Care and Facts

A little bit of  information on Red bellied Piranhas.

Red Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus Nattereri) (nat-err-eye)
Thee most attractive and popular of the piranha species. Getting a P? then go for the red belly.
Facts: A carnivorus fish. Has a larger reputation from being a man-eater. This however of course is not the case. Granted, at times P's may be extra agressive or hungry and attack and eat humans but it is not a man-eater by nature. Feeding: In nature Piranha's eat lots of diffrent thing. everything made of flesh from small minnows to large water buffalo's. Piranha's are attracted to the smell of blood so be carefull where you put your hands if you have a cut. In captivity they however eat diffrent things. You can feed them small or large feeder fish depending on how large and how many you got. popular feeder is goldfish. a bit expensive but the best way is to breed goldfish for the piranha's Other things you can feed is: Beef heart, worms, mice and rats, baby mice an pellets. I myself feeed my piranha pellets. and sometime one or 2 shrimps. Aquarium: Piranha's are school fish and should really have at least 3 in one tank. the size of the tank varies of on how big they are and how many. remember in smaller numbers they tend to get teritoriall and deaths can occur. big aquarium is needed for territories and movement. streaming water like having a powerhead is often the best circulation you can have. piranha's also like a bit dimmer lights than other fishes. If you have a single piranha it is good to have many hiding places and a big big big aquarium. otherwise he may tend to freak out and panic when you clean the aquariums or move things around in it. Temperature: 76-84 degrees F. pH: 6.6-7.1 Appearance: Fish can grow up to 30 cm's in aquariums. Biggest Characteristic is its very very read belly. In young age these piranha's have small black spots all over their bodies. when they grow older they may maintain these spots.