red bellied piranha feeding

[NathanFoudray]

hey guys i want to keep up a healthy diet and need suggestions, ill tell you what im doing now and then you give suggestions, i have 4 fish ranging from 4 to 6 inches

every other day i alternate between a piece of shrimp or half a tilapia fillet on a piece of string and dangle it infront of my powerhead, they seem to like it moving better and gobble it right up.

i also keep a school of about 10 shiners in the tank at all because i breed them, they usually take about 3-5 a week and i just keep on replacing them

so far i have been unsuccessful on introducing pellets to the diet and would like tips on doing so if you think i need more in my diet, if there is antything i can do to make my piranhas have better lives let me know,

heavily planted 75 gallon tank with tetra whisper 70 and top fin 60, i also have a small unidentified canister filter from a garage sale that works just fine, i have added blackwater extract because i hear it reduces stress, thanks for helping me out

 

[ballinouttacntrol]

your diet is fine, you can work in earthworms and crickets just to add more variety. What brand of pellets did you try?

 

[NathanFoudray]

well i tried hikari oscar pellets, top fin chichlid pellets, and tetra chichlid pellets, i have oscars so thats what i had on hand, i only have a pestsmart near by so those were the only predator pellets available, and i have oscars and alternate between those

 

[Sanjo Eel]

Piranha can eat anything any other fish will eat, I have even fed mine peas and carrots. Varying their diet is good, but feed a high quality floating carnivore pellet as a staple and other stuff occasionally.

 

[NathanFoudray]

as to feeding amount, should i feed them until they stop eating or feed will they just keep eating, i have to smaller ones thats bodies arent as deep and to larger ones that are deep and round, is this a point they hit in maturity where their metabolism slows down? 80% of the food goes to the two smaller ones because they are more alert and agressive when i drop it in and im worried my two bigger ones are not getting enough food

 

[dlobom]

Mine just eat anything I drop in the thank, once I was giving broccoli to my pleco and they ate it

 

[NathanFoudray]

ya now that i re arranged the tank its beter, the bigger ones are more skittish and with more cover its better, love the oscar pic by the way