In the early 2000s, my father, Jon Sr., was living in Alaska and decided to keep a tank of piranhas. He named them all “Killer” and regularly posted updates about them on our family website, Gilliomville. What follows is a kind of
Piranha Chronicles—a compilation of all the piranha-related posts from Gilliomville’s message board:
I now have 5 piranhas in my 75
gallon aquarium. They are about one and a half inches long and, for the next
month, will eat flake food. I did put a little guppy in with them and they
chased him around, nipping at him. I haven't seen the guppy for a couple days.
I guess maybe he was ganged-up on during the night.
Do piranhas snap into Slim Jims?
Ross, My alpha piranha eats even
when he is not hungry. He just eats because he wants to remain the lead dog
where the scenery always changes. I predict that within six months, he will be
able to jerk a slim jim from one’s hand.
Fish tank report!! Piranhas all 5
are doing fine. I put three catfish in with them last week-end. The fish store
person said the catfish were a fast growing type. She said that since the
piranhas were small, that maybe the catfish could get some growth and possibly
be tank mates. Situation looking pretty grave--one catfish appears alive and
doing well, one catfish dead and one catfish missing.
Tank update!!! Two catfish dead and
third still missing, which at this time is presumed to be dead. Killer is
primary suspect, as the stalker. He did not come out to eat this A.M. He later
made an appearance and seemed fine and probably full from his dark hours of
evil doing. I will go to the fish store this week-end for ideas on
possibilities for bottom cleaning. The catfish ended up adding to the waste
problem. Maybe a turtle or snail is a possibility. Maybe a huge catfish. More
updates as events evolve.
Tank update!! The remainder of the
third and missing catfish has been recovered. It is fortunate, that he was the
third and missing because the remains otherwise would not have been
identifiable. I must get to the fish store!!
I think you should set up a Web cam
on that tank. The pictures could be used as evidence against Killer.
Piranha tank update!! I talked with
Josh, the manager of House of Critters, and explained my dilemma of no bottom
feeder. I asked him about turtles and snails. He said that they would probably
mess with anything they knew was alive. He said a snail might work if the piranhas
thought it was a rock, but if they figured out it was not, they would probably
mess with it. He said a sail is uni-sex and could stand a chance of
overpopulating my tank. He suggested an electric catfish about three inches
long for $29.95. He said the piranhas would mess with it only once. Josh said,
the electric catfish stalks a small feeder goldfish within about two inches and
then stops and lets out an electrical charge. The feeder fish is said to start
floating to the top after receiving the charge and then is devoured by the
catfish. It sounds like some high drama stuff for $29.95.
Electric catfish! Yeah, get one.
For thirty bucks, I hope Josh knows what he's talking about. Will the piranha
be safe from the catfish? It's turning into some kind of House of Eerie, all
these villainous fish, like monsters.
Yesterday I found two feeder goldfish
on my carpet. The fish were like two and three feet from the piranha tank. I
think they did hari cari to get away from Killer.
My piranhas are growing so fast. I
am afraid to put my hand in the tank. I think I am going to do like George
Foreman, when he named his boys. He named them all George. They were George 1,
George 2, George 3, etc. I am going to name my piranhas, Killer 1, Killer 2,
Killer 3, Killer 4, and the last one I named Runt.
Man, I can't believe these killer
fish!! When I feed them floating food, they splash water all over the top of
the aquarium and sometimes on the floor.
When this box of food is gone I
think I am not going to buy any more floating food. The one feeder fish of
twenty five is still alive. He swims right around with the killers and Runt. I
think they have adopted him. Maybe I'll let them get real hungry and see if
they still like him.
