my little buddy, the Piranha, please read!

[averagejoe]

So i have this 7 inch red belly he is in a 55 with 4 mid sized convicts 1 penguin 30 and a twenty with a whisper and heater set to 27•c. i dont really mind if the cons get picked off but they do push the piranha around sometimes too lol, what im trying to get at is,
what would be a suitable companion he is a mellow piranha fed everyday krill and shrimp wuth the occasional blood worms.
i love fish! i plan on upgrading my tank. size wize
please inform me on possible mates! i will go out of my way too feed and care for the thanks. im working on photos but im my iphone now

[Pleco380]

Piranhas are schooling fish so you'll need more. You'll also need a bigger tank.

[averagejoe]

thank you, i knew that, but i was wondering if they could possibly schoal with another fish? that'd be cool and he occasionaly chills with the cons tho. so i was really wondering would there be possible tank mates? i wanted to get a rope fish, and yes im upgrading my tank my 125 has a hole in it from my old dempseys belive it or not lol

[reef12]

Never seen to many mellow Piranhas.
I had one once in a 30 long by himself was alright and kept away from high traffic areas.

Never have seen to many dither fish get along with Piranhas neither not for long unless in say a 500 gallon tank with much bigger fish.

Oscar maybe as I have seen a fellow that had them together.

I was thinking if a real large size tank maybe a Pacu which are real close to looking like them and when large a Pacu will eat fish also.

Good luck but the 55 is crowded.

I also had a sunfish in a tank with 4 of them small maybe 4 inches sunfish like 6 to 7 well after he bullied them for months they turned the table on him and well not good for him the final outcome.
That was a 125 gallon tank.

So as you see not many will be tolerated for long.
Reason why in your case could be only one and that is stopping him from taking the rest out.
They attack after one makes the first move 95 % of the time the tail is first then well enough said.

I hope it works out for you.

Jeff

[Lady Hobbs]

Even convicts will kill each other once you have a mated pair and they have spawns. Convicts are know to fight to the death much larger fish. Since you do not have a school of them for hunting, I suspect the piranha will be picked off by the cons.

Aquarium grown piranha grow to about a foot and he will need what an Oscar needs, at least a 75 gallon for himself. A school of them would be nice but that would require a 500 gallon tank + to have a school of one-foot fish.

I don't know as you will be able to keep any fish with the piranha. He will probably be happy enough with lots of hiding places in a nice big tank.

[averagejoe]

thank you for the advice, the piranha has picked off some cons there was about 17 of them, now there is four mid sized ones i dont mind if they die tho, there like dam rabbit they breed like crazy. And my lil bro already has the rents still. how would a dempsey or a rope fish( also reed fish) do with him in a 125 ps. im still workin on photos

[averagejoe]

could someone also help determine the sex of this lil guyvplease give me ur email so i can send u the pics and then please post here with an answer i also out of the four cons have two breeding pairs. one pair already had some fry but the rb ate them for breakfast lunch and dinner lol i joke but he gobbled them up:)