Red-Bellied Piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri Fish Profile, with care, maintenance requirements and breeding information for your tropical fish

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This page will give a completely detailed profile of the selected fish, from A to Z. The profiled fish will be chosen randomly by Badman, and will come from the complete genre of tropical fish. New profiles are added on a regular basis. If you would like to submit a profile for the site please contact me. Don't forget to let us know you experiences with this fish by filling out the

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South America

Pygocentrus nattereri

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Please remember that the following comments are personal experiences and may or may not apply to your setup. Use them as guide to help better understand your fish, like us all individuals will behave differently under different circumstances.

From: Devin
Date:12/29/2002

I have had three Red Belly Piranhas since they were essentially fry (approx. 1" long). They are now just over 6" and highly aggressive. I origionally had them in a 20g tank, then I moved them to a 50g tank and they now reside in a 77g tank. The only thing that will stay alive with them is a large (14") Pleco. I tried a 12" Channel Cat, but they massacered it within 20 minutes. They were taking chunks 2" in diameter and 3/4" inch deep out of it with each bite! They are most likely this aggressive because I have raised them on nothing but live feeders since they were fry. They will accept dead meaty foods, and even flake on occassion, but I beleive they were meant to hunt, so I let them. They due this most often at night after lights out. When young, they are very skittish, but now that they have grown quite large, they will regularily try to bite me as I do tank maintenance. There jaws are easilly strong enough to crush bone, so I have resorted to buying a long pair of tank tongs. They are also incredibly fast and can accelerate without warning from a standill very quickley. They are eating 3 - 4 feeder goldfish 3/4 their size a night. I have them in a tank with sand as a substrate as this makes it easier to remove left over peices of feeders. I also have lots of driftwood and some volcanic rock. I am using plastic plants for now as they are big rooters, I am hoping to try some hardy live plants soon. Be sure that everything in your tank is of sturdy construction, because when spooked they can barrel at objects, I have my filter intake knocked loose every 2-3 days. NOTE: these fish are powerful, dangerous fish, always be wary when conducting tank maintenance as they can due serious harm to you very quickley. If anyones has any questions, feel free to e-mail them.

From: Daniel and Melissa
Date:12/29/2002

We originaly bought 2 reds, we are now introducing another red to the tank. We feed our Reds goldfish,blood worms,and a beef heart recipe that will make your reds grow extremely fast. We also feed our fish with the lights on and they enjoy having their lighting. When we got our reds they were about 1.5" long and now they are about 4.5" long.(we have only had them for 2 months)We have also noticed that our reds will not kill right away but they will let the live food know what is going to happen to them. We have noticed that our reds like fancy tailed goldfish,(the tail seems to get their attention).Rosy Red feeders are good for when your reds are real little. Hope this helps.

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