There are several species of piranha. The ones we are used to around here are generally the "Red Belly" or the "Black" piranha. I have been collecting and studying the piranha species for several years now and I still can't seem to get enough of them. I know that there is probably not going to be another person in Nebraska as nuts about piranhas as I am and I hope that I can teach you all about them as well as show pictures and show you that they can be very beautiful fish for your home aquarium. These fish are not the horrible dangerous fish that movies portray them to be, if they are hungry, they tend to be more agressive, but if you feed tehm every day like any other fish, they are perfectly happy and wont cause any problems to you or each other.

There are 2 main families of piranhas. The Pygocentrus family and the Serrasalmus family. The Pygocentrus family consists of 4 species the "Nattereri" which is the common Red Belly Piranha, the "Cariba" which is Venezuela's version of the Red Belly Piranha, the "Piraya" which is the largest and most colorful Red Belly Piranha only found in the Sao Francisco river in Brazil and lastly the "Ternetzi" which is a Yellow Belly Piranha found in Argentina. These 4 species can "shoal" or "co-habitate" without any major issues occuring.

The Serrasalmus family is know for being the "mean" or "aggressive" species. The "Black" Piranha or "Rhombeus" has the worst reputation for being the meanest of them all. It's true that they have the potential to be dangerous, but each fish actually has their own personality and may or may not be the "killer fish" that you were looking for. All Serrasalmus species must be kept alone. They will not tolerate another Serrasalmus species in the tank with them even if its the same exact species as they are. Few people have been "successful" in keeping Serras together, but eventually, they turn on each other and eventually, there will be only 1 left standing.

There are a few other Species families popping up here and there such as the "Pristobrycon" and the "Pygopristis". Not too much is known about them at this time, but I'll learn it as we learn more and bring it to the table here for everyone.

I believe that Melonhead was going to set me up a section just for piranhas so that I can post pircures and location and other general information about them to share with you all. I hope it works out!

-Brandon