Pirhana And Plec

[ProjectMayhem]

In my parents pet store they have an aquarium of 6 Pirhana's, they have been in there since very small and are now fully grown, with them is an almost fully grown plec. I was concerned at first but they have only ever attacked him one and he spent the rest of the day chasing the pirhana's around the aquarium but now they're fully grown and don't bother him, if anything he chases them around if they get too close (it's an 800 litre 7.5 foot tank).

Who'd have thought, pirhana's tamed by a plec!

 

[Louiseness]

In my parents pet store they have an aquarium of 6 Pirhana's, they have been in there since very small and are now fully grown, with them is an almost fully grown plec. I was concerned at first but they have only ever attacked him one and he spent the rest of the day chasing the pirhana's around the aquarium but now they're fully grown and don't bother him, if anything he chases them around if they get too close (it's an 800 litre 7.5 foot tank).

Who'd have thought, pirhana's tamed by a plec!

Seems like (on the internet at least) there are quite a flew plecs who'll stand up for themselves! Check out this video of what happens when you steal a pleco's dinner

 

[ProjectMayhem]

Seems like (on the internet at least) there are quite a flew plecs who'll stand up for themselves! Check out this video of what happens when you steal a pleco's dinner

Must be a fish stores tank that otherwise it looks well over stocked haha!

 

[Athena]

I quite believe it! Some years ago my boyfriend was given a 6ft tank with a few juvenile tropical fish in it but it looked bare so he he went to an aquatic store and bought a small school (about 6) of fish that he liked the look of. No advice from anyone and he didn't even know what the fish were that he'd bought as they weren't labelled. They were very small at the time he added them to his tank. Anyway, as time went on, those tiny little fish grew much bigger and he was curious what they were so he took a photo and went to his LFS.

The chap there told him the fish were Piranhas! My boyfriend didn't believe it. He told the chap that they couldn't be piranhas because there were a few other tropical fish in the tank and they'd have been killed by now. The LFS chap said it was impossible...no way could there be other fish in with them as they were definitely piranhas. So my boyfriend went back the following week with a photo of all the fish in the tank together. The LFS chap was speechless and didn't know how that could be.

Anyway, whilst there my b/f decided to purchase another couple of small fish, thinking smugly that he had a special type of peaceful piranhas lol. He took them home, put them in but was shocked to see within seconds of releasing them, one of the new fish floating in half. Then he saw one of his piranhas swim past the other new fish and that, too, was killed by the piranha.

He was baffled. Why did they kill the new fish but not the others? He went to another LFS and told them the whole story. They said it was because the piranhas were babies when they were put with the first lot of fish and grew up with them, accepting them as part of their group. Whereas adding any new fish would be seen as food...

Very strange but interesting, I thought.

Athena

 

[ProjectMayhem]

I quite believe it! Some years ago my boyfriend was given a 6ft tank with a few juvenile tropical fish in it but it looked bare so he he went to an aquatic store and bought a small school (about 6) of fish that he liked the look of. No advice from anyone and he didn't even know what the fish were that he'd bought as they weren't labelled. They were very small at the time he added them to his tank. Anyway, as time went on, those tiny little fish grew much bigger and he was curious what they were so he took a photo and went to his LFS.

The chap there told him the fish were Piranhas! My boyfriend didn't believe it. He told the chap that they couldn't be piranhas because there were a few other tropical fish in the tank and they'd have been killed by now. The LFS chap said it was impossible...no way could there be other fish in with them as they were definitely piranhas. So my boyfriend went back the following week with a photo of all the fish in the tank together. The LFS chap was speechless and didn't know how that could be.

Anyway, whilst there my b/f decided to purchase another couple of small fish, thinking smugly that he had a special type of peaceful piranhas lol. He took them home, put them in but was shocked to see within seconds of releasing them, one of the new fish floating in half. Then he saw one of his piranhas swim past the other new fish and that, too, was killed by the piranha.

He was baffled. Why did they kill the new fish but not the others? He went to another LFS and told them the whole story. They said it was because the piranhas were babies when they were put with the first lot of fish and grew up with them, accepting them as part of their group. Whereas adding any new fish would be seen as food...

Very strange but interesting, I thought.

Athena

The growing up with them isn't really the reason, pirhana's eat each other. Putting the new fish in actually risked the pirhana's attacking your existing fish of the same size.

What other fish do you have in the tank with the Pirhana's?

