Piranha natterera: description and features of the content in the aquarium

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Not every aquarist knows about such a fish as the Natterera piranha - she is a regular or red piranha. Which is not surprising. Its content is associated with many serious problems, which significantly reduces the popularity of the fish. But still, it will be interesting for many readers to learn more about it.

Habitat

First, let's determine where the Natterer piranha is found. Like all representatives of this bloodthirsty family, it lives in South America, mainly in Venezuela, through which the Amazon carries its waters. Also, the fish can be found in the Orinoco and La Plata.

They live mainly in flocks, and rather rather big ones - from 250 to 1500 individuals! It is not surprising that a bunch of hungry fish in a matter of minutes leave only a mountain of bones from a huge buffalo. Perhaps, in many respects it is the red piranha that this whole genus of fish owes its formidable glory.

Appearance

Now let's see what a piranha looks like. Her body is high, slightly flattened on the sides. The tail fin is large and powerful, which allows it to make sharp jerks in pursuit of prey, andalso when evading more dangerous predators.

The body of juveniles is bluish-silver. The back has a more saturated color. The whole body is covered with dark spots of a fairly regular shape. The ventral and anal fins are reddish.

Over time, the color of the fish changes to silver-gray. The heel is no longer so noticeable, but golden sparkles appear - in good light it looks just great.

Most individuals do not grow more than 20 centimeters in length. However, sometimes there are exceptions, however, only in nature, in the open and with good feeding. In this case, the fish can grow up to 30 centimeters. Such individuals weigh about a kilogram.

The head is large and the jaws are powerful. Piranha teeth are very long - up to five millimeters! Closing, they can cut off everything that the fish grabbed. Moreover, the jaws not only close, but also move from side to side like a clipper, cutting off hard fibers, cartilage, skin and thin bones. And as soon as they feel blood, the fish literally go crazy, tearing apart any prey, regardless of size.

Suitable aquarium

Before you get this fish, make sure you can provide it with the right conditions. Still, she is quite exotic and whimsical about the conditions of detention.

You need to start with the fact that the aquarium should be large enough. For a pair of fish you will need a container of 80-100 liters. But piranhas are best kept in flocks of at least 8-10 pieces. Accordingly, an aquarium is neededmore spacious. Of course, you can choose a smaller option. But then they will grow up quite small, and they will not be able to boast of good he alth, longevity.

Small pebbles or coarse sand are suitable as soil - of course, washed and disinfected by boiling. It is also advisable to supplement the aquarium with snags - there are quite a lot of them in the usual habitat of piranhas, so it is worth recreating suitable conditions as accurately as possible.

Algae is a must. Moreover, it is desirable to give preference to unpretentious plants - hornwort, elodea and the like. The fact is that piranhas sometimes like to prove themselves as gardeners. They simply snack on plants, which can lead to the death of more fastidious algae.

Plastic algae is also not a panacea - even they will not resist powerful teeth.

Otherwise, everything is pretty standard - good aeration, using only clean, settled water and replacing a third of its volume weekly.

As you can see, keeping a Natterer piranha is not difficult, so any more or less experienced aquarist will cope with the task.

How to tell a male from a female

The fish become sexually mature at about a year and a half. But sexual dimorphism is not too pronounced - you need to look closely to distinguish the male from the female. The first is a little smaller, and the second is a little slimmer. In addition, the anal fin in females is rounded, while in males it is slightly pointed.

They breed in aquariums extremelyrarely. If only because this requires a really large capacity - from 500 liters and more. Not every aquarist, even an experienced one, can boast of having such a vessel. Therefore, most of the fish sold in aquariums are wild-caught.

What to feed them

It is very important to decide on the diet. However, everything is quite simple here. What do piranhas eat in the wild? That's right, raw meat. Therefore, in the aquarium you need to provide exactly the same menu.

A good choice would be fish, as well as minced fish. Sometimes you can diversify the diet with lean beef. However, you should not often feed piranhas with animal meat. This can lead to digestive problems, as well as obesity. Meat must be deep-frozen before feeding to destroy parasite eggs, if any.

Young animals can be fed with small earthworms, bloodworms and tubifex.

Adult fish fit large pieces of meat. You have to give a little. Pieces that have fallen to the bottom, they probably will not collect, they will rot and spoil the water. Therefore, cleaning should be carried out immediately after feeding.

Make sure the fish are fed. Otherwise, the risk of cannibalism is high. A few piranhas may well tear the weakest of the pack apart to feast on it.

Which neighbors to choose

Stupid to argue - piranhas in the aquarium look very elegant. But still, two fish for an aquarium with a capacity of 100 liters is clearly somehow not enough.

But to pick upneighbors need to be very careful. They will not tolerate large cohabitants and will quickly kill them, so you should choose only fish that are inferior in size to piranhas. For example, predators usually do not touch neon zebrafish, guppies and platies. The main thing is that the piranhas do not starve, otherwise the neighbors will be considered from a gastronomic point of view. But barbs and swordtails can cause serious problems. These fish are accustomed to move rapidly, and sometimes arrange real quarrels. Surprisingly, for all their bloodthirstiness, Natterer piranhas cannot boast of strong nerves. If the neighbors constantly scare them, the fish may well get sick from constant stress, which will lead to their death.

It will also be useful to think about the possibility of introducing small catfish - for example, speckled. They spend most of their time at the bottom, and they cannot boast of large sizes. They will feel great and at the same time eat up the leftovers of the piranha meal, the owner does not have to clean the aquarium every day.

Conclusion

Now you know much more about the Natterer piranha - its habits, lifestyle and needs. This means that you can provide the fish with suitable conditions for a long life.