How can I tell between male and female Red Bellied Piranhas?

Question

I have heard it is a difference between thin and thick. I adopted two 8" long piranhas and I am looking for more to breed them with. They have not bred (that I know of). They are both generally thick (about an 1" - 1.5"). The larger one has a low swooping anal fin unlike the other whose anal fin is not as prominent. I want to know if they are male or females so that I can buy them mates. Also, what is the best mix (more males? more females?) I want to end up with about 5. (They are in a 90g tank) Oh and in addition to the 8" ones I also just got a 4-5" one as well, will larger piranha's mate with smaller ones (given they are both over a year old?)

Answer 1

It's pretty much the same as with all other tetras. The females get full bellied and heavier than the males when they are ready to breed. Here's a good article that covers that oand other info about breeding them that looks alot like what happened for me when I bred them.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/articles/piranha3.shtml

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

It is almost impossible to tell the difference between male and female red belly piranhas.

First of all, you need WAY more than just 2 piranhas if you want them to mate. You basically have to just buy a bunch of them and hope that some of them mate. During the mating period, the female's belly becomes redder than usual. This is the only way to tell the difference between male and female piranhas.

Also, it's not a good idea to mix young and old piranhas. If you want to have more than 1 piranha, then you have to buy them all together. Piranhas that aren't born together will most likely just attack each other.

Breeding piranhas is a very difficult and expensive thing to do. You need several piranhas, which means you need lots of food. You will have a lot of mess to clean since piranhas are messy eaters and some of them may die because they like to play rough. You also need to have a huge tank, all kinds of rocks for the bottom, etc...

If I were you, I would just buy a couple of baby piranhas and enjoy taking care of them and watching them grow. If you really want to breed piranhas, make sure you read up on it extensively.

I reccomend: The Guide to Owning Piranhas by Manolito Pinkguni
-you can buy it on Amazon