Red Belly Piranha Nutrition & Color

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TheQuarterMile

TheQuarterMile

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2013
62
0
6
India
I was wondering if there is way of enhancing the red color of a RBP without having to feed pellets like Hikari gold. Wanted to know what kind of nutrition would be required in the form of natural foods to enhance the red belly?

I got 3-4" RPB and the belly color is starting to get deep red but not entirely.
 
What are you feeding normally? If you can get them to take pellets, why would you want to go away from that out of curiosity?

You can also feed shrimp or fish fillets, adding a vitamin like Vita Chem to the food will help with color.
 
Feed krill. There are plenty of color enhancing supplements out there.

Most are filled with the same carotenoids that krill has.

That being said - krill is a pretty unhealthy food for a non growing fish. 60% crude protein is a little much. I feed it sparingly even when doing growouts.
 
Right now I feed them white fish, shrimp, beef heart, squid, chicken heart.. I don't want them to eat pellets only! Would prefer them eating other stuff to sometimes. Right now they are use to food that sinks. Was trying some XO humpy head which I got for my flowerhorn but the thing is they are not even looking at the surface.. don't wanna buy hikari gold and waste money if they don't eat it..

I don't fancy starving them and forcing them to eat fearing acts of cannibalism.
Ant tips on how I get them to pellets?
 
ive got 9 rbps from 5-8" and they naturally took to pellets.
I noticed that they will go for them more when the powerhead is on and closer to the surface because then they fly around the tank and catch attention.
 
TheQuarterMile said:
Right now I feed them white fish, shrimp, beef heart, squid, chicken heart.. I don't want them to eat pellets only! Would prefer them eating other stuff to sometimes. Right now they are use to food that sinks. Was trying some XO humpy head which I got for my flowerhorn but the thing is they are not even looking at the surface.. don't wanna buy hikari gold and waste money if they don't eat it..

I don't fancy starving them and forcing them to eat fearing acts of cannibalism.
Ant tips on how I get them to pellets?
Click to expand...

Beef heart isn't the best nor is chicken heart and squid, not just for water quality sake but for fat issues as well.

With that said it does seem odd to give the All Mighty Piranha pellets but trust me when I say it is one of the best options. You can still offer protein like talapia/shrimp/smelt as a supplement so they still get to tear into flesh and experience some natural behavior!

I offer NLS jumbo formula pellets http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4383 2-3x per week and talapia fillet 1x every week to my shoal of 6-8" 1 year olds, this has equated to some healthy P's:
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Its good for them to be hungry as the 2nd most common death in aquarium fish is due to overfeeding which produces fatty tissue, organ failure etc.

Since yours are presumably about 3-4 or so months old given their size I would offer talapia/shrimp/whitefish 2x per week and pellets 5x per week.


Easy way to get them on pellets: don't feed for 2-3 days, throw in some pellets, if one takes to them they all will. Believe me when RBP are hungry they will take to them. Some people starve for weeks to get their fish on pellets and in the wild they are opportunistic eaters meaning they eat when they can which can be hours, days and weeks.




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Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763
 
Thanks @F1 Vet but if I don't feed them for 2-3 days hope they will not destroy each other at this cannibalistic age... Will be getting a 100gallon tank real soon :D (4'6"x18"x24" height)? real excited.. Should I start changing the food habit after I set up the new tank or before? Will a new environment help? And is it ok to start feeling them Ocean's Free XO HumpyHead for time being to get them started on pellets?
 
pellet train rbp the best because they dont have the killer instint to kill others lolz.
but shrimp is by far one of the best foood but get expensive
 
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