Red Piranha (Pygocentrus Nattereri)
March 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Egg Bearers, Fish Species, Freshwater
The Red Piranha is a South American fish, found in Parana, Orinoco and Amazon. They’re also known as Natterers Piranha or the Red Bellied Piranha and their genus name is Pygocentrus Nattereri. They can reach a length of 30cm (12 inches), they like their water to be either a bit acidic or soft, at a temperature between 24 and 27 degrees Celsius (75 to 81F). They will eat meat, fish, insects and worms.
This species is predatory and aggressive. Only the young are OK to keep in a home aquarium, since they grow to a fairly large size. You will usually find this species in bigger aquarium that are public.
The back of the Red Piranha is a grey/blue, with a red belly (which also gives her the name of Red Bellied Piranha). The sides of the fish are an olive/brown and it has a lot of shiny spots on it. The color of the spots actually varies depending on the age of the fish.
Most people overstate how ferocious the Red Piranha really is. While they are an aggressive fish, they will usually attack only when there is some blood in the water. They are very dangerous though, as their powerful jaws and sharp teeth allow them to strip an animal down to its skeleton in just a few minutes.
If you want to get your hands inside an aquarium with Red Piranha, you should make sure that they’re well fed first. You should change the water inside the tank on a regular basis, since the water quality goes down fast when you feed the Red Piranha with fresh meat. You can also try feeding this fish with frozen prawns, as they do well with this kind of diet.
This species will breed when kept in aquariums. The number of eggs laid by the female varies between 4000 and 5000, and they are quite large. It takes between 9 and 10 days for the eggs to hatch. You can leave the adults in the tank, since they don’t attack their young or their eggs.
