I know that people have them in NZ but my question is Do you need a permint? if so where do i get it from? and where do i get the fish from?

These are like my dream fish and if i can get tehm then ill have to go and get a tank (and spend a year paying it off) but if i can get info then i can find out how much ill need.

You don't get them. They're illegal to own and the fine for posession is something around $200,000 if you're caught. The national aquarium in Napier has(Had?) some, but they obviously would be a special case.

Anyway, why would you want something as hideous as a pirhana when there are so many much more attractive fish available?

are you serious? then how come so many people have them and are open about it

They're either asking to get inspected by maf and fined hugely or don't actually have pirahnas.

A lot of people have Pacus, they look similar, but aren't.

I would say that they are refering to their "P" look alikes, the pacu.

I know I did, then to clarify my assertion I'd add, "vegetable piranah".

The Nat. Aquarium and Kelly Tarltons come under a ZOO permit which makes them similar to a "Q" station, except the public are permitted in.

Alan 104

I had heard that the napier aquarium had to pipe all their waste water out to sea and do all sorts of other things like keep the tank and water completly seperate to be able to get a permit to keep them... Think maf were worried about them breeding and getting out lol

o well, ill have to do it through work then,

well try to.

while im at uni training to be a zookeeper i get to work at a zoo for the year

:lol: Thats almost like me saying I work for an importer so I am going to get ...... :roll:

Red belly Pacus are on the banned list here to, as when young they are a dead ringer for pirhanas. Both are here in Aussie too.

Frenchy

well under the zoo linces i can ask the zoo curator to apply for them, as in the next 12months we wana get a aqurim going

You will only be able to keep Pirhana if YOU have a zoo license. It isn't too difficult to get one but there are a few dollars involved. Once you have a fully operational and licensed Zoo facility you will be able to apply for the permit to keep Pirhana. You can then apply for a permit to import them. Once and only once this is granted will you be able to approach an importer to bring some it. Don't expect any change from around $3k after the shipping, quarantene and MAF fees.

You'd be better off to get some Pacu... I kept them until a few years ago until they got too big. I donated them to the National Aquarium and they're now on display for everyone to see.

omg u so didnt under stand that, i do work experince at a zoo that has a zoo linces and i want to try and get some at the zoo for them, but just because i want to dosent mean that the zoo will

Good luck then.

im a big nasty fish nut, and IMO pirahna are way overated. they hardly ever do anything like what you see on the tv, unless you starve them for a long time they just dont go into feeding frenzies, they would rather spend their time being skittish and hiding. red bellies are sociable and need to be kept in schools while the black ones are solitary and very evil so youd have to sort out which species and all that. i did some research on them a while ago and they seem like one of those fish that are pretty (imo they are pretty) but are alot of work, their food requirements were insane, needing stuff like fresh fish etc. i worked it out to cost around 30 a week to feed some here on the diet i was reccomended by the pirahna fury team

im not sure even if you work at a zoo if they will get them in. zoos arent really 'fish friendly' places, i went to auckland zoo and i was surprised they didnt have them (i spose im a bit silly assuming zoos always have the cool illegal animals) it seems to be more aquatic specialists that are the ones that are able to have them. you can most definatly try, theyre really cool fish and itd be nice to have more on display around NZ

I was poking fun :lol:

If pacu's are legal imports, with the right contacts overseas & a mistake on labelling anything can happen

Frenchy

There are 5 places round nz with them. all legal

It is not to hard to get a permit for them. The cost would be no where near the $3k mark.

They would cost close to the cost of a pacu.

pacu are legal though... and once theyre big you cant pay people to take them :lol: in shops they retail for about 20 each. to have pirahna imported your looking at a fair whack of money (quarentine space, maf visits etc). i would have thought it would be fairly hard to get permits, otherwise more people would have them? id be willing to put a fair bit of money (if i had it lol) into getting some.

..and then they eat each other..... start with 20 and end up with one.That would make all the importation costs a waste. They are awesome to watch though,esp when they pack hunt a goldfish

i've seen red belly ones in kelly telton and didnt think they were that great. they hardly moved at all and when they were feeding it was pretty average.

if ur getting it just for the feeding frenzy then u'll be sadly disappointed. IMO a tank full of brackish green spot puffers is a much more aggressive at feeding times.

I agree fishboi, not that great, but still cool to think you're looking at real live piranhas. Maybe they need more of them, or feed them less often, or more variety.

red bellies are schoolers, thsoe black ones are not, theyre solitary predators. i think theyre real pretty though, i love their cute little mouths and theyre so shiny (the red bellies)

Theres a free to good home Pacu at the goldfish pagoda in Pakuranga Auckland hes far too big for my tanks and im told hes about half his possible size!

Piranha need a temp of about 75 and therefore would not survive in NZ waters seems strange that they are banned also their is always the fruit eating variety which grows quite large but quite harmless.

There are 5 places round nz with them. all legal

Pacu's or piranha's?

piranha's, anyone can keep pacu.

although id like to give keeping pirahna a go i would rather go without- i can only imagine what losers would set up tanks for these and sarcrafice hundreds of fish and animals just for kicks- im sure there would be some sickos out there that would feed cats and the like to them