The plec is very hard for them to kill, it's got very tough skin. That doesn't mean a school of Pirhana's wouldn't be able to tear one to shreds but it's a lot of work for one of them so they tend to leave them alone. Also as you can see when a Plec loses it's temper, it really loses it's temper lol.

 

[Mowbz]

Video of the plecs lunch getting stolen is AWESOME. Not only have i never seen ANY aggression from a plec, but to go up against that group, he's a genuine little badman!

 

[Louiseness]

Video of the plecs lunch getting stolen is AWESOME. Not only have i never seen ANY aggression from a plec, but to go up against that group, he's a genuine little badman!

]


I know! I felt like giving him a little cheer. I bet a plec that big could easily give out a good punishment with a few tailwhips or spike attacks though.

 

[Athena]

I quite believe it! Some years ago my boyfriend was given a 6ft tank with a few juvenile tropical fish in it but it looked bare so he he went to an aquatic store and bought a small school (about 6) of fish that he liked the look of. No advice from anyone and he didn't even know what the fish were that he'd bought as they weren't labelled. They were very small at the time he added them to his tank. Anyway, as time went on, those tiny little fish grew much bigger and he was curious what they were so he took a photo and went to his LFS.

The chap there told him the fish were Piranhas! My boyfriend didn't believe it. He told the chap that they couldn't be piranhas because there were a few other tropical fish in the tank and they'd have been killed by now. The LFS chap said it was impossible...no way could there be other fish in with them as they were definitely piranhas. So my boyfriend went back the following week with a photo of all the fish in the tank together. The LFS chap was speechless and didn't know how that could be.

Anyway, whilst there my b/f decided to purchase another couple of small fish, thinking smugly that he had a special type of peaceful piranhas lol. He took them home, put them in but was shocked to see within seconds of releasing them, one of the new fish floating in half. Then he saw one of his piranhas swim past the other new fish and that, too, was killed by the piranha.

He was baffled. Why did they kill the new fish but not the others? He went to another LFS and told them the whole story. They said it was because the piranhas were babies when they were put with the first lot of fish and grew up with them, accepting them as part of their group. Whereas adding any new fish would be seen as food...

Very strange but interesting, I thought.

Athena

The growing up with them isn't really the reason, pirhana's eat each other. Putting the new fish in actually risked the pirhana's attacking your existing fish of the same size.

What other fish do you have in the tank with the Pirhana's?

The plec is very hard for them to kill, it's got very tough skin. That doesn't mean a school of Pirhana's wouldn't be able to tear one to shreds but it's a lot of work for one of them so they tend to leave them alone. Also as you can see when a Plec loses it's temper, it really loses it's temper lol.

He doesn't have his aquarium any more - he lost interest in it all and sold the lot before I met him. He was never really that bothered about keeping fish to begin with - just that he was given the 6ft tank by a friend. I have no in-depth knowledge about piranhas as they are not a fish that interests me (i.e. I wouldn't want to keep them). Was just passing on what I'd been told as it sounded amazing that those piranhas didn't harm the fish they were tankmates with.

Athena

 

[fluttermoth]

Piranhas are not really all that savage.

It's an old idea, based on a 'demonstration' given to Theodore Roosevelt on a trip to Brazil, where part of the river was netted off and thousands of piranha were dumped in there and left to starve until the president came along, when they threw in a load of bits of cow.

They're actually quite a shy fish; I've known them kill themselves swimming into the tank glass in fright, and if they're well fed, they're no more likely to take a bite of a tank mate than any other large, carnivorous fish.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

Piranhas are not really all that savage.

It's an old idea, based on a 'demonstration' given to Theodore Roosevelt on a trip to Brazil, where part of the river was netted off and thousands of piranha were dumped in there and left to starve until the president came along, when they threw in a load of bits of cow.

They're actually quite a shy fish; I've known them kill themselves swimming into the tank glass in fright, and if they're well fed, they're no more likely to take a bite of a tank mate than any other large, carnivorous fish.

The ones I have started off as 20 babies, there are only 5 left (my piranha tank is different to my parents, only has them in mine) , I must have super aggressive ones, I was at one point tempted to add adult angel's to bulk up the numbers but wasn't sure if there'd be a war in the tank if I did so have decided against it since I don't want either the angels or piranha's to be killed.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

that video is very cool. favorite comment about the video : Chuck Norris called, he wants his fish back! lmao. (i dont know if the chuck norris jokes caught on over here in the UK but thats funny!)