10 Gallon fish tank

Question
Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my question. I recently bought a ten gallon fish tank with all the gizmos u need to keep it running. I got a little to excited and put too many fish in my tank and my fish got ich. So I started over, treated my tank, and it is up and running again. I now have a small young piranha and a small chinese algae eater in my tank. I plan to move my piranha to my 20 gallon tank that is not set up yet(when he gets larger). So my questions are, how long will it take for my piranha to outgrow the 10 gallon tank?, and what other fish can I put in my 10 gallon tank now that will live with my piranha? (not any larger ones). Piranhas are very messy fish, should I put another cleaner fish in the tank? I was also thinking about getting a red crab...Finally, I want to feed my piranha feeder goldfish fish but I heard that it could spread disease to my piranha, what should I do?

Answer
Hello,

I have never had a piranha so I can not say how fast they grow. The best way to decide when to move him is to watch him carefully, and when he looks to big for the tank move him to the other one. It is hard to say what too big is without seeing him, as it depends how he grows. An estimate might be if he gets longer then about 7-10 inches or taller then about 5 inches.

The only fish you should keep with your piranha are other piranhas or algae eaters that he will not bully/pick on or eat. If they are messy, you can put a cleaner fish in or alternatively, simply syphon your gravel and do you regular 10% water changes every week.

If you want to feed you piranga feeder fish, there is a chance that they might pass a disease onto him. The only way to avoid this would be to set up a quarentine tank, where you keep these goldfish for 1-2 weeks before giving them to him. That way, any diseases they may be carrying will become evident during this time.

I hope this helps.

Good-luck,
From Stephanie