1. scutes or serrae are the bony proturusions on the bottom of the fish that make it look like a saw blade. IN fact thats where the genus serrasalmus gets its name.
2. You should seriously read OPEFE if your going to be keeping piranhas. It's essentially the only source of accurate information for your fish. You can't go to petco and buy a book about keeping serrasalmus species at all, and maybe you'll find something about nattereri. OPEFE is pretty much it.
3. Serras have a parasitic relationship with pygos. They nip their fins and scales off. It's what they evolved to do. You can keep serras and pygos together if your just determined to do so, but just don't expect your fish to ignore a couple of million years of evolution because you don't have any extra heater to setup a separate tank. The serras are gonna nip, and the pygos will eventually catch them unless it's a really large tank. There will be blood.....
2. You should seriously read OPEFE if your going to be keeping piranhas. It's essentially the only source of accurate information for your fish. You can't go to petco and buy a book about keeping serrasalmus species at all, and maybe you'll find something about nattereri. OPEFE is pretty much it.
3. Serras have a parasitic relationship with pygos. They nip their fins and scales off. It's what they evolved to do. You can keep serras and pygos together if your just determined to do so, but just don't expect your fish to ignore a couple of million years of evolution because you don't have any extra heater to setup a separate tank. The serras are gonna nip, and the pygos will eventually catch them unless it's a really large tank. There will be blood.....
