yes that takes about.... 2 seconds.. in google to find if they are illegal or not.

and that will be one of the first questions they ask you at aquascape....

You pretty much have to drive them home yourself if you want to bypass the laws. I lived near the Mexico border and when I went down there I was able to find small juveniles in some shops on some occasions. They're not that great to keep since they're volatile, they'll turn on a weak member overnight and kept healthy they live quite a while for a fish. People usually get tired of them if they only have them for name recognition. All they are is big tetras with teeth, shy fish most of the time. Their only plus for aquariums is that they're brightly red and very hardy compared to small tetras. There are far more 'impressive' fish to keep if you're looking for a monster, such as the snakehead. Those fish would have piranhas for breakfast. Also, the silly thing with that is that last time I checked, they were still legal to keep in aquariums in this state while piranhas were not. Piranhas have no chance in the wild here, while snakeheads have been an invasive species problem for years. I'm not convinced any of these laws are driven by environmental concerns. Something smells fishy.

They are amazing,and beautiful fish...we have three red-bellies, ranging from 6"-9" and a piraya which i can hand feed around 10" in a 72g...but they are being upgraded to a 240g (pick it up on wednesday ) They will outgrow a 36g easily...

there legal in the UK. my boyfriend had 6 red bellies, he said they were pretty boring untill you fed them goldfish then they went crazy!! he also managed to breed them loads of times with out meaning too!