Guppies???????????

Question
hi there,
 I have recently bought 3 piranahs and my brother and i have decided to breed mollies, guppies, and sword tails.  We will mostly be breeding guppies because i have been told that they breed faster than the other types of live bearers.  Right now the piranahs eat, 6 to 8 feeder guppies a day a piece.  Fancy guppies they will eat 1 to 2 and maybe 3 when they reach their max lenghth.  I wanted to know how many guppies i would need to sustain that diet, without having to buy many fish.  I also wanted to know if a 35 gallon tank would be enough??  Thanks, Dylan

Answer
Hi Dylan, this is Nicole. I found your question in the Question Pool, sorry if it took a while to get an answer.

I don't know much about piranhas, but I do know one thing. You can't keep a fish healthy just feeding it one kind of live food. It's like trying to live off a diet of eggs. Or rice. It's incomplete, and unhealthy for your fish!

However, I have to commend you on doing the smart thing when it comes to feeders - breed your own! The feeders at the store are crowded and unhealthy, and haven't been fed much of anything nutritious. Gut load your livebearers with Spirulina flake, bloodworms, vitamin enhanced frozen brine shrimp, and whatever other kinds of flake and pellets you have around. Give them the best foods, because this is what your piranhas will be getting in their bellies!

You should get yourself a whole bunch of guppies (10 or more) and have that tank chock full of fry all the time. Make sure you have good filtration in that feeder breeding tank, you don't want the guppies to be stressed and contract ich or any other communicable disease. Make sure a heater is in that tank too, guppies like the typical high 70s temperatures and this will make them more disease resistant too. If your water is soft, consider adding some crushed coral sand or gravel to buffer up the water. Guppies like hard water, and will breed more prolifically in it.

Now, here's a website that will give you other diet ideas:
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/prairie/5962/Feeding.html

The seafood department in your grocery store will become your friend! Don't be afraid to leave the shells on the shrimp, this provides roughage and calcium. Don't be afraid to try some chopped pieces of fruits and vegetables too. If they don't eat it, it won't cloud the water because these foods have virtually no protein. Most fish like peas with their skins off, try that for starters.

As for the tank size, that's really too small. They will become awfully territorial as adults. You need at least a 55 gallon tank. I've read that 20 gallons per piranha is one of the "rules of thumb" but I say, give them as much space as possible. Decorate heavily with driftwood and plants. This is what their natural environment looks like, and they will show their best colors and most natural behaviors in it.

I hope that helps, take care!
Nicole