Red-bellied piranha
pygocentrus nattereri
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Cost:
Before I tell you how much the Red-bellied piranha cost let me just lay down a few facts. The price will vary on these factors; specimen size, maturity and supplier. Now that you understand the variable the common price for the Red-bellied piranha is $7-15.
Short Bio:
The popular opinion about the Red-bellied piranha is the they are bloodthirsty beasts, well this is not the normal case. The Red-bellied piranha is actually a very timid fish when kept in small numbers in the home aquarium, with the younger specimens are actually spooked rather easily. The bloodthirsty beast side of the Red-bellied piranha is only applied to the large school found in the wild and that side is still greatly exaggerated. Even though I just tried to make you think twice about the ruthless nature that is so commonly associated with Red-bellied piranha think carefully before purchasing any.
Origin:
South Brazil, Amazon River Basin.
Sexual Distinctions:
The male Red-bellied piranha will be slightly more slender and while in breeding condition will darken greatly.
Tank conditions:
Your tank should measure at least 60 x 24 x 24 inches (150 x 60 x 60 cm).
The temperature should be between 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit (22-28 Celsius).
Red-bellied piranhas are able to thrive in many different types of water conditions, just avoid very hard and alkaline water. The tank should be decorated with hidings spot amongst large pieces of bogwood. If you have a desire to use plants in that tank be sure to use more robust species the Red-bellied piranha may eat more delicate species.
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The Red-bellied piranha should be housed in groups of at least four, try to keep an eye out for weaker ones in the group since you may need to remove the weaker one if fighting or bullying occur or it may end up as lunch.
The Red-bellied piranha prefers to occupy the middle of the tank and is best kept in a species tank.
Food:
There diet for the Red-bellied piranha should be split up into two parts.
First you have the frozen meaty foods, which includes but is not limited to, cockles, mussels, and fish. You can also feed the Red-bellied piranha larger live foods such as shrimp or fish, just make sure the live fish are not diseased.
The second part of the diet should consist of dried pellet foods. Almost all typed of dried food will work, the reason they need this type of food is that it contains many vitamins and minerals that may be lacking in their other foods.
Behavior:
Here’s the section that I’m sure many have been waiting for. The Red-bellied piranha is rather scatty when younger, and actually slow-moving and quite timid when mature. But none the less may still take bites out of tanks mates. With adequate feeding and hardy, larger sized tankmates the Red-bellied piranha can make a great addition to your home aquarium.
Breeding:
When breeding the Red-bellied piranha you will need a very large aquarium and the spawning will usually take place after a water change. The parents will protect their young.
Sure looks like a entertaining bunch in the video. Still can’t see them as a community fish just a little frightened to add them to my tank.
Yeah, I know that they can be good in community tanks, but it’s is actually like a 50 50 chance that nothing will go wrong. I mean I know people that didn’t even care if the piranhas ate their tank mates but nothing happened. And I’ve had friends that wanted to add just a few piranha to a large, community tank and within a few days the whole tank was completely destroyed.
Just prepare for the worst, it’s not a for sure thing that anything will happen, but just be ready for it if you add them to a community tank.
P.s Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I contacted mark a week ago as i have three 7inch red bellied piranhas who had become very nervous to the point of smashing the heater and injuring themselves.
I removed ornaments etc to prevent them hurting themselves even further.
Marks advice was to do a ph test and put ornaments in so they can hide behind, i did this and the ph test and the ph levels were very low so im rectifying this plus with ornaments back in, they have calmed down a lot.
Thanks to marks advice, i am now happy that the fish will heal well and relax more.
i really want some red belly piranhas and this site helped my research thanks cant wait till i can get some!
I once got six piranhas at one time…by the time I got them home and into my tank, one of them was already missing its tail! I got them when they were small and feisty…eventually, I ended up with just ONE big one! They were certainly fun to have when I had them!
Thanks for the comment Joe!
I just saw a guys tank today that 125 gallons and he had about 3 in there I think. Theywere about 10-12 inches in length, so I can only imagine how big your one was all by it self with all the food to itself.
I have 8 piranhas, all around 2-2 1/2 inches. I absolutely LOVE these fish, these are not my first ones, I had one that was 9″ and 2 that were 3″. During a ice storm, our electric was out for 5 days, and while I warmed water on the kerosene heater and put it in with them, they still died, i was broken hearted. I feed them live food (mainly goldfish), which I buy by the dozens. LOL They grow fast and do just fine. Just thought I would leave a comment. Thanks for reading.
