# Cannibalism prevention



## Magzinator (Jul 27, 2009)

Is there a big danger in piranhas eating each other in their shoals? i have 4 redbellies in an 80 gallon tank, what i did was put 2 pacus with them since they kinda look the same and if the piranhas get hungry they would just eat the pacus instead.

I fed my piranhas some crickets and some floating pellets, i was really excited when i didnt have to "train" them to eat floating pellets. Then today i realized that the pacus could have been the ones eating the pellets and the floating crickets.

Can anyone comment on this or should i just remove the pacus?


----------



## jacks (Aug 6, 2007)

Magzinator said:


> Is there a big danger in piranhas eating each other in their shoals? i have 4 redbellies in an 80 gallon tank, what i did was put 2 pacus with them since they kinda look the same and if the piranhas get hungry they would just eat the pacus instead.
> 
> I fed my piranhas some crickets and some floating pellets, i was really excited when i didnt have to "train" them to eat floating pellets. Then today i realized that the pacus could have been the ones eating the pellets and the floating crickets.
> 
> Can anyone comment on this or should i just remove the pacus?


i wouldnt remove the pacos just ensure that you feed the reds offen and remove any uneaten food after 30min or so


----------



## Magzinator (Jul 27, 2009)

how often is often? 2 a day? 3 a day?

tnx


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Magzinator said:


> Is there a big danger in piranhas eating each other in their shoals? i have 4 redbellies in an 80 gallon tank, what i did was put 2 pacus with them since they kinda look the same and if the piranhas get hungry they would just eat the pacus instead. *Get rid of the pacus. Do you seriously think you can house a fish that easily passes 2 ft? I dont understand why people get fish that they cant care for. I appologize if you have a pond or something for it, but i doubt you do.*
> 
> I fed my piranhas some crickets and some floating pellets, i was really excited when i didnt have to "train" them to eat floating pellets. Then today i realized that the pacus could have been the ones eating the pellets and the floating crickets.
> 
> Can anyone comment on this or should i just remove the pacus?*yes*


Territory is the main issue in cannibilism not hunger. My p's have gone 2 weeks no food (adults) with no problems, yet i recently had one killed when they were all nice and fat. There is no real way to be sure it wont happen if they are kept as a cohab as anything can be concidered territory includign a bare tanks corner. Recently i had a p killed by the alpha and now the killer resides in the victims territory. Remove the pacus a you cant are for them when they are larger, make un needed waste, take up space and have an equal chace of being killed as other p's since the victem depends on whos in the desired territory.

For feeding, feed based on their stomach size to keep them fat. Every couple days is fine for adults, while daily (or multiple times per day) is ideal for small fish. How big are your p's? Just make sure to feed what is eaten so you dont have much if any waste to remove.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I agree def get rid of the Pacus


----------



## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

jacks said:


> i wouldnt remove the pacos


He said "Pacos"


----------



## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Any other fish + P's =


----------



## Magzinator (Jul 27, 2009)

@sean-820: ok, will be removing the pacus soon... i just need to find a new home for them.. I actually am planning to build a pond in the near future but was planning to put in kois...

@Rhomzilla: I wasnt expecting the pacus to live that long with the Ps, i was just thinking that since the piranhas would be the stronger predators the would go for the pacus first before going on each other. You know, survival of the fittest... I guess my logic was wrong...

Thanks for the input guys


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Magzinator said:


> @sean-820: ok, will be removing the pacus soon... i just need to find a new home for them.. I actually am planning to build a pond in the near future but was planning to put in kois...
> 
> @Rhomzilla: I wasnt expecting the pacus to live that long with the Ps, i was just thinking that since the piranhas would be the stronger predators the would go for the pacus first before going on each other. You know, survival of the fittest... I guess my logic was wrong...
> 
> Thanks for the input guys


If they were at the same size, the pacu's would also grow larger faster so they would soon dwarf the p's.


----------

