I've had my piranha for a year and a half now and I've been feeding him beef hearts and feeder fish from time to time (I know it's not recommended). He is kind of picky, so i was wondering if anyone knows some more food I could use to expand his diet, or maybe even for faster growth.
Piranha diet tips
- Thread starter jbennett
- Start date
My piranhas love shrimp. I just buy them in the grocery store, raw with tail off. Also feed them smelts from the grocery store.
if your feeding him goldfish stop immediatly thats whats slowing his growth use a different type of feeder fish (i recommend breeding your own so you can be sure of the health of the fish you are feeding to him) you can add raw shrimp, fish fillets and octopus or squid (all usualy available at a grocery store or asian supermarket) for a well rounded diet
when i had mine i trained them to eat pellets (hikari gold) as a main staple. and i often treated them with krill,shrimp and other frozens about once a week. some guy had some the same time as me and mine doubled in size compared to his.
you may have to starve them a few days before they take the pellets, i have also heard people using training "rings" to help feed. They took a floating ring and put it in there during feeding time (try with somehting tasty to start) and add floating pellets. you can also stuff the shrimps with pellets and they wont know the difference.
if all else fails try getting some garlic guard to spice up their appetite
you may have to starve them a few days before they take the pellets, i have also heard people using training "rings" to help feed. They took a floating ring and put it in there during feeding time (try with somehting tasty to start) and add floating pellets. you can also stuff the shrimps with pellets and they wont know the difference.
if all else fails try getting some garlic guard to spice up their appetite
mammal meat is harder for them to digest and all the fur, blood and stuff can foul water parameters. you can use as treat once in a blue moon but shouldn't be used as a stable food. from 3-4" to 7-8" in one year is normal, you can achieve that with other food such as fish meat, shrimp, etc.
if the mice or rat is live then most people will think it's cruel and there is the chance that when the poor little rat fights back it could hurt your fish.
if the mice or rat is live then most people will think it's cruel and there is the chance that when the poor little rat fights back it could hurt your fish.
Welcome to MFK - Fish Fillets,Shrimp and/or Krill,Cephlapods, Pellets (if possible), Non-Cyprinidae live foods like Mollies - good advise. Mice and Rats not a good idea for several reasons - fish can't digest terrestrial fats, fats foul the water, expensive one time meal you could buy a couple talapia fillets for $2 and it would be much more healthy and last several meals.
get them on a nice pellet and they will grow like weeds...
mine are fed hikari food sticks most of the time... i let them have some shrimp, fish, or beefheart every few weeks.. but any other time its the food sticks..
they went from being dime sized to 8 inches in about a year.. they are now closer to 9 and they are still growing.
mine are fed hikari food sticks most of the time... i let them have some shrimp, fish, or beefheart every few weeks.. but any other time its the food sticks..
they went from being dime sized to 8 inches in about a year.. they are now closer to 9 and they are still growing.
I've got a tank of 5 golds and the piranha specialists at my fish store told me only to feed them goldfish!
I want them to grow big and healthy
does anyone know why they might have suggested that? they are juveniles right now
I want them to grow big and healthy
does anyone know why they might have suggested that? they are juveniles right now
FunOptimizer;3870962; said:
It's hard to say exactly why your "piranha specialist" says use feeders, could be ignorance of the vitamin b inhibiting enzyeme contained in goldfish or could be he just wants more money from you by buying his goldfish. Unfortunately money making at the expense of the fish is more common than not in this industry/hobby. Lucky for you the old trends and myths about piranha keeping is being successfully de-bunked in this forum.