I’m sorry to hear that they did not make it. Do you by any chance live in the state of MN? There have been a lot of ice storms here lately.
And as always thanks for the comment!
Just woundering why my 6 5 to 7 inch red bellys arn’t eating only have them for a couple weeks and they have only ate 1 and they are really skiddidh when i feed them what can i do to make them eat and less scared thanks jimmy
Hi Jimmy! Welcome to the site!
Sorry this took so long, I just got back from vacation.
Ok, some things that you can do to help your skiddish red bellied piranhas:
~Turn the lights off for a few days, this will relax them.
~Feed them with the lights off.
~Have plenty of things for them to hide behind, don’t crowed the tank with ornaments but give them some good spots of cover. Plastic plants, large rocks etc..
~For just the feeding part try some different foods, it seems that some fish are just picky and will not eat certain foods.
If none of this works leave another comment and I’ll give you some more ideas and hopefully some other people will join in to help you.
Good Luck!
Well I have just one question I ave 3 oscars and 1 red bellied pirhanna but in the tank I also have BALA shark. But he’s like 10 or 11 inches double the size of all the other fish. So do think I should leave him in their or take him out. Because I feed the oscars nd pirhanna’s gold fish and dried food
Welcome to my site Diego.
My first question is how big is your tank?
If you have a minimum of 125 gallons I think that it’s ok to leave the Bala Shark in with the other fish.
My second question is what kind of dry food are you feeding the tank with? I mean, there are so many different types of dry food out there that you may or may not be using the right kind.
Looking forward to your response
AWell I’m using some chincild dry fish flakes nd for the bala shark I half to feed him some tropical fish flakes but the pirannah has a diet of feeder fish every other weekend and he really likes the algae disks and he also likes to eat the pellets for the oscars . But I think that now the oscars and the pirannah don’t even pay any attontion to the shark any more . I sent the comment because the shark had his fins like being nipped at by the pirhannah but now there doing fine so I thought I would add a red oscar nd there doing fine up to this point but I think that the pirannah is growing offley fast because it was only 1″ or maybe 2″ but now its bigger then the oscars its now 6″ or 7″ and my tank is 120 gallons but I’m gonna get a 180 or 200 gallon tank
Welcome back Diego,
The tropical fish flakes are good for the Bala Shark but for your other fish you are going to want to feed them pellet food because of their large size. The flakes they might still eat but it will not be enough for them. Try getting some pellet food such as Hikari Cichlid Gold Large Pellets 8.8 oz.
That is some of the best food you will find at that price, I mean $5 is nothing for fish food and that’s not a bad brand to go with by any means.
Your Piranha will also eat the pellets which is still good for him. Feeder fish are a great way to keep your fish active but in reality they offer very little nutritional value so the pellets along with the feeder fish will be a great combination.
I think that if you get a 200 gallon tank that you will be fine adding just one more Oscar.
Do you think that you could take pictures for us to look at? I would really like to see you tank setup.
Hope to hear back from you!
well sure and i use to have plants in the tank but i took them out becuse it didnt look like the fish had any room because i switched from a tropical fish tank to what i have now so hope u like the pics
hey any tips on how to get sand and how to install it into a freshwater tank :]
mark where have you been?
Hey Tom,
I’m still here. Is there something you would like to ask?
yeah, i just got 3 baby rbp’s and right now i reed them feeders and cichlid pellets when i dont feel like going out to get feeders. im thinking of having a seperate tank for feeder breeding. i plan on buying 3 more rbp’s next week to add to the 3 i have to have 6 total. how do u suggest the tank should be set up. i plan putting them in a bigger tank in the nxt few days so i have more room for the 3 new rbp’s im gonna get. and that sand question he asked was something i was thinking about. where do u buy sand and how do u install? do u recommend? do u recommend live plants too?
Hey Tom,
Breeding feeders can be a tough task depending on what type of feeders you are talking about. Guppies would be a really easy way to go if you ask me.
As for the way you should decorate your tank I recommend that you have some good hiding spots weather it’s in plants, bogwood (driftwood) ornaments etc.
