How to keep red-bellied piranhas? Breeding methods and precautions

The red-bellied piranha is also known as the Natterer's piranha, red-bellied piranha, and water tiger fish. Adult fish reach 20-30 cm in length and are aggressive. The body is oval-shaped, wide and laterally compressed. The overall body color is mainly grayish-green, with a dark green back and a large red belly. It has sharp teeth and a ferocious temperament, and cannot be kept together with other fish species. Now let's take a look at how to keep red-bellied piranhas!

The price of red-bellied piranhas

To satisfy fish-keeping enthusiasts, red-bellied piranhas have been introduced into domestic aquaculture in China, and precisely because of this, there are many fake red-bellied piranhas in the country. It is best to consult and purchase at large aquarium stores. Keeping red-bellied piranhas at home is actually very simple, as long as you carefully provide the food and water temperature they like. Choosing a smaller red-bellied piranha of 5-8 cm only costs 10 yuan to take home, while one around 10 cm costs 30 yuan. As for the fish tank, it is best to choose a larger one; a large 1.2 m fish tank is completely enough for it to swim freely. Keep the water temperature at around 25°C, and feed it with live foods such as bloodworms and tubifex worms.

The habits of red-bellied piranhas

1. The red-bellied piranha is a carnivorous fish, mainly preying on insects, worms and other fish. By genus, their lifestyle is either social or solitary. Social groups often gather in hundreds or thousands, and even a minimum of 6 can form a group. They can simultaneously use vision, smell and a keen sensitivity to water wave vibrations to find and attack targets. However, their eyesight is poor, and they rely on their disc-like body shape to distinguish their own kind.

2. Red-bellied piranhas often appear in groups, and each group has a leader, with the others following the leader's actions, even attacking the same targets. Red-bellied piranhas have the courage to attack animals several times or even dozens of times larger than themselves, and they also have an effective "encirclement and suppression tactic". When they hunt, red-bellied piranhas always first bite the prey's vital parts, such as the eyes or tail, to deprive it of the ability to escape, then take turns attacking in groups, one after another rushing forward to bite fiercely, then withdrawing to leave a place for the fish behind, quickly breaking the target into pieces. Their speed is unbelievable.

Breeding of red-bellied piranhas

1. The red-bellied piranha is an egg-laying fish. Breeding is not difficult, and they can breed multiple times a year. The female lays eggs in a pit dug by the male, and then the male fertilizes them. The female lays 4000-6000 eggs at a time.

2. The parent red-bellied piranhas will exhibit egg-guarding behavior. The fertilized eggs hatch into fry after 9-10 days, and the fry begin to feed themselves after absorbing the yolk sac within 48 hours. The young fish reach maturity after 15 to 18 months. River flooding conditions affect the success rate of their breeding.

How to keep red-bellied piranhas

1. Do not choose tank mates for red-bellied piranhas; their overly fierce attacking power will harm other fish and may even eat them.

2. Some unexpected situations may occur during keeping, such as teeth biting the owner's finger skin. Piranhas are almost non-venomous, but the wound needs to be rinsed with clean water and bandaged to prevent skin infection from the external injury.

3. Place them where the elderly, children and pets at home cannot reach, to avoid bringing harm to family members.