# Piranha in community tanks??



## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

I'm looking to get some piranha for my community tank, reason for this is that i want an interesting fish that can hold their own against the fish i already have in there,
I know that the other tank fish may eventually become food for the piranha or the piranha will eventually become food for the puffers
but i was wondering if anyone out there had ever managed to keep piranha with other fish and not have a problem?


----------



## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

sorry but adding a piranha to a tank that already has fish in it will cause problems, i would almost gaurantee that the piranha will eat fish or be eaten itself


----------



## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

That why I'm doing the research first would be silly of me to just go get some and add them with no consideration for the fish, i have read on some sites that people have managed to keep piranha in community tanks successfully so thought i would see if anyone here had managed the same thing


----------



## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

I have a big community tank with red bellies in no problems! there is 8 piranha (all adults) some juvie Motoro rays, a pike cichlid and a massive swarm of Ameca splendens. so long as i keep to the feeding regime there is no issues. the only one who ever has a go at anything is the pike cichlid, but he is so old he never catches anything and has resigned himself to eating his proper meals! i have never seen the piranha go for the smaller fish, but i suppose it would depend on the size of the piranha against the size of the fish curently in the tank...


----------



## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

so far i have 4 south American puffers at 2-3" each one differs slightly in size,
2 common plecs one at 4" the other at about 5" 2 angel fish quite large thy are about as big as the circumference of a mug if i was to put it plainly and a 3" clown loach that i hardly see,
the red billies I'm looking to get are just young at 2-2.5" and i was thinking of just getting 3


----------



## $dean (Jan 19, 2009)

your red bellys will eat you other fish when they get bigger, and they grow quite fast


----------



## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

Gemificus said:


> so far i have 4 south American puffers at 2-3" each one differs slightly in size,
> 2 common plecs one at 4" the other at about 5" 2 angel fish quite large thy are about as big as the circumference of a mug if i was to put it plainly and a 3" clown loach that i hardly see,
> the red billies I'm looking to get are just young at 2-2.5" and i was thinking of just getting 3


I think im gonna have to agree with the above post... i think at the smaller sizes the piranha are more inclined to take fish rather than wait for actual meals. I think i get away with it because they are fully grown and thier natural diet would have shifted away from live active fish. for the sake of your existing stock i wud find another fish that is less snappy


----------



## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

well in that case i will rethink the piranha thanks for all ur advice


----------



## lionfish (Jul 15, 2009)

Can I suggest silver dollars ? if you're that keen on getting piranhas , silver dollars are a vegetarian relative of the piranha - I have the silver dollars with the red belly that look a lot like the red belly piranha , the only issue is if you have live plants silver dollars are voracious plant eaters , mine are fine as i have a big community tank furnished with bog wood and rocks and no plants .


----------



## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

cool i'll look into it thank you


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

man piranhas don't care!


they're packin heat... forget aggression... they'll just take a bite...

they don't care what fish it is... they get hungry, they take bites... 

if there's only other pirahnas about then no problem... they bite each other...

just take a hunk of flesh... at will... skittish things!:lol2:


----------



## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Gemificus said:


> so far i have 4 south American puffers at 2-3" each one differs slightly in size,
> 2 common plecs one at 4" the other at about 5" *2 angel fish* quite large thy are about as big as the circumference of a mug if i was to put it plainly and a 3" clown loach that i hardly see,
> the red billies I'm looking to get are just young at 2-2.5" and i was thinking of just getting 3


 
These are natural piranha prey. You may have an issue.

Harry


----------



## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

Not really, they come from different parts of the Amazon.
Angelfish are from smaller slower flowing waters than the red belly piranhas such as small ponds and ditches and small slow flowing streams. Piranhas live in larger rivers that are a bit faster flowing.


----------



## geodaryl (Jan 17, 2009)

shouldn't your puffers be in a brackish setup...?


----------



## lionfish (Jul 15, 2009)

No there is a species of freshwater south american dwarf puffers - I assume these are the ones he has , all puffers are fin nippers so I wouldn'thouse them in the same tank as angelfish , those long flowing fins will prove too tempting !


----------



## reptile boy (Apr 7, 2009)

theres allways treat ya self a another tank and buy ya self some think like a baby diamond rhom or black piranha there stunning had both got more personality thn reds, reds are very skittish and seem very scared my rhoms use to come up the top of the tank wen feedin thm and chase me finger across the tank:2thumb:


----------



## Stan193 (May 27, 2009)

Piranhas are not very exciting to be honest. what about metynnis, theyre a bit similar to piranhas in appearance, better looking in my opinion and fine with other fish as theyre more into eating plants. 
They might eat small fish, I've never kept them with small stuff so not sure. The only problem is they will eat all your plants. I kept metynnis and loved them, they ate from my hand and i could touch them. Theres lots of other disc characins similar to the commonly seen silver dollar metynnis shreimullerii, I also had red hook and myleus shcomburkhii but im also a big fan of mylossoma duriventre but dont see them very often.

I kept clown loaches with my metynnis and they occasionally tormented the metynnis, they would swim at the side of them realy close and follow them everywhere, was quite funny, they werent being nasty just mucking about.


