▷ Red Piranha | Serrasalmus nattereri | All information and details

Data sheet piranhas

German name:
Piranhas / red piranha

Scientific name:
Serrasalmus nattereri

Origin:

Size:

Aquarium

Length:
200cm

Contents:
From 500 liters

Lighting:

Furnishings:

water values

Temperature:

PH value:

carbonate hardness:

total hardness:

Behave

Area:
center

propagation:

egglayer

Lining:

Behave:

Difficulty level:
Experienced aquarist

Sources

General information about piranhas

Piranha Photo: Andrea Bernd

Piranhas, Pygocentrus nattereri, can only be kept in very large aquariums with at least 700 to 800 liters of water. They prefer to stay in the lower pelvic regions. Piranhas are schooling fish and should not be kept solitary. At least 7 to 9 animals should be kept. The swarm must be bought together. Newcomers will not be accepted by an existing swarm.
7 to 9 young animals can be kept for a while in smaller 150 centimeter long tanks with a capacity of approx. 375 liters. Later they will bite themselves to death in 500 liters.

The fish grow quite quickly at first. In three months they can grow 8 centimeters. At 2 years old, red piranhas are between 12 and 18 centimeters in size. After 2 years they grow more and more slowly. After 3 years they are over 20 centimeters tall and quite wide. When they are small, they are still quite lively. Later they only stand relatively immobile in the tank.

Piranhas are quite long-lived and can live 20 to 30 years. They have quite high demands on food and water. Soft water is also mandatory for piranhas. Piranhas don’t do well in hard water for long.

The keeping conditions for piranhas

Pygocentrus nattereri – Red Piranha Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: Public domain Author: .:Ajvol:.

The lighting should not be too bright. There must be hiding places. The animals like to stay under a blanket of floating plants or a larger piece of tree bark.

Giant Vallisneria are also suitable. If there are enough runners, the piranhas like to stand between the leaves. The leaves are not or only slightly shortened.

The filter must be large and efficient, but not generate too much flow. A special, slow biological additional filter may be useful. On the one hand, coarse lining is necessary, of which scraps often remain, e.g. B frozen shrimp and fish or fish fillet in mouth-sized pieces. These residues deteriorate the water quality. In addition, the animals have a large metabolism. Regular water changes are therefore necessary.
In addition, when feeding, care must be taken to ensure that all of the food is eaten. If larger debris gets caught in plants or roots, the water can quickly deteriorate. This can lead to a pH drop below 4.5, which could kill the animals.

Piranhas can be fearful.

Pygocentrus nattereri – Red Piranha Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: Public domain Author: Karelj

Larger pets or small children should be kept away from the aquarium. Piranhas are very skittish when kept in small shoals. Even light reflections are stressful for piranhas.

Piranhas show typical tetra behavior and are rather fearful. Because they are more shy than many other fish species, they should not really be kept in inhabited rooms. A brief shadow in the room is enough to make them panic. So the room should be very quiet. A basement room with a large aquarium and sturdy plants is best.

Only a few aquarists are able to offer them suitable conditions in terms of rest, tank size and food. The fun with the animals is lost very quickly and the animals have to suffer as a result. It is even more difficult than with other types of fish to find a buyer if you don’t like it. Piranhas should only be kept after really careful consideration.

It is possible that piranhas are so fearful because they travel in much larger swarms in nature and feel quite alone in the tank. In nature, a swarm often consists of up to 1000 animals. If stress factors are added, they can become dangerous because of their teeth. You can then e.g. B. kill each other by food envy. You shouldn’t necessarily reach into the aquarium with your hand when a piranha is biting. The teeth are extremely sharp.
Only nets with metal gauze should be used for catching. Other landing nets only last a few seconds on larger animals.

Even if piranhas initially appear shy and fearful for the reasons mentioned, they are dangerous and aggressive animals.

No roots or stones with corners and edges may be used for decoration. Otherwise, if the animals panic, they will injure themselves again and again.

The floor can consist of normal aquarium gravel with a grain size of 3 to 5 millimeters.

Piranhas should be kept in the species tank.

They can be kept with practically no other companion fish. These will all be eaten over time. You may be lucky for the first 1 to 2 years. Then they get to an age where they become more territorial and show certain whims. At 15 to 18 centimeters in size, they begin to decimate the population of other species. Even a 25 centimeter large honeycomb catfish was mostly left alone, but every now and then a piece of its dorsal fin was missing. They will also bite or eat other species if well fed.
Fish for socialization should be at least 30 centimeters long so that they are not eaten. Armored catfish of the appropriate size are suitable. Disk tetras can be socialized well with piranhas. But then no plants can be kept. In addition, disc tetras are strict vegetarians. Catfish may also be suitable under certain circumstances. However, there is always a risk and in the long run piranhas must be kept in the species tank.

Food for piranhas

Frozen mixed seafood is varied and willingly eaten.

Suitable feed:

Video Piranhas: