# Bad Idea



## A Taylor (Feb 26, 2015)

Thought I'd try adding three baby red bellies in to my 90 gallon tank that currently houses 4 3-4" red bellies, I knew it was a bit of a gamble so I tried every cautious procedure to make it work; dimmed the lights, rearranged plants/decor to disturb territory, done a partial water change and fed my piranhas prior to adding the babies. I honestly thought that at least 2 of the baby piranhas might of survived. I thought they could have stuck together for a couple of months until they were big enough to compete with the current residents but when I added them in all 3 of them were ate by the bigger piranhas within half an hour. So I'm sad to say I've sent 3 red bellies to their death, I feel guilty now, what I thought would of been a great addition has ended up being an expensive snack!


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

No biggie, you live and learn, and it was a gamble anyway as it always is when adding more Ps. Next time just add ones similar size to increase the chance of success.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Piranhas as a species are a gamble at any size... especially in groups.

I had 5 that were over 6", and one day 2 of them decided to slowly pick off the others.


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## Titus (Dec 1, 2014)

Sorry for what happened, I guess it's a part of the hobby.

I don't know how many time's I've interrupted a serious fight since I have them, I once resorted to netting the bad guy for two seconds to snap him out of his madness. Worked! I have a crazy fish which chases the others round the whole tank until they can barely swim.

As I said, netting the psycho works. Just to snap him out. I've noticed a decrease in damaged fins and scales since I do this. It's always the same guy doing the damage. Put the net in, wait for him to come close and close in on him but don't overdo it. Just a tad puts him out. If it scares him don't do it again, my guy calms down afterwards and doesn't panic.

I usually have to do this once every two or three weeks.


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## A Taylor (Feb 26, 2015)

The four I have in it have been great together, occasional nip here and there, but they seem to have their own turf in the tank and the piranhas seem to prefer to warn each other off from their patch before getting really aggressive, I guess it's like a love hate relationship and they probably think they have a better chance of survival if they have a mutual agreement over territory.
Think if I am going to add more piranhas in I will only add one or two similar size piranhas in there, problem is it's hard to find a user on ebay or gumtree that deliver in the UK, I've got some local aquarium shops on the lookout for 3-4" piranhas but they only ever seem to get baby ones, any advice for piranha suppliers in the UK that can deliver would be appreciated!


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## scent troll (Apr 4, 2005)

sucks to hear. but yeah most of us whove been around the block know that's a slim shot at working. you at least attempted your best effort to make it work. the thing is when theres too much of a size difference piranha will absolutely eat one another. 
any species that has cannibalistic tendencies will need to be dealt with cautiously when introducing more. even like sized piranha can pose a threat.


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## Scorpa54 (Jun 8, 2013)

I started with a solo act, well 1 red belly, 5 Angels and a couple of Kribs. I then added 9 more red bellies. 3 died withing a few days, and 3 more got taken out over the next year. I kind of gave up on keeping a shoal and sold 3 keeping the biggest for myself. He's about 2 now and 8.5 inches. Strangely enough through all of the piranha carnage none of the other species were killed. So I'm ending where i started.


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