Can pygos be mixed?

[CaribeWithaCavity]

I’ve had reds, caribe, and Piraya together. They will fight and you will lose some for sure. Just like keeping any pygo species

 

[audiction]

I would add ternitzi, but they seem harder to come by. Also, being so close to reds in size and appearance I wasn’t sure how much of an issue a mix would cause.
However many years down the line when I get to this tank, I’ll definitely keep my eyes out for all the pygos though!

ternetzis are nothing close to reds...they are thicker and bigger in size. they will dwarf reds LOL. out of all the pygo species the reds are the ones i can skip. all you need are caribas, pirayas and ternetzis. but without the reds its not a complete pygo collection. reds are the least attractive looking out of all the pygos. given lots of space they will thrive as long as they are well fed.

 

[Killduv]

oh, i’ve seen reds and caribe eating pellets if you can get em young enough and eating pellets life will be easier - i got away from any fish that won’t eat dry of some sort... otherwise ones anchored to their tank....

GL!

Yes very true. My caribe loves floating sticks and pellets. They are easy to train actually. Drop the food in the water to make some sort of commotion and say goodbye to the food.

 

[DiXoN]

It can be done, I grew out some Natts from babies and added similar size Caribe and a Piraya later at around 5’’. They lived together for a good 18 months. I just kept them well fed usually dimly lit and a good environment. This is a snapshot of 5 of the 8 I ended up with, that’s a very old picture.

 

[TuGa121]

I have always mixed Pygos and never had a issue currently waiting on piraya so i can mix with my caribe and also adding 2 red belly

 

[Deadeye]

Definitely cool to hear that it works often. Can’t wait till I can try for myself!

 

[A&A]

It can be done, I grew out some Natts from babies and added similar size Caribe and a Piraya later at around 5’’. They lived together for a good 18 months. I just kept them well fed usually dimly lit and a good environment. This is a snapshot of 5 of the 8 I ended up with, that’s a very old picture.

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Great looking Ps! Did they live together for 18 months and later get separated? Or, did they no longer get along afetr the 18 months???

 

[DiXoN]

The natts lived together for a few years then added the caribe and piraya for the last 18 months. I sold them all on to help fund to my 200g oddball setup. I think in the whole time I had then I only had a natt with slight eye damage. The natts were fairly mellow as were the caribe but the piraya could be a little feisty, this is the piraya. It helps if you know what the temperament of the fish are like although I took a chance with the piraya.

 

[pocono]

i think your dream tank combo would work just fine if all were introduced around the same time and they were all under 4 inches when you put them together and your tank was large enough to let them have room,years ago i had a 300g tank with 6 reds and 7 caribe and 3 ternz,they all got along fine,tho i fed everyday and tank temps were kept at low 70's,a few times it looked as tho the reds and caribe paired but nothing ever came from it,they lived together for 5 years until i sold the group,am sure a piraya or 2 would have fit right in with no problems.

 

[A&A]

i think your dream tank combo would work just fine if all were introduced around the same time and they were all under 4 inches when you put them together and your tank was large enough to let them have room,years ago i had a 300g tank with 6 reds and 7 caribe and 3 ternz,they all got along fine,tho i fed everyday and tank temps were kept at low 70's,a few times it looked as tho the reds and caribe paired but nothing ever came from it,they lived together for 5 years until i sold the group,am sure a piraya or 2 would have fit right in with no problems.

Low 70s is interesting. I had my tank at 75 or so for a while. Noticed the shoal seemed more “comfortable” at around 77 though. Do you think the lower temp contributed greatly to them getting along for those years?