Information about keeping, feeding and breeding piranhas.
Keeping piranhas
Keeping piranhas with other fish
Most guides advise you to keep piranhas in their own, separate aquarium. However, piranhas are an intelligent fish, and can actually be trained not to attack other fish. There is an anecdotal case of a single piranha (around 5 inches long) that had grown up in a tank with two convict cichlids (each around 1.5 inches), that had trained it to stay in the top corner of the aquarium. As soon as the piranha came down even a couple of inches, the cichlids were said to nip at its fins until it returned to the top1. Even so, this is a rare case – if you don’t fancy paying pet shop prices for what will most likely become piranha food, keep them in a separate aquarium.
Breeds
There are several main species of piranhas, all of which belong to the order characiformes, in the family characidae and the subfamily serrasalminae. Incidentally, the tiny, colorful, gentle tetras that people love to fill their aquariums with at home belong to the same order (characiformes) as piranhas, as do the enormous, herbivorous pacu fish. The genera of piranhas are:
Pristobrycon (This genus has a series of permanent teeth along the palatine)
Pygocentrus (This genus includes the red belly piranha species pygocentrus nattereri, the black shoulder piranha and the San Francisco piranha. The red bellied species are those best known for their feeding frenzies)
Pygopristis (This genus has only one species, pygopristis denticulate, and cannot be kept at home – it lives in acid clear or black water)
Serrasalmus (This genus is relatively better known, it includes the black piranha that people keep at home. Other notable species within the genus include the green tiger piranha, elongated piranha, violet line piranha, red-eye and spotted piranha).
Keeping piranhas as pets
In captivity, piranhas live for around 10-15 years, however cases of piranhas that have lived 21 years or more exist. In the wild they live longer than this, up to 25 years.
Red bellied piranhas are a social animal, but not a shoal fish per se. They need company – and other piranhas are the least likely fish to be eaten! Black piranhas are different – they are comfortable as a solitary animal and often found as such in the wild.
Even red-bellied piranhas need space. Piranhas are territorial, and this territory is defined individually, not by a group. This is why the larger aquariums are recommended, unless you want to see your pets eating each other. They shoal for protection from danger – in the wild, this danger would be dolphins, cormorants and caimans.
Your piranha fish are diurnal animals – they will usually be active during the daytime. At night they need plants and hiding spots to sleep in. Unless your tank has few hiding spots, much of the time you won’t see your piranhas in the tank – they are very sensitive to danger.
Your filtration system will need to be one designed for at least 3 times the tank’s size – this is because of the toxic nature of piranha’s excrement, as they are carnivores, and their messy feeding habits which leave pieces of meat floating throughout the water.
Warning: It may be illegal to keep piranhas
Please note that in many warm states of the US it is illegal to keep piranhas. There are few species native to the rivers of the area to compete with them, and they could reach plague proportions if people began releasing them into the wild. Check with your local animal control board to ensure that it is legal for you to keep a piranha habitat. If you live in the us, it is illegal to keep piranhas in the following states:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
Oklahoma
South and North Carolina
Texas
Utah
Virginia and Washington
Piranhas are also illegal in Dubai, because authorities feel that their release into the wild would pose a danger to swimmers.
Feeding piranhas
Both red bellied and black piranhas need meat, although they will tolerate pellets and sometimes fruit and seeds as a short term feeding solution.
You can use live or dead fish, prawns and crustaceans to feed piranhas. Piranhas shouldn’t eat goldfish, carp and minnows contain growth inhibiting hormones that could affect your piranha’s health and development. Be certain that any feeder fish you buy are from clean, reputable environments. Breeding your own is preferable, to avoid introducing disease into your piranha tank. You can watch a video of four piranhas playing with a goldfish before eating it.
Your piranhas will not necessarily nip your hand as soon as you put it into the tank .. although they have certainly been known to! They are more likely to bite you if you have any cuts or scrapes on your hands, or if you haven’t been feeding them enough. A fish may also bite you if the other ones have been out-competing it for the food you provide.
If your piranhas break off a tooth in the course of eating their food or fighting with other tank members, don’t stress – they grow back.
Sometimes piranhas won’t feed with humans standing around watching – which can be disappointing for some owners! They are naturally skittish animals and are more vulnerable when feeding.
