WHATS SO GREAT?!

[Ohio Entusiast]

Don't listen to the ''experts'' in regards to multiple fish in a tank. As a general rule, it's NOT a good idea to ignorantly toss Piranhas together knowing nothing about them and it's NOT for the beginner. With that being said...

I've kept all Pygocentrus species together, I've kept Brandti together, I had no other place to put him for a few days so put a Rhom in a tank of Pygos and currently have 16 Sanchezi and Macs in the same tank with no real problems.

As was mentioned a ''large'' tank is essential. I kept 10 Brandti in my 480 gallon [which now holds the Sanchezis.] The Pygo/Rhom tank was a 220. The single biggest factor for success is individual personality. One fish will want to kill anything around it and the next might be as docile as can be.

If you're serious about a cohab I'm more than willing to share my experiences.

 

[bitteraspects]

they seem shy, and not very fun to watch.

sounds like you answered your own question.

 

[Diogenes]

Could I put different species together?

Yes, and No. There are several genera of characins that fall into the subfamily serrasalminae. Only fish from the pygocentrus genus are considered true piranhas. There are 3 species of pygocentrus piranhas (P. nattereri, P. cariba, P. piraya), and one southern color morph of P nattereri known as P. ternetzi although it lost it's species status as research has shown that it is simply a yellow color form of P. nattereri.

A lot of people do keep "mixed" shoals of pygos. There are pics of mixed pygo shoals in the medias section.

Other fish in the family are Serrasalmus piranhas, or more accurately I think they're called "pirambebas" (flat fish) in south america. Members of this genus include the very popular S. rhombeus or "black piranha, black rhom, diamond rhom, etc." Members of this genus do not live in shoals in aquaria with a few exceptions (S. maculatus, S. geryi). There are many more species in the serrasalmus genus than pygocentrus, and there is no key to identifying them as there is with pygocentrus.

It would be unadvisable to shoal any pirambebas as an inexperienced piranha hobbyist. They're parasitic fin nippers by nature and ambush predators. Serrasalmus species exhibit high levels of aggression towards all tankmates especially conspecifics.

There are also pygopristis, and pristobrycon generas. These are in the serrasalminae family and are primarily fruit and nut eating fish.

There other fish kept by hobbyists that are often referred to as piranhas, such as the pacu, wimple"s piranha, and Exodon paradoxus.

www.OPEFE.com <------research. More than you ever wanted to know about piranhas.

 

[I<3fish]

that's pretty far off base... i definitely wouldn't just call them scavengers. piranhas will sometimes scavenge just because they will eat almost anything, but that is just taking advantage of an easy meal, many predatory fish exhibit the same behavior.

Lol, it's not. Your just biased because you own piranha's. Piranha's will much rather scavenge than hunt down live prey.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

Lol, it's not. Your just biased because you own piranha's. Piranha's will much rather scavenge than hunt down live prey.

not at all, i just happen to know their behavior and have done plenty of research on the subject. i know that they will sometimes scavenge, but they are also a predatory fish, so the scavenging is just taking advantage of an easy meal, that would lump them into the "opportunistic feeder" category.