Piranha

I know a guy who says he can get but they like R500 a pair. Don't know how true it is though. Waiting for pay day and will order 2 for my my 5foot.

 

If you buying baby red bellies make sure they are not baby spotted silver dollars you are buying. You can tell the difference by the shape of the head, i am not sure myself. When i got mine they were pretty much fully grown.

 

pair as in they are male and female?
that would be first alarm bell for me, as they are unsexable and ment to be very difficult to breed in captivity.
only 2 not a great idea they prefer larger groups, min 4 from what i read
would also keep them as a species only fish

 

Yeah my lfs once tried to sell me red bellie pacus as piranhas he thought I wouldn't know the difference. He was wrong.

 

Sorry shouldve said two instead of pair. Four would be nice but that's a bit out my price range.

 

My plan is to have only predators. What other legal predators can you recommend. In JHB.

 

your tank, your budget and your knowledge all a bit small for these fish man
would walk away from them and leave them for someone who stands a better chance with keeping them happy
just cause you can buy something does not mean you should

 

You reckon 5foot is small is for these guys ?

 

Well If I were you I wouldnt buy them at all because they are blacklisted

 

After reading this thread, all the previous keepers (or at least those who owned up keeping them) seem happy to be shot of them, and you know they're black listed, why would you buy them - because you can?

 

Gents, we are asking @Stinger to walk away, which I totally agree with, BUT without giving him alternatives...
Any ideas?

 

Fair comment.
A 5 foot tank is not really ideal for what I would typically call a predator tank, you'll need around 2m to 3m tank if you want to stock large cichlids, aro's, cats or the like. Perhaps single specimens cichlids? Topdog can probably come in here.

 

I had an oscar and convicts the oscars lips were bitten off by the convict and the convicts dig too much. I want aggressive like the convict without the digging.

 

I agree with @Jwh... a 5 foot is not enough for a real predator tank...
We started with a 6 foot and had to upgrade in under a year..

Also in my opinion, Oscars are not really what I would classify as predator fish as you have in mind ie agressive...
I think there is a big misconception regarding Oscars and they should not be kept with real agressive cichlids...
Oscars eat what fits in their mouth, most of the time, they are agressive with each other as they are very territorial and at breeding time but an oscar alone is generaly not 'AGRESSIVE' and outright nasty to other fish.
In fact some will stand their ground to a certain extent towards agressive fish and others wont
I rescued 2 adult oscars that were in a tank with piranha and the male's pectoral fins were all bitten off, we rescued another oscar in a tank with 4 Hifin sharks after watching the 4 hifins pinning the oscar down in a corner attacking him, needless to say he came home with me...

A 6 foot will make a nice cichlid tank but not enough as a "predator tank"
Just my opinion....

I dont have enough experience with other real agressive chichlids but I am sure some of the other members will advise you

 

When I first set up the tank I had Cichlids but they kept eating my plants and I didn't like that. Its either I go with plants and peaceful fish or Cichlids and no plants.

 

Any suggestions for a 5 foot ? 1500 x 500 x 500.

 

I think the first decision you need to make is what kind of planted tank you want...
If you want a hitech stunning planted tank then... yep... give up the cichlid idea i guess...

If you have with a nice looking low tech tank with some of the hardier anubias, java etc.. you can with some effort achieve a pleasing balance between plants and cichlids

 

I'm not going high tech. I like the anubias,hornwart and java fern with some moss and I'd like to get a lawn kind of thing going on one side of the tank.

 

Hmmm, there are a few things in life that don't go along... one of those are planted tanks and larger predatory chiclids. Sure, you may be lucky and find one that never touches a plant. Why don't you consider hardscaping as you have started? One thing is for sure, your top aggressive fish are mostly banned due to it being hard to care for. You now sit with moderately aggressive fish that are legal. From what I've read so far your more aggressive fish that are legal to keep are, Veija Zonata, Flowerhorn and Wolf Chiclid. Although I am not too sure about how legal a wolf chiclid is (not on blacklist though). Those fish are typically kept either alone, or with a female with hiding places and they all want a very large tank, 2m +

 

A bit off track here but does anyone have any experience with chocolate cichlid?
Saw a stunning one this weekend at one of the LFS's. Briefly read up on it but from what I could see also extremely agressive.