I'm thinking of adding a red belly with my piraya.

[6 bar]

I wanted to get your input about adding a red belly with my piraya.

The previous owner used to shoal my piraya with that very same red belly and also a caribe, but the caribe was sold so now the red belly is the only one available.

My concern is that while I know the 2 piranhas used to shoal together, I've read somewhere that keeping only 2 piranhas together can lead to disaster for one or both of them.

I would ideally like to just keep the piraya alone, but it's extra skittish. It even plays dead if I startle it too much after a water change or moving decor around. For this reason I was thinking of adding the red belly in with him, hoping that somehow by adding another piranha in there; my piraya would be less frightened.

But, is my rational behind this matter correct: adding another piranha will make my piraya less skittish. Or is my piraya just an easily spooked fish and adding a rb wouldn't change a thing with the piraya.

Anyone with experience with this combination: piraya and red bellly?

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

i wouldn't add any other fish to the mix, i would just keep him solo... that is going to be the safest way to keep it. if its that skittish on its own, adding one more fish could just result in it getting bullied. personally, i've never been a big fan of keeping pirayas in mixed shoals, i have seen too many get bullied and/or eaten by their more aggressive and less expensive tank mates.

i have always been a big fan of solo pirayas, they are a very impressive fish on their own. how long have you had it and what is your setup like?

 

[6 bar]

Man, I appreciate your feed back. I see based on your sig that you have an amazing collection of piranhas. I've had him for 2 weeks now in a 40 breeder. He is 5" long. I plan on putting him in a 120 g as he gets bigger. I have a powerhead in the tank, one sword plant and some watersprite floating on the top of the tank. He also has 2 sponge filters in with him too. He hides behind them a lot.

 

[6 bar]

Just wanted to add that the red belly is 1.5" smaller than my piraya.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

if you've only had him for two weeks, i would just be patient... that could turn out to be an awesome fish in just a few weeks/months once he settles in.

piraya usually handle being solo pretty well, but as with any piranha, it will most likely take a bit before it settles in to his new home. i can't really give you any timeline, because i've had fish that settled in within a couple days and i've had other fish take months and it got to the point where i thought it was hopeless before they finally came out of their shells.

 

[Armand]

Just wanted to add that the red belly is 1.5" smaller than my piraya.

Look, what you where told is right, if you want the safest way just keep the piraya alone.

Of course you can try another pygos with your piraya, I think from my own point of view that to have a couple of reds would be better to make that piraya some company.

I think with two tank mates it would be happier just be careful the other fish are equal size or if you want to low the risk of your piraya end up eaten just as you mentioned include a couple of smaller reds, but not too small otherwise the piraya would end up killing them....

You have to pay attention that piraya are huge fish and in long term you'll need to have at least 100 gal only for your piraya, so if it goes with 2 reds a 150 gal would be the minimun required to keep them for life.

I personally dont like tanks of solo fish unless they are serras there is no option, but with a piraya It would be good to shoal it, better for its life quality and better view for the owner.

You piraya has been in its new tank for little time, it needs to settle dow. That is why you see it being too skittish.


Cheers.

 

[6 bar]

I thank both of you for your feedback. I see what you mean. He just needs time to settle in more. I think that's what I'm going to do.