Agressive fish

Question
QUESTION: I only have 2 10 gallon tanks but i am really interested in getting some aggressive fish that i can feed live small fish but i am not sure what to get cause i know that oscars can grow to like a foot and i want a couple fish but i dont know how many to get of what kind.. baracudas, oscars, pirahans.. can you help me out??? please

ANSWER: To be completely honest, no aggressive fish who eats live fish can really be in a 10 gallon for long. You could get small pirahnas and oscars but soon you would find yourself having to get a bigger tank to fit them. They all grow super fast. You could get smaller cichlids (Malawian) and they are aggressive fish but dont normally eat live food unless its brine shrimp or very small foods, unless you have bigger cichlids. You could get two small pirahnas and plan on getting a bigger tank when they get big. The piranhas would be the best choice I think, but do be ready for the challenges of having a fish with teeth! You have to do everything differently and should not really stick your hand in the water at all, as they could be brave enough to go after you. Let me know if you need more help. I hope I gave you some useful information.

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QUESTION: how big of a tank 46 gallon be big enough... and wil cichlids eat fish like guppies when older?? i will get the 46 soon but i dont know when yet... in a 46 what is the most i can get and of what. also in the 10 gallon maybe some simi agg. fish what kinds for now??
erick


Answer
Yes, a 46 gallon would be much better for a few of the aggressive fish. However, do keep in mind if you get fish like piranhas that would be the only type of fish you could get to the tank. I understand it would be interesting to get some aggressive fish who you can feed live fish but it is more interesting to get a variety of fish and have a tropical semi-aggressive tank instead, at least to me. I have had piranhas and a large variety of freshwater fish from peaceful to semi-aggressive to aggressive and by far enjoy the peaceful and semi-aggressive fish. If you choose a fish like the piranha for the large tank you will find you may get a few and they will actually take bites out of the fellow fish and slowly kill it, soon you will not have what you started with, as is similar to most really aggressive fish. However, cichlids are aggressive compared to most tropical fish but not nearly as aggressive as piranahs for example. I would definately advice either having a freshwater semi-aggressive tropical tank or a tank with semi-aggressive fish. Yes, cichlids should eat feeder guppies when they get big enough. If you choose the cichlids make sure to get the feeder guppies as the regular guppies are more expensive and bigger and may not be as temptin as the feeder guppies. Ok, now that I have said all of that lets get down to the fish types you could choose. If you choose the cichlids you should stick to the Malawian varieties which include several types incling the electric yellow cichlid, electric blue cichlid, peacock cichlid, and electric green cichlid. They have awesome colors but do require a more precise set up such as a 7.8 and higher pH and a higher temp, around 80 degrees and up. They are beautiful but require more expertise to properly care for. If you choose the semi-aggressive tank you would have several options. If the semi-aggressive tank is in the 10 gallon you could get tiger barbs, they are beautiful schooling fish who have a semi-aggressive personality, however you are limited as to what you could put with them. One the other hand you could get some medium angelfish whom you would eventually add to the big tank. You may not think angelfish are that unique but they come in a variety of colors and when they get bigger they will eat feeder guppies as well. Also, Discus are awesome fish but should be kept alone or with bottom feeder as they are very picky/aggressive/fragile, but completely beautiful fish. Very unique as well, not many people keep Discus because as with the cichlids they require more specific tank conditions. Also, bala sharks are neat fish and can be kept with angelfish and possibly even tiger barbs. You could also get freshwater puffers, specifically the green spotted ones. However, they require brackish water which is semi-salt so they require more specific conditions but are definately semi-aggressive fish and may, I am not sure, eat feeder guppies at the right age. You are really limited with the 10 gallon as the semi and aggressive fish are usually fish whom get big, except for the tiger barbs. I would advice looking up some of the fish I have listed and learning more about them if you do not know about them and finding out more of what you would want. Feel free to ask me more questions once you discover what you want to get for the 10 gallona and even once you get the big tank. My goal is to help you keep a tank that is easy for you but also fills what you want. I want the experience of fish-keeping to be a fun one. Let me know if you have more questions or comments.