How should red-bellied piranhas (characids) be kept?

The red-bellied piranha (characid) is indeed one of the most ferocious fish around, and kept as an ornamental pet in an aquarium it has an absolutely extraordinary presence. Red-bellied piranhas from different origins also differ somewhat, so let us take a look together at how to keep red-bellied piranhas (characids)?

1. Introduction to the red-bellied piranha

1. Main distribution of the red-bellied piranha

The red-bellied piranha is distributed in the basins of the Amazon River, Paraguay River, Parana River, Essequibo River and others in South America. It can reach 50 cm in body length, inhabits streams and ponds, moves about in schools, is carnivorous, feeds on fish, insects, worms and so on, and its sharp teeth can cause severe wounds. It can be used as a food fish and as an ornamental fish.

2. Appearance of the red-bellied piranha

By appearance alone it clearly looks like no good character. They have an oval body, a broad and thick back, and a very large head that, like a bullet, sinks downward, with a ferocious expression and highly aggressive nature; the name “red-bellied” comes from the vivid red on the chest and belly area of their silver-gray body. Of course, their most eye-catching feature is still that set of teeth said to be man-killing. The red-bellied piranha has strong, powerful jaws, and every one of the upper and lower rows of teeth is dagger-shaped, sharp and protruding. Schools of piranhas patrol every stretch of water they visit, and it is with these teeth that they bring nightmares to other animals. A fisherman fishing in Amazonia who hooks a piranha absolutely would not dare to remove the hook with his bare hands; one moment of carelessness and he could very likely lose a finger.

2. How to keep a red-bellied piranha?

1. Red-bellied piranhas become rather frenzied in high temperatures, and above 30 degrees C they will bite other animals indiscriminately, including their own kind, so the water temperature needs to be controlled to some extent.

2. Try not to feed them foods such as bloody flesh or live chickens and ducks; such things drive them crazy. And the sign of going crazy is that they will eat regardless of everything and even jump out of the tank, and you must not pick them up directly with your hands, otherwise you may be bitten.

3. Do not feed food that is too large. Fish of the suborder Characoidei have no expandable lips and cannot swallow large prey; to eat meat they must grow sharp teeth to cut the meat off. If the prey you feed is too large, a mass of meat fragments will be bitten off in the water, which easily rots the water quality and leads to fish deaths.

4. You must fit all the wires in the tank with a grille in advance, to avoid the tragedy of a red-bellied piranha getting “struck by lightning for its smart mouth”. Because a red-bellied piranha's mouthful of sharp teeth is not just for show, and when not eating it cannot stay idle either. A red-bellied piranha left with nothing to do for too long will always bite here and gnaw there, venting its energy. But their teeth are too formidable, and can easily bite through the wire of a heater, causing themselves to be electrocuted to death.

4. The red-bellied piranha really is the byword for “bullying others by relying on numbers”. Although in a group it can turn into a meat-eating machine at any moment, when fighting alone it becomes a coward. So if you keep only one red-bellied piranha in your tank, you can rest assured about mixing it with other large fish, and you may even see it getting beaten up every day.