habeeb89

iTrader: (3)

Or you can make the fancy goldfish a treat for the red-bellies

cliffud

iTrader: (3)

eh, so i tried to buy 12 and the shipping came out to zero. cool right?

no. i had a guy call me and tell me it was going to be another 59 bucks for next day air via fedex. i was like wth? just for shipping? i asked if they could be shipped any slower, he said no. so eh, i cancelled my order.

Anthony

iTrader: (4)

59 dollars for shipping is crazy they cant be that much..

Osiris_x11

IF your state allows such fish species to be sold, the local pet-shops or retail/franchised ones have these dime-sized Red Bellies by the hundreds for $5'ish each, and sometimes buy-one-&-get-one free promo's. If they are larger, as-in quarter to half-dollar size, they are ~$10/each at most.

Starter-food for them is frozen Brine-shrimp which is ~$5 a packet, it'll last 2-3 months or so for (2) Red Bellies. After 1-2 months, you can start to feed them minuscule meat-scraps.

Once they are ~2" in length, you may feed them live 'feeder' fish occasionally (ie. guppies, gold-fish, etc') which cost ~$5/dozen. It provides some 'sport' for the Red Bellies and some entertainment value for the owner/observer. Gold-fish contain an enzyme which stunts growth, so it'll affect the Red Bellies' development/maturation, hence why they aren't deemed a regular food-staple. Also, feeder fish lack many essential nutrients that the Red Bellies need to grow & sustain their energy levels, not to mention they (the 'feeder' fish) may likely have disease/fungi/parasites which will then be transferred to the Red Bellies. . .

Generally speaking, their diet is best suited for fresh, raw-meat scraps from the kitchen/butcher. . .
A 1/2 gallon container weighs a few pounds, and overnight delivery (to insure fish survivability) will cost that amount. We're not talking UPS Ground or USPS Priority Mail. This is literally overnight guaranteed for a package weighing pounds, not an envelope weighing ounces. . .

habeeb89

iTrader: (3)

I think it was free shipping only to the mid-west

Lazy

iTrader: (2)

59 for shipping is average price. they wont ship to illegal states.

Lazy

iTrader: (2)

i use to own a shoal of these. ( 8 wild caught reds. 10" ) attemped to breed them but failed because i didnt give them much attention.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I had 5 of these. one of them died when I tried to clean the tank. It was fun watching them eat a chicken leg.


They will also grow depending on how big the tank is. The wild ones grow in excess of 2 feet (i think) I'd hate to swim in a pool of even 1. I'll die of a slow death

Osiris_x11

Yups!
The Red Belly sub-species rarely gets larger than 10"-12" in the wild, and usually peaks at 6"-8" in household aquariums (max' sizes for both environments). I believe the largest ones on record are ~15", which is very-very rare.

Other Piranha species can get close to ~18" in the wild, but again this is quite rare.

I hear'ya man. However, alone or even in small #'s, this sub-species is rather skittish & reclusive. They'll quite likely swim away & display avoidant [sic] behavior, as they generally feed on dead/decaying carcasses or sick/wounded/dying water-faring animals in their natural environment.

Though, they are capable of explosively quick NASTY bites (2-3 in a split-second). My thumb got nibbled on so fast when I was cleaning the aquarium, that there wasn't even blood at first, just a fresh cut from 1-2 rapid-succession bites from a very skittish/scared Red Belly (~4.5"). About 5-10 seconds later, blood started to come out. That's a surgical & precise strike, all in curiosity/self-defense. . .

You wanna see a vicious, mean-*** looking, stout/thick aggressive piranha? Check-out an adult Rhom' (one of the black piranha sub-species). They can only be kept alone in captivity, not even w/ a same species mate. They'll bang against the aquarium occasionally w/ such furor, you'd think they'd break the glass; and on occasion, they have cracked their aquarium glass (the larger/mature ones w/ more mass)...