Piranha advice needed

[skiergd011013]

Hello. I work at an aquarium, and we are getting some red bellied piranha in a few weeks. We have a 500 gallon amazon tank, and it had several piranha in there a few years ago. Sadly, they all died. The piranha co-existed with a pacu, a very large pleco, pink tailed chalceus', and leporinus' with no issues. The piranha were actually quite skittish. Well I miss having piranha, and the excitement that they provided our visitors (and me). I will be ordering 25 babies (3 inch). I am not immediately going to add any of them to the 500 gallon display tank. I have set up a 75 gallon holding tank for them. I want to get comfortable with them first, but also, the supplier said that naturally survival of the fittest will happen, and some of them will die. He said that if they are kept well fed, they become lazy and mellow, and will probably be fine with the other fish. Some of these fish have been in this tank for close to 20 years, so I dont want a massacre to happen, But we have been successful with piranha in the past. After holding them, I will add some, but not all, to the tank. What would be the smallest group to add? I guess they are a schooling fish, and are very nervous if they are solitary. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[BootyPup]

I am not sure on the group size to add, I have heard you could add very little to a tank, but I would recommend possibly adding the smaller/weaker looking ones to the tank, ones you think might be bullied just to allow them to establish in the tank before the others.

 

[Jose Mayo]

In the link below, you will find some good information about the care to keep with piranhas:
http://www.aquarismopaulista.com/tx-piranhas/

Best regards

 

[leahfiish]

I would add them all at the same time. Also you may want more than 25 if they are going to be the main attraction for the tank. The more you have the more comfortable they will feel being out in the open.

 

[Waters]

The smallest group that is recommended is 3-4, and I speak from experience, that doesn't always work. I would add as many as possible all at once. You can also keep the temp on the low side of their recommended range which keeps them calmer. Finally, if possible, remove any hardscape so that they will not create territories. Unfortunately I had an issue with my group of piranha over the weekend :(:( (***Dead fish warning***) These are fish that have lived together for almost a year without any issues.

 

[Rakie]

Go to monsterfishkeepers forum and ask there.

Piranha are all hit and miss, redbelly are the most commonly kept and typically do well in groups, but even in nature they will cannibalize the moment a fish shows weakness. Sick fish, weak fish, unhealthy fish, old fish -- They're going to get taken out by the other piranha.

Conversely, you can always go with single large piranha that will not coexist with groups -- or with anything. Like a big black piranha (this guy is 17 1/2")