What The

[Dan-25]

what the hell is going on here just found it on google images which led me to a german pihrana site, surely this is not being fed to the pirhana ??

please

 

[KathyM]

It's probably yet another one of those generally male fish owners that have such insecurity in the size of their penises that they have to do this kind of thing to make themselves look hard (which they fail miserably at and just look tits to me!). I read about a video of someone letting piranhas loose on a gibby, so it might be from that. Idiots really.

 

[wendywc]

After reading a couple of pages from that website, I have to say that the page has some really interesting info. And the guy does not seem to be a malicious pet owner at all.

http/www.piranha-info.com/default.php?la...n&id=page_2

When the piranha's have acclimatized to their tank, you might consider adding some other fish in their tank. The question in how far piranha's can be kept together with non-piranha species is a much debated subject. Some argue that it is impossible to do, others have succesfully mixed their piranha's with a variaty of other fish species. I think it is all a matter of how large the tank is, in which way it is aquascaped, the amount of piranha's, what species of piranha, their attitude and character, how well-fed they are etc. Personally, I do think that it is possible to mix certain species of piranha (ie. Pygocentrus-species, Pedbellied Piranha's in particular) with other fish, as long as they can defend or hide themselves and the piranha's are well fed. I have six Redbellies, five of them sub-adults (5-6"; 12-15cm.), and one is about 8" (20cm.) in length, and they share their tank with a wide range of different species, including Plecos, Cories, Neon and other Tetras and a couple of small Barbs. Occasionally, one of them is eaten by the piranha's, but I realise, after frequently visiting piranha discussion boards, that my situation is a rather a rare exception. Some of the Barbs, placed in the tank as feeder fish initially, are coexisting with the piranha's since spring 2002!!!

This is my personal experience, but there are numberous stories from piranha-owners who are unable to have their piranha's live together with any other animal. Many will say that the more agressive species, like S. Rhombeus and S. Elongatus (in fact, most of the solitary Serrasalmus-species) are virtually impossible to mix with other fish, their own species included! Others, like the Whimple Piranha and other agressive scale eating and fin-nipping species, can only be kept with strong species larger than themselves, because they eat fins and scales, and can damage a fish so bad it eventually perishes. Omnivorous relatives on the other hand, like Silver Dollars and Pacus can be kept together with a variaty of other fish, including small Tetras, Barbs etc, although Pacu's do eat smaller fish on rare occasions.

I have noticed that the most common fish accompanying piranha's are pleco's. It is a useful bottomdwelling fish, because it is an active scavenger that cleans up the bottom of the tank. Besides being useful, are pleco's very strong fish, because of their armour plates, and their ability to withstand very poor water conditions. This makes them more resistent to piranha bites and the waste produced by the predators (fish waste, rotting food). They hold their ground against too obtrusive piranha's by hitting them with their powerful tail or bumping into them, but many have died by the 'hands' of piranha's as well. Personally, I highly recommend this fish for being a very useful and hardy companion for your piranha's, but it's important to buy your pleco together with the piranha's, or buy a larger one once you decide to do it in a later stage of your hobby.

Other animals that can help keeping your substrate tidy are talking catfish (because they are nocturnal and hide out of reach), crayfish and crabs (very vulnerable when molting, so provide enough hiding places) and snails. They all do a good job, but results vary, ranging from succesful to almost instant death..... Piranha's are opportunistic predators, and you simply cannot know how they will react to other animals in their tank. It's not uncommon with piranha's that they kill a tank mate that has lived with them for several months.

 

[Dan-25]

thats cool then -

suppose its similar to putting bettas with other fish, i just saw the pic and thought the worst. on my screen all the writing was in german or french

at least thats cleared up

i can sleep easy tonight LOL

 

[wendywc]

Plus, I just looked at his pictures and he has several tanks; it looks like 3 of them are devoted to plecs. So I give him the benefit of the doubt and think that if one of his plecs got injured, he would rehome it to another tank quickly and take care of it. Also the pictures of his plecs are just gorgeous... I have to say I'm impressed actually.