----------



## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

They will live with other large fish and maybe not turn on them, they are not very much of a predator more a scavenger, but it's normal for them to take down another member of the school if they are hungry ,so you may not have any problems untill one day one turns on another fish.
The biggest problem you would have would be any fish that was the right size not to be lunch would probably bully the piranh to death


----------



## ctarry (Jan 24, 2007)

Reptile-newb said:


> Not really, they come from different parts of the Amazon.
> Angelfish are from smaller slower flowing waters than the red belly piranhas such as small ponds and ditches and small slow flowing streams. Piranhas live in larger rivers that are a bit faster flowing.


they do live in the same parts of the amazon.



as for keeping piranha with different fish, it can be hit or miss, really it is down to tank size, fish size and piranha species

I have kept 5 different species of piranha.
I tried 8" red bellies, cariba and piraya in the same tank as a 12" plec with no probs, just nipped at the plecs fins on occassion.
I did try to add tetras, these lasted 7 hours at the most, convicts were eaten after a week (but these were small, adults can hold their own especially when breeding), although i did find 1 alive 2 months after when i was redoing the tank, in the smallest of caves.

in other tanks, i kept a spilo (serrasalmus spilopleura) with tetras, most didn't survive. these piranha are more fin nippers, but will still eat anything they can.

I also had a pike piranha (serrasalmus elongatus), nothing was alive with him. He tried to get me if i stood within 12" of his tank


the fish that you mention, the plecs should be ok, the others would be killed quickly.
I first started with red bellies at this size. fed them on mostly frozen bloodworm and live earthworms 3-4 times a day. missed i feeding, found 1 with just its head left.
they are very hungery at this small size, and without a doubt, you would need a densely planted tank to improve you chances


----------



## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

ctarry said:


> they do live in the same parts of the amazon.


Err, mate, they don't. Piranhas come from cooler medium-fast flowing waters, while angelfish come from hotter still waters.

Please get your facts straight. People think that all fish from the Amazon live together. People think the Amazon food chain is like this:
Neon tetra -> Oscar -> Black piranha
It isn't. These fish all come from the Amazon basin, but will rarely come in contact with one another.


----------



## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

ctarry said:


> they do live in the same parts of the amazon


Not necessarily. Compare the distributions of _Pygocentrus nattereri_ and _Pterophyllum scalare_/_altum _on the PFK fish mapper and you will notice that they are distributed in different parts of the Amazon basin. 

In any case they you won't find them in the same stretches of river per se.


----------



## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

I doubt you'd find altum anywhere in the Amazon, they come from nearby drainage basins like the Orinoco which is north of the Amazon, they don't live in the Amazon itself.


----------



## ChrisNE (Jul 13, 2008)

lol I know nothing about fish apart from they taste marvelous with a little lemon so the title to this thread in my eyes reads...'Can I put a lion in with my antelope?' :whistling2:


----------



## cmullins (Feb 20, 2008)

how would red bellies and silver dollar get on in a 800 litre tank?? as im interested in getting some.

also where could i get hold of pacu?

thanks

chris


----------



## Smurfinator (Aug 13, 2009)

Join this forum, the guys there are great and know their stuff and there is TONS of information. Piranha Forum

Baby reds will eat almost anything they can, at that size they are extremely cannabalistic and aggressive, do not buy them unless you have a tank which is a suitable size (general rule is 20g per fish) and has adequate filtration, they are very messy and grow SUPER fast.


----------



## Smurfinator (Aug 13, 2009)

*Edit*

Can a member of staff please edit, or allow me to edit my previous post, as the link i provided was the wrong one.

Cheers


----------



## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Smurfinator said:


> Join this forum, the guys there are great and know their stuff and there is TONS of information. Piranha Forum
> 
> Baby reds will eat almost anything they can, at that size they are extremely cannabalistic and aggressive, do not buy them unless you have a tank which is a suitable size (general rule is 20g per fish) and has adequate filtration, they are very messy and grow SUPER fast.


One of the best posts I've seen so far, to the point and has common sense... :whistling2:


----------



## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

cmullins said:


> also where could i get hold of pacu?


Pacu should not be kept unless you have a tank/heated indoor pond in excess of 4000L at least.
They grow huge, like to be in groups of their own kind, and are very messy and poo a lot.


----------



## cmullins (Feb 20, 2008)

Reptile-newb said:


> Pacu should not be kept unless you have a tank/heated indoor pond in excess of 4000L at least.
> They grow huge, like to be in groups of their own kind, and are very messy and poo a lot.


size depends on the species


----------



## Hermans2008 (Aug 15, 2009)

Piranahas should be kept on there own and not mix. Best replacement would be a Pacu. They look the same but are veggies and will be safer with other fish


----------



## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

cmullins said:


> size depends on the species


Yes, but the two most commonly-available species, _Piaractus brachypomus _and _ Colossoma macropomum_ both grow absolutely huge. 




Hermans2008 said:


> Best replacement would be a Pacu. They look the same but are veggies and will be safer with other fish


Read above, they are hardly what you could call a good replacement due to their size.


----------

