Baby RBP's not eating........

[Rez90]

Ok,

I have 2 questions

1. when i first got my three RBP's they would eat like they had never eaten before. Regardless of how much i fed them. Now, they have gotten a little bigger (about 2-2.5 inches) and i have cut back their food to like 2 cubes of bloodworms a day and they seem to hardly be eating any of them.......

do you guys have any suggestions on what i can do to get them back to their normal eating habits?

2. Do you guys keep your lights on during the day in your tanks or leave them off? I leave mine off when i'm not in the room, but...when i turn the light on, sometimes the fish go freaky nuts and slam into every wall of the tank at full speed......

any suggestions would be very helpful.

-Rez

 

[RexFish]

Its probably because of the light. I never turn on my lights, only when i show people. if you want them to start eating more i would suggest you keep the lights off

 

[KillerMike]

I don't think it has anything to do with the lights, mine eat like crazy and I have 200 watts of lighting over the tank.
If all your trying to feed is bloodworms, try something else. Piranhas need a varied diet. Try introducing some uncooked shrimp, or white fish fillets (tilapia, catfish, etc...)

 

[sirasoni]

Definitely mix it up. My altuvei would only take the same thing for a few days or so consecutively. Some other things that would work in addition to what's already been mentioned are scallops and squid.

 

[mr36st]

I don't think it has anything to do with the lights, mine eat like crazy and I have 200 watts of lighting over the tank.
If all your trying to feed is bloodworms, try something else. Piranhas need a varied diet. Try introducing some uncooked shrimp, or white fish fillets (tilapia, catfish, etc...)

, also try smelt, there just probly just tired of eating the cubes

 

[CFB]

Sounds stress related... piranhas don't need to eat every day and will stop eating if they are stressed. You say you only turn the lights on when you are in the room? Does that mean you turn them on and off multiple times in a day? If so, you are stressing them out big time. It's not necessary to keep the lights off all the time, provide them with 8-12 hours of continuous light. It will take them a little while to get used to the new routine but they will eventually quit slamming into the glass when you turn it on.

Also, check your water parameters. A decline in water paramaters (amm, rite, rate) could also be causing the stress.

And, like mentioned before, vary the diet. I doubt that is why they aren't eating but your fish need it to be healthy.

Randy
CFB

 

[Bogwoodbruce]

Yeah spice up there, diet. (Not literally of course )

 

[Piranhanick]

My man one thing that i have noticed over the years is that Piranhas Need consistency.. . and all fish for that matter. The lights shouldn't matter one bit. What you need to do is turn the lights on and off at reletively the same time every single day for months. The less you differ from that the better tempered they will get. They will get used to a schedule and will calm down. No doubt though Piranha are a skitish fish so the more you keep to a lighting schedule the better. you can also try dim lighting in the tank so see if you can tone it down if they keep acting up. As far as feeding goes . . . they will grow and grow for the first months to a year and then they tend to slow a bit at which they aren't as willing to put on a show and eat for you so the most simple answer is to ease up on the feeding schedule. go every other day and see what happens . . . they won't starve trust me. Another thing that keeps them eating a lot is water quality. The fresher the water the more they eat .... and the more they grow so watch. My p's have a widely varied diet of dryed krill shrimp, earth worms on occassion Color enhansing Pellats Flake food Beef heart and Feeder Gold fish. But if you want them to eat more feed them less if that makes sense.

 

[Pirwhana]

ok the running into the tank scared when lights go on:
You really need to adjust them to the light before you turn it on. A half hour of room lighting needs to be on before you turn the tank lights on or you risk the shy piranha ramming into the tank.
Not eating:
They may be at a size where bloodworms are too small to eat and need bigger more nutrient dense food. Try krill, shrimp, beefheart, silversides, or fish fillets in chunks.