My Manueli Piranha (Serrasalmus.manueli)

[Dominus_XVIII]

Going to pickup my 3" juvenile manueli (Serrasalmus.manueli) piranha tomorrow evening, from my local BigAl's. For those unfamiliar with the species, manueli piranhas aka the "green tiger piranha" belong to the Serrasalmus group of piranhas which are primarily solitary fish. Very aggressive and rare piranha in the fish trade. Here is a profile on the species for those interested.

http/piranhakeepers.com/topic/23-serrasalmus-manuelli-green-tiger-piranha/

http/piranhakeepers.com/topic/36-showcase-your-serrasalmus-manueli/

Any members here looking for the best piranha dedicated forum out on the web, look no further. PiranhaKeepers.com is your number 1 source for all things piranha. I go by Eratic-Fish-Finatic on PiranhaKeeperForums.

Set up my spare 40 gal, last Friday for my soon to be new P. Running a Fluval 205 on the tank, still bare at the moment. Going for a river bed look with just white sand, gravel and driftwood. Will post pics of the Manny tomorrow, but here's a pic of the current setup.

 

[Mikey1]

congrats on the fish, sounds nice,
 
however i personally feel like a 40 gallon tank is too small for one piranha, regardless of species,

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

congrats on the fish, sounds nice,
 however i personally feel like a 40 gallon tank is too small for one piranha, regardless of species.

Well yes, this is only it's grow out tank. This species has been recorded to grow up to 18" in captivity, but the one I'm picking up tomorrow is about 3". As with most Serrasalmus members, their growth rate is very slow. I'm going to move him into a 100 gal once he puts on more size.

 

[Shelster]

Very nice looking fish with the orange around the gils - wouldn't fancy tank maintenance though

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Very nice looking fish with the orange around the gils - wouldn't fancy tank maintenance though

It's actually not that bad. I've been keeping piranhas for over 12 years and I got to say piranhas of the Serrasalmus group are a lot cleaner than the Pygos (red bellies, cariba, ternetzi & piraya). Serras tend to leave nothing left after feeding, so caring for them is easier since I just got to do weekly 20% water changes. Really does help when you feed in moderation as well, that way you know exactly when the piranha is full. With a good diet, their poops stay small aswell lol.
I think it's just their diet plan, that's costly lol. It costs about $80-$100 a month to feed my current piranhas, but that's being said I buy premium stuff haha. Generally my piranhas have a diet consisting of Hikari Massivore pellets, pieces of fresh cut salmon fillet and at the end of the month as a treat I give them lobster eggs.

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Here's some quick pics of my newly acquired manny, taken with my cell. As you can see it's top of it's caudal was bitten and is deformed, when BigAl's had it shipped in. Still looking pale from stressing out, during the move in. Planning to snip the mangled fin tip and let it grow back out.

FTS