The Piranha Nutrition Thread

[Zander_The_RBP]

What type/brand of pellets are good for adults? I've been using large floating cichlid pellets, but they dont work well with my overflow system

massivore sinking pellets are great i used to use the floating carnivore stix before but like you mine got stuck in my overflow prefilter half the time

 

[RedBellyRhen]

What type of pellets should you feed your piranha? I have heard of people feeding them Cicchlid pellets would that work? Or are there specific "piranha pellets" i could buy online?

 

[pikey]

i'd never give my p's pellets they have a 90% fresh or live fish diet and the rest is raw steak, beef heart, kidney, liver and chicken. and are in amazing health and shape

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

i'd never give my p's pellets they have a 90% fresh or live fish diet and the rest is raw steak, beef heart, kidney, liver and chicken. and are in amazing health and shape

cut out the steak and chicken and they would be in great shape. the fats of higher organisms (birds and mammals ) are hard for the piranhas digestive tracts to break down the things like liver and heart are ok becuase there lower in fat than the meat(ok as a treat not more than once a week!)

chances are the beef/chicken isn't doing harm to your piranhas but they can't digest it so they end up just pooping it out and then then it trashes your water quality

 

[pikey]

cut out the steak and chicken and they would be in great shape. the fats of higher organisms (birds and mammals ) are hard for the piranhas digestive tracts to break down the things like liver and heart are ok becuase there lower in fat than the meat(ok as a treat not more than once a week!)

chances are the beef/chicken isn't doing harm to your piranhas but they can't digest it so they end up just pooping it out and then then it trashes your water quality

i'll dissagree on that tbh mate my fish have never come to harm or been un able to digest the food's i give them. plus all fat is removed from the beef as i use only fillets at its only 10% of the time.. my fish are in awesome condition look at my pics see for your self

 

[RedBellyRhen]

cut out the steak and chicken and they would be in great shape. the fats of higher organisms (birds and mammals ) are hard for the piranhas digestive tracts to break down the things like liver and heart are ok becuase there lower in fat than the meat(ok as a treat not more than once a week!)

chances are the beef/chicken isn't doing harm to your piranhas but they can't digest it so they end up just pooping it out and then then it trashes your water quality

I would disagree about the chicken part because in the wild dont piranhas often eat young birds that fall out of their nests and into the water?

 

[Diogenes]

I would disagree about the chicken part because in the wild dont piranhas often eat young birds that fall out of their nests and into the water?

the frequency of that happening is so low that it hardly constitutes a staple part of their diet. Likewise, I imagine the odd bovine animal falls down dead in the amazon and they surely eat that too. The goal is to offer the same diet they get on a regular basis in the wild which this post outlines.

I wrote this based on scientific research, not anecdotes that people occasionally offer like, "I feed mine pinkies and their fine," or "I feed mine nothing but hot dogs and they've been fine for years." Just because they can eat it doesn't mean they should.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

i'll dissagree on that tbh mate my fish have never come to harm or been un able to digest the food's i give them. plus all fat is removed from the beef as i use only fillets at its only 10% of the time.. my fish are in awesome condition look at my pics see for your self

your free to have your own opinion on the subject but ill base mine on sound scince and not what i think is right


i don't mean they can't digest it (it wont pass out of them undigested) the fats and some protiens in it (fats are in every part of the meat not just the veins of fat) are undigestible to a pirahas relatively primitive digestive system (primitive compared to mammals)

chances are these fat's would still be in there feces if you actualy had the means to check

how do you know they are able to digest it ? have you cut them open and checked ?


it's amazing how well a person(or animal) can look on the outside and how horrendous they look on the inside so don't tell me feeding my fish absolute garbage is good for them cause they look fine now alot of my friends have fast food daily and there not as wide as a house but it's still not healthy

im not saying that you can't give it to them im saying that your wasting money / being irresponsible if your giving said things to your fish for obviously nothing more than entertainment value

I would disagree about the chicken part because in the wild dont piranhas often eat young birds that fall out of their nests and into the water?

yes they do and this reflects in the nutritional values of avian meats vs mammalian, they are a hell of a lot better for piranhas but still this does not happen with any frequency in the wild and should not be considered a part of their staple diet

I wrote this based on scientific research, not anecdotes that people occasionally offer like, "I feed mine pinkies and their fine," or "I feed mine nothing but hot dogs and they've been fine for years." Just because they can eat it doesn't mean they should.

exactly! whether or not your piranhas are doing fine on a steady diet of steak and chicken is irrelivant because science says no matter your success in using it it's still bad for them (in the long run whether or not symptoms ever show)

 

[pikey]

i never said i feed steak and chicken all the time did i no infact i said 10% of the time! the OTHER 90% OF THE TIME I FEED FISH FRESH OR LIVE FEED! you should read what i wrote i'm not guna argue with u over a bit of meat but.

 

[pikey]

quote
im not saying that you can't give it to them im saying that your wasting money / being irresponsible if your giving said things to your fish for obviously nothing more than entertainment value.....

for 1 hows it a waste of money??? for 2 hows it irresponsible????? and 3 what you mean by entertainment value??? do u think i spend £400/500 on a big rhom to abuse it no mate i don't i've kept these fish long enought to no weather there healthy or not