Building a tank...

Actually there has never been a recorded case of Piranhas killing a human.

"NetMax" wrote in message
. ..
"Sean" wrote in message
...

Someone in another group posted this link

http://www.oregonreef.com/



Nice. My tank is going to be freshwater. Saves a pile of money.
Basically I want to re-create a section of a junglescape river scene.
Piranha are going to be the main fish with some frogs and other fish from
the same type of aquascape living amoung the Piranha. I know the Piranha
are going to nip the fins of the other fish but that's what I am trying
to do, re-create the river in my house. If I can I am going to try and
have a large number of aquatic bugs too. The list goes on.

Sean


If piranhas will be your main fish, then you'll probably find your other
fish choices severely limited. Piranhas do not 'nip' fins. They assume a
position above and behind the victim and lunge, turning their body 90
degrees so that they can wrap their teeth around the adipose fin (or the
area behind the dorsal fin). The will then do a quick twist and swim away
with a chunk of fish the size of their jaw. If their prey take to the
upper waters, then the Piranhas repeat the behaviour aimed at the anal
fin. Whatever fish you have, if they survive the assaults (and large fish
frequently do) they will have chunks missing behind the dorsal fin (even
losing the adipose and dorsal fin completely), or chunks missing
underneath them (though as soon as the intestines start pouring out, they
don't usually live longer than about 2 weeks).

Another minor point, is that humans are not compatible with deep Piranha
tanks which require people to climb in to do maintenance. Do you think
they are just going to watch you? Are you aware what their eventual size
is? (which they *will* achieve in a 1200g tank). Of course you'll be
feeding them a lot of meat to get them to that size ($$$), and if you
don't, they will simply eat each other (problem solved). I think you'll
have a lot of research ahead of you, and it certainly sounds like an
interesting project.
--
www.NetMax.tk