om...
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
>...
> > "Cookie" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > Hi -
> > >
> > > I was browsing around the tanks at a local pet store (in the US)
and I
> > > came across a tank that had 1 small spotted fish with an underbite
and
> > > a redish belly. The tank was labeled "red bellied piranha". Isn't
that
> > > illegal? I have always wanted one, and would it be ok if I bought
it?
> > > Could it be a Pacu? How can you tell? No, I have never (and will
> > > never) release fish into the wild.
> > >
> > > Cookie
> >
> > The legality might vary by state. In general, the further north you
are,
> > the less likely it is to become invasive if set loose.
> >
> > I think that the most obvious difference which could be easily
described,
> > between a young Pacu and a similarly sized (and coloured) Piranha is
the
> > visible teeth on the Piranha. I believe Pacus have chewing teeth in
the
> > back of their mouth, near their throat.
>
> We are in MN. Would a piranha be ok with 2 oscars and a 5 inch
> needlenose gar? One is 7 inches, the other is 4 inches. I think that
> the pirnaha is 2 inches. Are they hard to take care of? I did some
> research, and they don't sound hard to care for. Would one beat up the
> oscars? Right now, what worries me is that 1) the piranha will
> probably be way too aggressive 2) the oscars eating it!
>
>
> Cookie

Piranhas don't make good company for other fish. They bite them. It is
not pretty to see an Oscar with a 1/2" in diameter piece missing from its
body. Piranhas don't even make very good company for each other. They
have a pack mentality, and can be very skittish. When nervous or hungry,
they take bites out of each other.

If you have just one, and can keep it from hiding, they are very easy to
take care of. They grow fast, eat everything meaty and are quite hardy.
If you have more than one, then you are getting into larger tanks, and
much more feedings. Keep them with lots of swimming room, shelter, away
from traffic, shadows etc, and water should not be too warm. If you
forget to feed them, they will help themselves, to each other.

--
http://www.netmax.tk/

[Vicki]

(Cookie) wrote in message >...
> Hi -
>
> I was browsing around the tanks at a local pet store (in the US) and I
> came across a tank that had 1 small spotted fish with an underbite and
> a redish belly. The tank was labeled "red bellied piranha". Isn't that
> illegal? I have always wanted one, and would it be ok if I bought it?
> Could it be a Pacu? How can you tell? No, I have never (and will
> never) release fish into the wild.
>
> Cookie

We can't get them here in Virginia.

Vicki

[E.Otter]

>The legality might vary by state. In general, the further north you are,
>the less likely it is to become invasive if set loose.

Not necessarily. I live in MA and was browsing a local fish store when I
overheard a customer ask about piranha's. The store clerk replied that
piranha's were illegal with a fine upto $500 per fish. Killed that
customer's interest in nothing flat.

[NetMax]

"E.Otter" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> >The legality might vary by state. In general, the further north you
are,
> >the less likely it is to become invasive if set loose.
>
> Not necessarily. I live in MA and was browsing a local fish store when
I
> overheard a customer ask about piranha's. The store clerk replied that
> piranha's were illegal with a fine upto $500 per fish. Killed that
> customer's interest in nothing flat.

Agreed, just a generality. Glolight danios are illegal in Canada, but do
you think they could survive a Canadian winter? When borders and
politics are involved, logic is a fantasy ;~)
--
http://www.netmax.tk/