Be careful that you don’t overfeed your piranhas – in 2006, the BBC reported on a shoal of piranhas that became especially competitive around feeding time, with each meal turning into a frenzy. The fish had to be put on a strict diet eventually, to stop them eating themselves to death.
Breeding piranhas
If you plan to breed your piranhas, having an adequately sized tank is vital. Unfortunately in the case of black piranhas, the size of the tank needed is usually zoo-sized. For red-bellied piranhas, though, you will most likely not need a separate breeding tank. To breed red bellied piranhas, your tank should have:
Male and female fish! They are easily identified if you have black piranhas, where males have an extension on their anal fin and females have a straight anal fin. Red belly piranhas can’t be sexed easily. The easiest way to breed them is to keep 4 or more, and hope that statistics are on your side.
At least 30L of water per fish.
Places for the piranha fish to hide and guard their eggs. Plants, driftwood and other objects are needed for the parent piranhas to hide the eggs among.
A tank with a good layer of sand or sediment on the bottom – some species of piranha make a bowl-shaped nest to lay their eggs in.
To be in excellent condition. In the wild, piranha breeding season is in the wet season in South America, when there is an abundance of oxygenated, fresh water.
Black piranha breeding has only been recorded in zoo aquariums.
Breeding guidelines
If you’re keeping red-bellied piranhas, you might notice that the red tinge becomes brighter, and the rest of the fish becomes a little lighter during spawning time. If you can’t actually see the eggs, this is a good way to tell that you may have little bubba attack fish on the way!
Some reports state that adding tannins to the water helps encourage piranhas to breed. Tannins can be found in some woods, and released into the water simply by adding the wood to the tank.
The eggs hatch in only two to three days after spawning, and sometimes the adults will eat either the eggs or the baby fish. Even if you only have two parents in the tank, you may still sometimes return to find they’ve made a meal of their kids. Keep a close eye, and remove the babies to a separate tank if you want to ensure the largest possible population.
Remember though that within the population of baby piranhas, stronger fish will eat the weaker ones. This is a necessary process to ensure the health of the species and it is best not to interfere here.
When the babies get to around 1.5 inches, they’ll start nipping the fins of other fish in the tank and trying to eat them. Sometimes an interspecies friendly relationship can develop if the piranha knows the other fish from its juvenile stage – but this is never guaranteed.
Types of tanks
Piranha tanks need to be:
At least 20 gallons of water per adult fish for red belly piranhas, and at least 60 x 20 x 20 inches for a single black piranha
Densely planted for the fish’s comfort
Supplied with a filtration system rated at least three times the actual volume of the tank
Powerheads to provide currents are optional for most species
Kept at temperatures between 22 and 30 degrees Celcius, with 24-28 being ideal
Kept at a pH between 5.5 and 7, with 5.8 to 6.8 being ideal.
Buy Piranha
Information about keeping, feeding and breeding piranhas.
Keeping piranhas
Keeping piranhas with other fish
Most guides advise you to keep piranhas in their own, separate aquarium. However, piranhas are an intelligent fish, and can actually be trained not to attack other fish. There is an anecdotal case of a single piranha (around 5 inches long) that had grown up in a tank with two convict cichlids (each around 1.5 inches), that had trained it to stay in the top corner of the aquarium. As soon as the piranha came down even a couple of inches, the cichlids were said to nip at its fins until it returned to the top1. Even so, this is a rare case – if you don’t fancy paying pet shop prices for what will most likely become piranha food, keep them in a separate aquarium.
Breeds
There are several main species of piranhas, all of which belong to the order characiformes, in the family characidae and the subfamily serrasalminae. Incidentally, the tiny, colorful, gentle tetras that people love to fill their aquariums with at home belong to the same order (characiformes) as piranhas, as do the enormous, herbivorous pacu fish. The genera of piranhas are:
Keeping piranhas as pets
In captivity, piranhas live for around 10-15 years, however cases of piranhas that have lived 21 years or more exist. In the wild they live longer than this, up to 25 years.
Red bellied piranhas are a social animal, but not a shoal fish per se. They need company – and other piranhas are the least likely fish to be eaten! Black piranhas are different – they are comfortable as a solitary animal and often found as such in the wild.
