Can Piranhas Live With Anyother Fish

[superman1]

Hello ..

so i have sold of my marine stuff and made a fair bit of money and am going to start a piranha tank...
i am getting some red bellie babies in about 3 weeks but wanted to know if anything can be put in with them... i have read some articles where plecs and some nocturnal fishes have lived happily with piranhas and just wanted to know if anyone else has any experience or knows if any other fish can be added with them..

 

[Haych]

i'd have said no.

not sure about plecs mind

 

[guppymonkey]

Probably not if the tank is the one mentioned in your signature. Piranhas get fairly large, nothing huge but large.

 

[Mr Bliss]

Check out the predatory fish subforum here, there are a few experienced piranha keepers there. It seems to me that your question is a common one over there, and the answer is a resounding NO.

 

[KittyKat]

If it is the tank in your sig, you shouldn't be keeping pirahnas in there in the first place, let alone with anything else. If you get a tank which is over 6x2x2 and has hiding places and you keep a school of pirahna, then you can keep larger plecos in there too.. I have also seen them mixed with some of the larger cichlids, nocturnal fish, rays and aros, but even a 6x2x2 would IMO be a bit too small for anything over pirahna and plecos.

 

[crazychris]

I saw large piranhas in with big plecs at a public aquarium once.

 

[fishfinderdave]

keeping these fish with other fish will always be a big worry for the fish keeper.
as these fish can be extremely aggresive and tear what ever they catch to shreds lol
even plecy's...even if they really wanted to.

these are not fish that should be kept individually they are a shoal fish...
and they get fairly large so need to be kept within a large tank.
personally i woudnt dream of keeping it with other fish...far to risky
not even large plecy's
if these feel pekish they will eat your other fish without a doubt lol
cichlids, rays, plecy's whatever.

 

[Davo86]

You would need a minimum of a 280L tank for 4 RB Piranha (the minimum number you should keep)

 

[Mikaila31]

I suggest going for Exodons instead, they need a large school but are more suited to your tank. I would try any other tankmates though.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

If going for a shoal and you're new to p's, I say 75g minimum for 3 or 1 fish (not 2). If you are going the 1 fish route, a smaller tank will sufice as long as the dimensions are somewhere in the neighborhood of 4' x 18".

Contrary to popular belief, single piranhas are acutally usually more secure and less skitish than ones in shoals. They only shoal in the wild for protection from other fish, they are actually very nervous of each other.

Btw, this exact question has been asked repeatedly over the past couple months. Read the numerous threads sryan started and you will find you answer to if any other species will work with piranhas. Short answer is no, it won't work.

 

[dave_oddballs]

exodons, which someone mentioned have and do get kept with piranhas, i have also seen plecs kept with piranhas, i doubt you should be keeping them in your tank, as stated 280-300 litres is really a minimum for 4, a shoal this size would not be overly active or aggressive as it is said that they need to be in a group of 10 or more to go into the feeding frenzy commonly associated with the fish.
even in the wild these fish do not just randomly attack every thing they see, only really in the dry seasons when food is scarce and they are starving, a well fed group of 4 would unlikely attack another fish, of a fair size of course.
either way you shouldn't keep piranhas in that tank so its irrelevant unless your planning an upgrade.
exodons make an impressive tank in a big shoal, not too easy to get hold of though, and have to be kept in a species tank.

Dave

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Actually, in the wild exodons are a food source of rbp's. So probably not a good idea to mix the two.

 

[dave_oddballs]

they are successfully mixed in home aquariums, so strictly speaking it can, has, and is being done.
i aint about to argue with you pal, its fact.

 

[Neesmo]

I have kept a 10" rhino pleco very comfortably in a tank with my RBPs but that was with a lot of hiding places and rhino plecos are about as agressive as plecos get. He would go at my piranhas without a thought if he felt crowded. That being said, I rather have my plec out of that tank and just use a glass scrubber now. He would get his tail fin bit every few months during the night, but nothing too crazy. I didnt like him having that stress so I wouldnt put him in there anymore. I feed my piranhas a LOT so if you dont plan to do so, then NO you should absolutely NOT put a pleco in the tank unless its a very oversized tank and there is lots of hiding spots(which mine is)
I currently have 4 red belly pacus in the tank with my piranhas. They are holding up very well and school with my piranhas the whole time. They havent been nip'd at one time and are in perfect condition. They have been with them for about a month and a half now(and with 14 rbps before mine) while i wait for them to sell.
I DO NOT like having them with my piranhas for these reasons: They eat almost all of the food that hits the water. they are not even a little shy(like the piranhas are)so they get almost all the food before my piranhas can work up the courage to get some new life spectrum in their bellies. They push my piranhas around and seem to stir them up too much, which in a way stresses my relaxed piranhas.. and most importantly!! IMO RBPs look much much better on their own.
I have seen medium sized RBPs in a tank with a large and very aggressive Bichir. The bichir was repeatedly getting its fins bitten to crap. I have seen medium sized RBPs in with a full grown and quite agressive Oscar. Once again, its fins were almost always bitten to crap.
Piranhas feed on fins quite often when peckish. Both cases i mentioned, the RBPs were removed to their own tanks, which they looked better in anyways!

Kyle

 

[always4lora]

Most of the people who keep Piranhas probs have Multiple Tank syndrome , therefore have them by themselves, have all the other fish in the other tanks. IMO if you want multple types of fish get multiple tanks