Are red belly piranhas boring?

[mattybecks]

Thanks for the replies. Exodons are amazing but I really like the overall look of rbp’s. Im gonna try find someone locally who has them and see can i have a look at their set up and make my judgement to weather or not to get them. Would you say they are rewarding overall to keep? I have a 120 gallon so was thinking of a school of 4-6?

I enjoyed keeping them. The only reason I had to rehome mine was because I left my country. If I had the opportunity to buy them here in Dubai I most certainly would. Unfortunately what is sold here as Piranha are Red belly Pacu. And there are a lot of them sadly.

What I would try if I was in your situation would be to get as large a group as is possible for your tank of RBP's (as young as possible too) and add some silver dollars in with them. They look similar (when young), and are from the same family and environment, but are more active than the RBP. This should give a nice, interesting mix in your aquarium. I am by no means an expert so I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong, but it think the RBP and SD should loosely stick together, without the RBP giving them much trouble.
You would need some seriously good filtration though. Extra canister filters or a sump.

 

[mattybecks]

Regarding the everyday of actually keeping and working with them:
I always had my hands (and arms) in the tank when I cleaned or rearranged my décor. They never troubled me at all and would swim to the other side of the aquarium. This is largely due to the fact they weren't overcrowded and had space to feel comfortable.
RBP wont just bite you unless you have them cornered (self defense move) or you haven't fed them in a while and they are absolutely starving. Keep in mind they will feel more threatened and prone the smaller the tank is. I think people keep these guys in tanks that are too small and so they tend to feel threatened, and bite more readily.
In my opinion these fish are a little misunderstood and given a bad rep kinda of like sharks used to/still have.

 

[jstevenz]

As said before it depends on what you are looking for, if you are looking for pure aggression, i would just go with a Rhombeus or Black Piranha. If you want schooling and frenzy feeders then exodons number 1 and RBP's #2.

I use to keep RBP's for about 6 years and from my experience it all depends on what you have for them. For the best results, IMO, you need 6 or more and a minumum of a 125 gallon tank which I still think is on the small size. At the end of the day they need to feel comfortable as stated above. Areas to hide, some darker areas, and eventually they will associate you with food and become less skittish.

In short, yes they can be very skittish and can be "boring" if pure aggression and Oscar or Cichlid like personality is what you are looking for. But it all depends on the fish and what you provide them.

 

[Chicxulub]

No fish is boring, there's just fish that don't fit the needs of certain keepers. RBP are basically silver dollars with outsized teeth, and behave as such. I enjoy most characins, and I believe that I'd enjoy a school of P's, but I can't have them where I live.

Also, moved to the Piranha section.

 

[Ash_water]

Hi im looking into keeping red belly piranhas and would like to know if they are really as boring as people make them out to be. Do they get more confident as they get bigger because from what ive read some people say they do and others say they hide all the time.
Thanks in advance.
Robbie

Hi there. I had these guyz for about 4 months now. They are bit skittish. But the way you treat them can get these guyz to be more comfortable around you.

My fish get along and have formed a mini pack. They interact with me a bilt like cichlids.

I feed them tilapia and pellets.
It is very entertaining to watch them.

I say not boring at all.

Do I qualify to claim so?
I keep
Hoplias Malabaricus
African Tiger Fish
Northern Snakehead
ID Sharks
Oscars
Gouramis
Clarias Catfish
RBP
Chaca Chaca Catfish
Alligator Gar

Go and get some Piranhas

 

[TheReefer]

I know I'm a bit late to this, but I'll add my input. I had a 180 with 10 of them, around 6 inches at the time and they were boring as hell. I'd put in chopped up tilapia and they'd just pick it off the ground before retreating behind plants and rocks and driftwood. I tossed in a live mouse and they ignored it, I eventually took the mouse out before it drowned just because they wouldn't it. They would not get into a frenzy unless I starved them for a few weeks. The ones where you see them in a nasty frenzy is usually because they are starving. I've tossed in fish to see the piranhas eat them and one of the fish I tossed in was a trout I caught fishing that had swallowed the hook and the trout ENDED UP BULLYING the piranhas. Piranhas are boring, unless you get them in a huge school and feel like starving them for a few weeks just to see 10 minutes of bloody fury.

 

[LBDave]

A very long time ago (70's) i had some. Abot 4-5". The tank was only about 70gal so it was too small. They really didn't do much for me. I was primarily into cichlids. Back in those days it was the wow factor, feeders and such. They tended to sort of set around and then get excited. They even took chunks out of one another. Probably related to tank size. I ended up giving them away. So for me, cichlids are more interesting. Now if one could have a huge tank SA biotope I think things would be different. But when these guys get excited (at least in my case) you didn't want to be a fish in the vicinity. Even a piranha. They didn't fin nip. They take out chunks. Real quick.

 

[Tobiassorensen]

If you like an fish hoovering in the same spot then no they are not boring. Try them in a commtank and they arent that boring. But its on your own mind if that dont work out and you didnt hear it from me.
I used to have one large redbelly in a commtank with large cichlids. There where occational biting on the fins but nothing really bad. But its say 80/20 it wont work out good.