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i have 4 red bellied piranha's and i was just wondering if i could put some freshwater snails in there with them?

Will the snails do a good job in clening?

How many snails would i beable to get in a 60 gallon with 4 piranhas?

BTW 4 RBP dont fit in that tank. but i would say it should be fine. i have some snails w/ an electric cat

I just want to start by saying this...

i have some snails w/ an electric cat

That is no way relevant to this topic...are electric cats even close to pirhanas? No. That does not really help him make a decision.

Any way...

The snails should be fine with the pirhana. They aren't notorious for eating snails...just other tankmates

But you WILL have to move the pirhanas when they get bigger, so plan on getting a bigger tank soon...I'm pretty sure it is the Red bellied pirhana that can have wicked fast growth spurts...but I could be thinking of another fish


Oh, and just a couple snails will be fine to begin with...depending on the type of snail you may end up with doulbe what you started with before you know it

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 20-Dec-2005 17:01

just stating that snails are tough as they can deal with anelectric cat, so a pirhana if well feed on a good diet should not even consider eatting a snail will their are live meals still in the tank.

if u dont use already, try useing a feeder goldfish(bigger one, not the .12 ones) once and awhile, so they can use their natural feeding behavoiur. i found it kinda interseting how they work together and take out the fins to make the prey not able to get away.

i found it kinda interseting how they work together and take out the fins to make the prey not able to get away.

They take random chunks. They don't waste time ripping fins off. It's not efficient. In fact, if they can they try to eat their prey whole...they just don't waste time imobilizing the fish first.

By the way...dealing with an electric cat is different than dealing with a pirhana. Sure they can withstand the electricity (I guess, but I dunno much bout these cats) but I'm pretty sure it is hard to handle being eaten almost whole while being crushed by the razor sharp teeth

Besides, pirhanas just don't eat snails...they would definately prefer live fish over them any day. They ARE omnivorous though, so be sure to feed them a little bit of plant matter every once in a while...less of course I'm thinking of a different pirhana (I do that a lot)

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 20-Dec-2005 19:53

Agreed electric cats and piranhas are not a good comparison.

piranhas may attempt at eating a snail (though i doubt it). But I would be more worried about the piranha than the snail. the snails will more than likely reproduce and as such are replaceable, where as the piranhas teeth might be damaged from biting down on the shells, which will bepainful for the fish, and very minimal risk of infection

When I had my RBP's, they acctually ate the snails that were in there, although i didnt care, because I dont like them anyway! But hey, pirhanas are opportunistic eaters, as they will eat what they want, when they want. They aren't biased!

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

as im on my 4th shoal of red bellies yes they do eat snails
i use my piranha tank as a breeding groundfor malyasian trumpet snails not sure of the spelling mts for short
my shoal of 7 will pick larger ones off the glass but as the snails readily breed so fast and in such numbers the loss is not noticable
as for the snails cleaning youd need 1000s to notice a change haven 4 reds in a 60 gallon
the only way for sure to keep the tank clean is by doing it urself
i have had limited success with plecos but then ive had complete failures
i do all my tank maintence by hand n having 7 reds all wild caught means i have alot of work

about the eating of larger prey piranhas are fin eaters when small they eat fins as they grow they become capable of eating larger fish whole
the area jsut in front of a piranha is a blind spot limiting precise attacks their tendencies r to swim up fasy bite n tear a chunk
they r opprotunistic eaters and will prey on wounded fish
watching my 7 eat a 12-14" koi the fins dissappear first as they r easier to bite off

the immense jaw pressure of piranhas they would not even notice biting through a snail as they can write off a metal watch with ease and no ill side effects