Even red-bellied piranhas need space. Piranhas are territorial, and this territory is defined individually, not by a group. This is why the larger aquariums are recommended, unless you want to see your pets eating each other. They shoal for protection from danger – in the wild, this danger would be dolphins, cormorants and caimans.
Your piranha fish are diurnal animals – they will usually be active during the daytime. At night they need plants and hiding spots to sleep in. Unless your tank has few hiding spots, much of the time you won’t see your piranhas in the tank – they are very sensitive to danger.
Your filtration system will need to be one designed for at least 3 times the tank’s size – this is because of the toxic nature of piranha’s excrement, as they are carnivores, and their messy feeding habits which leave pieces of meat floating throughout the water.
Warning: It may be illegal to keep piranhas
Please note that in many warm states of the US it is illegal to keep piranhas. There are few species native to the rivers of the area to compete with them, and they could reach plague proportions if people began releasing them into the wild. Check with your local animal control board to ensure that it is legal for you to keep a piranha habitat. If you live in the us, it is illegal to keep piranhas in the following states:
Piranhas are also illegal in Dubai, because authorities feel that their release into the wild would pose a danger to swimmers.
Feeding piranhas
Both red bellied and black piranhas need meat, although they will tolerate pellets and sometimes fruit and seeds as a short term feeding solution.
You can use live or dead fish, prawns and crustaceans to feed piranhas. Piranhas shouldn’t eat goldfish, carp and minnows contain growth inhibiting hormones that could affect your piranha’s health and development. Be certain that any feeder fish you buy are from clean, reputable environments. Breeding your own is preferable, to avoid introducing disease into your piranha tank. You can watch a video of four piranhas playing with a goldfish before eating it.
Your piranhas will not necessarily nip your hand as soon as you put it into the tank .. although they have certainly been known to! They are more likely to bite you if you have any cuts or scrapes on your hands, or if you haven’t been feeding them enough. A fish may also bite you if the other ones have been out-competing it for the food you provide.
If your piranhas break off a tooth in the course of eating their food or fighting with other tank members, don’t stress – they grow back.
Sometimes piranhas won’t feed with humans standing around watching – which can be disappointing for some owners! They are naturally skittish animals and are more vulnerable when feeding.
Be careful that you don’t overfeed your piranhas – in 2006, the BBC reported on a shoal of piranhas that became especially competitive around feeding time, with each meal turning into a frenzy. The fish had to be put on a strict diet eventually, to stop them eating themselves to death.
Breeding piranhas
If you plan to breed your piranhas, having an adequately sized tank is vital. Unfortunately in the case of black piranhas, the size of the tank needed is usually zoo-sized. For red-bellied piranhas, though, you will most likely not need a separate breeding tank. To breed red bellied piranhas, your tank should have:
Breeding guidelines
If you’re keeping red-bellied piranhas, you might notice that the red tinge becomes brighter, and the rest of the fish becomes a little lighter during spawning time. If you can’t actually see the eggs, this is a good way to tell that you may have little bubba attack fish on the way!
Some reports state that adding tannins to the water helps encourage piranhas to breed. Tannins can be found in some woods, and released into the water simply by adding the wood to the tank.
The eggs hatch in only two to three days after spawning, and sometimes the adults will eat either the eggs or the baby fish. Even if you only have two parents in the tank, you may still sometimes return to find they’ve made a meal of their kids. Keep a close eye, and remove the babies to a separate tank if you want to ensure the largest possible population.
Remember though that within the population of baby piranhas, stronger fish will eat the weaker ones. This is a necessary process to ensure the health of the species and it is best not to interfere here.
When the babies get to around 1.5 inches, they’ll start nipping the fins of other fish in the tank and trying to eat them. Sometimes an interspecies friendly relationship can develop if the piranha knows the other fish from its juvenile stage – but this is never guaranteed.
Types of tanks
Piranha tanks need to be:
Links to shops
Aquascape (US): http://www.aquascapeonline.com/prodlist.asp?idcategory=22
Aquarist Classifieds (UK): http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/
It is illegal to buy, sell and keep piranhas in Australia