Red Belly Piranha Feeding Vids "Diary"

[Illbuyourcatfish]

I've seen many nice and rare fish including piranha on this site but what I do not see much of is common red bellies. Compared to other species they are quite inexpensive and easy to acquire. They grow fast and are attractive for a monster fish. They also stay comparatively small but lack nothing in the aggression catagory especially when backed by a school. I'm all for exotic and rare monster fish but just like with food (mac and cheese/pizza) sometimes simple and common can be great when done well. So when I found myself with an empty tank I figured I'd take a shot at red bellies and got a hold of Canadian Aquatics. Not much time later 20 piranhas arrived.

First video.



I'm down to 12 individuals from the original 20 despite two times a day feedings and the school seems to have stabilized. I'm also still working on getting better lighting but it's a very fun project. The group becomes very active under dim lighting and the vibrant reds and silvers provide a tank that's a lot of fun to watch.

Fun note-When they arrived a put a small group of white cloud in the tank for them to chase. All the white cloud are STILL alive and well even though 8 piranha have been devoured by their siblings.

[Rastapus]

Red bellied Piranha are increasingly harder to get. The majority came out of Hong Kong breeders and they are prohibited to ship these internationally for many years now. Likely it will come down to bigger wild individuals to satisfy the trade.

[Elle]

Nice tank and nice healthy looking fish! I've always liked the RBP's, but we ended up going the oscar route instead...I wanted to keep all of my fingers.

[ludds]

Nice tank set up how big is the tank?Do u think it better to buy small piranha's to grow out or buy juvies insted? If I may ask howmuch per piece were the fish.

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[AWW]

I still remember the day one of these guys gave me 4 stitches. Very cool fish for sure, they grow super fast!

[Illbuyourcatfish]

This tank is a 180 gallon. I think growing them out is very cool, especially to see their behavior change as well as the physical changes. But I was originally looking to buy them at the size they are now. AWW is right, they grow very fast with regular water changes and food. At the time I bought mine I paid around $9 per fish. If you check Craigslist or Kijiji you can find them grown and pretty cheap (sometimes free) especially in Vancouver.

[AWW]

Also, Anyone considering Piranha should also know mixing them with other fish is no good. The group i was caring for were mixed with some cichlids, and everyone co-existed but the cichlids always had torn fins.

[Elle]

If you check Craigslist or Kijiji you can find them grown and pretty cheap (sometimes free) especially in Vancouver.

Not to mention that you're also likely rescuing the poor fish from a crappy situation, given some of the CL postings I've seen.

[Illbuyourcatfish]

Anybody have any info or suggestions on some plants that would work in this setup to add more green? The lighting is dim and the substrate is sand. I'd love to have the bogwood covered in some kind of moss. Any ideas?

Or in a completely different direction I wouldnt mind trying LED lighting on this tank. Any input on what brand LED light system would be nice? Input?

[Elle]

Java fern would work in low light. Check with Anthony (SeaHorseFanatic) about the LED - his buddy built a really nice setup for his tank.