ajm

For those that were interested in my previous thread Clip of my new baby psychos! I have finally taken delivery of 3 Pygocentrus Caribe, the Venezuelan cousin of the Red Belly (pygocentrus nattereri). Originally wild caught in the Orinoco they arrived in the country just after Easter and I picked them up last night. (Thank you Nick @ UK Piranha Club)

These fish are pretty rare in this country (only about 20 or so I believe) because unlike Red Bellies they hardly ever breed in captivity. Their temperament is more "ill tempered" than their Amazonian cousins, hence they bare a few battle scars from the last 2 weeks in a fairly crowded holding tank.

I plan to quarantine them for a few weeks before attempting to get them to shoal with the red bellies. The two different pygocentrus species do not occupy common water in the wild, however shoaling the two has been done successfuly in captivity.

Here are some pics... note the black "humeral spot" behind the gill plate which is the main distinguishing feature from the nattereri, along with a more prominent jaw and lighter overall colouration.

I'll try and get some vids up when they get settled in

ajm

You do have a point, and I guess most people either agree or disagree with keeping wild animals in captivity. I won't pretend that there isn't a selfish element to it, I do get a lot out of looking after these creatures, and their behaviour, unlike most fish, borders on "quirky personality" which is quite endearing in a way!

However, these are probably one of the most infamous yet misunderstood and abused species of fish there is and the more true enthusiasts can do to educate the populous the better. People buy these species expecting them to live up to their "silver screen" reputation, and when disappointed they dump them, such as what happened last year when a dead red belly was found in the Thames. I would hope that what I learn from keeping these animals I can pass on for the benefit of the species in future, and indeed a lot still remains unknown about them.

Also, anyone who thinks piranha have it easy in the wild are mistaken. It is a very tough, competitive lifecycle with cannabilsm, drought and predators all thrown in, and whilst I too believe deep down in letting nature take its course, at the end of the day they are very well looked after and want for nothing. All my fish are in rude health, exhibit no stress and they eat better than I do (just ask the woman at Waitrose fish counter! )

As for surviving the flight, they already have. Apparently they were eating within 2 days of landing, and that was 2 weeks ago. They are very hardy fish if looked after correctly, and their response to such a stressful ordeal is nothing short of amazing!

The mixing with the reds - there is no guarantee it will work, only the knowledge that it has been done successfuly before. If they don't get on then I will house them separately rather than risk the fish. Some squabbling between piranaha is normal as they constantly re-assess the pecking order. If the aggression is anything more than that then I will split them without hesitation.

Edited to add:

Just to correct you here, this genus of piranha is rare in the UK because it cannot be captive bred, but in the Orinoco they are anything but rare!!!

ajm

LOL!

corvid

They're well cool. I was thinking about getting some of them a few years ago, couldn't be arsed with the hassle though! lol.

Time for beer!

ajm

Update:-

They are settling in really well now.... their bellies have turned an even more vibrant red and they are really tearing into frozen sandeel now like there is no tomorrow!

couple more pics...





Will do a water change tomorrow and introduce some whole tiger prawns in their shells to their diet.

super_si

Just curios, how much did they set you back?

Si

imlach

Hmm....they don't look very indigenous to this country....

Are they classed as pets or wild animals out of interest?

Jye

Yeah ajm, cruel or what. I guess it makes you feel like a good 'owner' cooping em up and making sure that they only **** in your 'responsible' owner type 3 square feet of man made pond life environment when they are used to shoaling about in huge rivers

btw imlach, well said

ProperCharlie

just wait until he sends them round to his neighbour's aquarium.

Jye

BTW ajm, lets see a piccie of the full tank, all 3 feet of it.

/me scoffs at ajms 'shoaling' comment

p@ul

A friend of mine has a pair of red bellies and ive seen him feed them,boy they like there food!!!
But out of all his fish (about 6 big tanks in his livingroom) i must admit the tropical tank he has took my eye
The wife says im allowed one this year when we move into our new house,just hope the cat dont take a fancy to em to lol

Taff107

Horrid damn things! I remember looking after some for a friend of mine once and he used to feed them Goldfish
I tell you, after watching the cold, calculating, heartless maniacs eat the first one the went on an involuntary (sp) diet until he returned!

ajm

£30 each thru the UK Piranha Club

No they are not. Your point being? Are they in your back garden eating your cats?


As I said above, they are in a smaller quarantine tank where I can control the water chemistry and meds (if required) more accurately. They will be joining the rest of the shoal in this tank:-

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Nice fish.

I recently bought some RBP's, can't believe how fast they grow!.

ajm

Cool, how big are they? They will put on about an inch a month until about 4"!
How many do you have?

Jye

So whats that one, 4 feet? 6? Minnows could hardly shoal in there, lol

Only jesting ajm, I'm sure you look after em and they are nice looking fish

Live an let live, eh?

ajm

Jye, have you been drinking?

Jye

Usual bottle of red ajm, Amarone della Valpolicella, £14 from Tescos seeing as you ask. Just cos I'm disagreeing with you doesnt make me wasted, takes at least 2 or 3 bottles and a good few spliffs for that

ajm

Here is a video I quickly knocked together of the 5 reds chilling with 2 of the caribe.

I have also included a bit of feeding in the video. Don't worry, nothing dies (well nothing that wasn't already dead! ) they are eating frozen lancefish (thawed out).

shoal.wma (5.9MB) Right Click - Save As

You may notice that one caribe is missing. He is still in the quarantine tank growing back a missing chunk from his **** due to an unfortunate disagreement with one of his counterparts. Its not bad, but any sign of weakness amongst the rest could prove fatal! As with all piranha its healing extremely fast. Unlike humans, where muscle and fat tissues tend not to grow back much and the skin grows over leaving a dent, in most fish the tissue grows back as well as the skin, as long as there is enough surrounding tissue left to define the shape to grow to. In piranha this process happens extremely quickly. When it is fully healed I will post the pictures showing visible growth day by day. Interestingly the healing properties of piranha is something medical science has not looked into as far as I am aware. If they could harness the immune response of crocodiles (which has been looked into) with the healing rate of piranha we would be practically invulnerable!

Edited to add: the red bellies featured in this are the same fish shown in the other thread (linked at the top of this one) as babies about 10 months ago!

ajm

Here is a demonstration of how piranha can heal themselves. The **** fin of one of my caribe was half bitten off past the root of the fin, yet somehow the flesh knows to grow back with the fin still on top!