I would say to go with fake plants. It’s more than likely that they will destroy live plants if you don’t get the right one. Plus it’s easier to take care of a tank that has fake plants in it rather than live ones.
You can buy the sand, which is actually called “live sand” at most petstores. You will more than likely find it by the saltwater supplies.
Here is a link to some sand if you were wondering what to get.
That price is for a 10 pound bag. You usually do 1/2 a pound of gravel for every gallon.
So if you have a 30 gallon tank you need 15 pounds of gravel.
Amazon actually has a pretty good deal on that stuff, I think that if you go into the actual store it costs more.
If you do decide to go with that sand you will first want to wash it very well in warm water. Get a bigger sized bucket or tub and fill it with sand around 1/2 way full. Have a slow stream of water flow into the bucket letting it over flow. You will lose some sand but it’s not that much. let the water overflow until it’s almost running clear. Now that you have washed the sand you will put it into your tank.
It’s best to put sand in when the tank is empty, this will dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes for the sand to fully settle. If you are lucky enough to put the sand in when the tank is empty put a dish on top of it once you have all the sand in place and slowly pour water into the dish letting the dish overflow. The dish acts as a barrier between the falling water and the sand. Now once you have the tank full you just have to wait until that sand settles which can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks depending on how stirred up it gets when pouring the water in.
If you must have water in the tank you best bet is to take a cup or bowl and scoop that sand up, and while keeping the cup facing up right push that cup/bowl into the water. While the cup is fully submerge in the water with the sand in it simply go all that way to the bottom of the tank and gently pour the sand out. Doing it this way is time consuming but will once again cut down on the time it takes for the sand to clear up.
I feel like I just covered a lot of information so if you have questions just ask.
Thanks for the comment as always.
So i have been looking everywhere on the internet about the legality of Red belly piranhas in the U.S. and some sights say they are illegal in Washington where I live, while others do not. I have also read that one can buy a permit and then keep them, can anyone confirm this? I just got a 125 gallon fish tank and was thinking about putting these in there, and was very disappointed that from what i read i can not
i am thinking of getting a piranha and is just wondering if it is o.k if only buy one or do i have to buy a couple?
They live in schools in the wild so if you have a large enough tank getting 2-3 at a time would be better.
As for tips please read the post itself and also comment 22.
also i want some tips to help take care of piranhas
Where can you purchase these fish at? I’m guessing not at your local pet shop
It varies depending on where you live, I know that at the large chain stores around my area they do not carry them. Make sure that you actually getting a Piranha if you look at a large chain store because a lot of people confuse the Piranha with it’s cousin the Pacu.
http://www.mysarcasticmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/pacu.jpg
Mark
do u think it would be ok if i didnt feed piranha live fish?
Yeah, that’s fine, just make sure that you have high quality dry and frozen foods.
if i buy two piranhas, do i have to quarantine them?
Are you asking if you need to in order to protect them from each other? Or are you asking just in general after you get them to treat them so they do not infect your all ready established tank?
from each other
It’s fine if you keep them together because it they are schooling fish and in the wild school in shoals that can reach in the 100′s.
Just provide a big enough tank so that they do not need to fight for space. To help keep aggression levels down have a school of at least 3, that way they do not feel that they need to compete for room and will in turn school together.
hi there – i currently have jewel 180litre bow tank housing 2 oscars at about 8″ and a plec – i have been researching and realy want some red belly piranhas – the oscars look like they are possible a breeding pair (albino and tiger) as they have begun jaw locking, and the albino has started to gather and move mouthfuls of sand, im assuming to get the the base of the tank for a flat surface – so for ease and more room they will be goin to a friend who has a much much larger tank for them.
how many small RBP can i or shud i get please.
would a 36 gallon tank be big enough for 2 piranhas?
@Faz,
You have a nice size tank, you can house up to 4. They are a schooling fish so with that in mind I would look at getting 3-4. They do get to a descent size so when you see them in the store don’t get too excited and buy more than 4.
@Rose,
Yes, 36 gallons would be the minimum for 2. Just try to keep bigger, bulkier tank ornaments to a minimum. Have plastic plants if you really want to decorate the tank.
Hi Mark,
I am enjoying your site…keep up the good work. My question….I have approx. 16 Red Bellies….approx. 16 – 18 months old …can you suggest what I should do to start breeding them. Right now they are split between a 125 and a 180 gallon tank. Thanks for any help.