pet piranha keeping?

Question

i have just got two red belly piranha's as a gift.....
the problem is dont know **** to take care of them
need a little help.....and can i keep any other type of fish in the same tank...and by the way my piranhas are small!!!......thx a lot

Answer 1

One thing to remember about Red belly Piranha are that they are schooling fish by nature and do far better in larger groups. You have only two, so expect them to be quite shy and easily frightened by sudden movements in or around the tank. Due to this also watch for jumping and keep the tank well covered.

Most piranha commonly seen in the hobby are farm raised fish and are fed on a variety of frozen foods as well as prepared foods such as dried or freeze dried fish. If possible feed these types of food instead of live foods to avoid the possibility of disease coming from the live food, in this case, other fish.

Red belly Piranha do get quite large, about 13" in the wild or in a very large aquarium. More often they only get to about 10-11" in home aquariums, but even at that size they will need some space. I wouldn't suggest you try to keep two adults in anything less than a 70 gallon tank. They will just simply need that much space for swimming and turning in the tank.

While there have be cases of aquarium piranha biting the owners during cleaning, they are quite rare. Knowing Piranha, I would suggest that the majority of these cases were through the negligence or ignorance of the owners. Such as, you don't put your hands in the tank at feeding time, or when they smell like the piranhas normal food, or if you haven't fed the piranha in several days. A starving piranha that smella something that smells like his food is going to bite, that's a given. But, as long as you keep them well fed and clean the tank at a time not normally a feeding time, you should never see them even come near your hands.

As for other fish in the tank, a hungry piranha will attack it's natural food, other fish. So it you place other fish inthe tank, expect them to be at least bitten from time to time and probably killed befor etoo long.

If I can help more, feel free to email me

MM

Answer 2

Piranha Pets

Answer 3

Piranhas are very hard fish to keep. They need a group of six or more, in a 300 gallon tank minimum. They eat live foods... They just don't make good pets.

Answer 4

are they red belly pirhanas or similar looking red belly pacus.

Both will need a larger tank, as red belly piranhas will reach over 12 inches, and a pacu will reach over 30 inches.

Red belly piranhas are very easy to keep, i have a few sitting next to me in the tank, They will eat frozen bloodworms, mines will also eat pellets. They are like regular fish, weekly water changes are must.

You shouldnt really keep anything with them that you arent willing to loose, that is with all fish predators.

They will get large,so for 2 you should be looking at a 75 gallon with a canister filter.

There are plenty of stories about red belly piranhas, but you can add your hand to the tank without them biting you, so for tank matience dont worry.

Really they are low matience, but maybe illegal in your area, so dont go bragging. You wont need to feed them live foods, but if you would like as a treat, try red rosies as they are smaller and tend to be hardier than goldfish.

Other than that remember to have a large tank.

Answer 5

Dont put ANY other fish in there the pirhanas will massacre them. Maybe a Oscar would be the only fish to put in there because I saw Pirhanas get along with a Oscar for like 2 years they havent bothered each other, Just make sure the Oscar doesnt get terrortorial or is waay to small.

Answer 6

Your piranha's may be small now but a lot of people who get them as pets find that they have a tendency to get a lot bigger. I don't know much about caring for them but please don't release them into a local water source if you don't want them anymore!

Answer 7

well feed them dead fish and stuff... oh wait... thats regular fish food... well feed them that.