# Daily Gold Fish = Killa P's



## dva (Mar 20, 2005)

I've had my pirahna's for about 3 months now. Got them at the local pet store. I was told to have gold fishes in the tank always. So I make sure that there's always a good supply of gold fishes for them. They were about 1inch when I got them. Now they're about 2.5inches. When they eat...thats the best part of having them. They go wild. Especially when they're feeding on goldfishes...all the gold scales are scatter about...creating a "kalaidoscope" of gold pigment in the tank...that slow make their way down to the bottom of the tank. They eat about 12 small (inch gold fishes) per week. I've tried feeding them raw beet, clams, shrimp...but they dont seem to like it as much as the gold fishes. watching them eat is bothersome to them...and they seem to be watching me, and at the same time...trying to catch their meal. Its fun. but chaning the water scares them. They then to hide in the plants. And they'd scare about..or make sudden movements...swimming about...and stuff. Poor gold fishes...most...if not all of them have their fins bitten off. Well, not no more...they seem to swallow the GF whole now...its a good thing...so the tank is clean. They use to lave the heads behind for me to scoop out...but now...its all gone...
I'm loving them...I also have two weinder doggies...and i let them watch the P's swim about..haha.

(how do u tell if they're male or female)


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Feeding GF daily is not a good idea. GF may carry parasites or disease. Also, they are not that nutritious. It's best to feed them a variety of food such as fillet, shrimp, beefheart or nightcrawlers.


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## dva (Mar 20, 2005)

rchan11 said:


> Feeding GF daily is not a good idea. GF may carry parasites or disease. Also, they are not that nutritious. It's best to feed them a variety of food such as fillet, shrimp, beefheart or nightcrawlers.
> [snapback]940762[/snapback]​


i've tried shrimp...but they dont eat...how long do i wait for them to finish the shrimp...u knoe the shrimp at the local markets...well..i slice them into two...


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## themainman (Dec 15, 2004)

Starve them and they'll eat other foods.


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## taylorhedrich (Mar 2, 2005)

themainman said:


> Starve them and they'll eat other foods.
> [snapback]940782[/snapback]​


Sounds cruel, but it's honestly how to convert them do different foods if they want to be stubborn. Be aware that they can starve for a long time as much as 3 weeks at least, so don't give up after a few days even if they still haven't eaten because you are afraid they are going to die. You really need to give your piranhas a better diet using the suggestions above. Goldfish are not the way to go, however they can be fed as treats once in a great while. Good luck!!
~Taylor~
[email protected]


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## dva (Mar 20, 2005)

yea...and the GF are expensive too mang...so if i strave them for say...1 week...(they aint gonna die rite..) then start feeding them other stuff...ie. shrimp....chicken heart( since beef is a lil tuff for da little guys)...wat about raw beef...will that work...


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

gold fish have a chemical called thyamine or something like that that stunts growth. To ween them you simply stop giving them gold fish, and give them what you want them to eat, if the dont eat it take it out and try again to marrow, eventually they wil become hungry and eat what you are feeding them.


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## icedizzle (Feb 3, 2005)

dva said:


> yea...and the GF are expensive too mang...so if i strave them for say...1 week...(they aint gonna die rite..) then start feeding them other stuff...ie. shrimp....chicken heart( since beef is a lil tuff for da little guys)...wat about raw beef...will that work...
> [snapback]940851[/snapback]​


be careful if you are going to try and starve them, at this stage in their life they are very prone to cannibalism.

A better way to get them to eat shrimp is to tie a small piece of fishing line onto the shrimp and jig it up and down in the tank.


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## tweekie (Nov 3, 2004)

agree with the fact that they may turn on each other if starved.


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

dva said:


> so if i strave them for say...1 week...
> [snapback]940851[/snapback]​


You don't even need to starve them. Add less and less goldfish every week while replacing it with your food of choice (shrimp, beefheart, whatever). Eventually they will realize that there aren't enough goldfish anymore and they should start to eat the other food.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

icedizzle said:


> dva said:
> 
> 
> > yea...and the GF are expensive too mang...so if i strave them for say...1 week...(they aint gonna die rite..) then start feeding them other stuff...ie. shrimp....chicken heart( since beef is a lil tuff for da little guys)...wat about raw beef...will that work...
> ...


True, but there's another important argument against starving them at this stage: your fish are only 2,5" in size, so basically they are still babies. At this size they need a steady supply of food, otherwise a proper development might get compromised!

So don't feed them for a day, and then drop in some krill, shrimp, fish fillet, cut up pieces of smelt, blood worms or mosquito larvae.
If they do not eat it, offer a few clean feeders (preferably tetra's or livebearers such as guppies/mollie/swordtails, as these fish don't contain the growth-inhibiting hormones goldfish, minnows, rosy reds, danio's and barbs contain), and try again once the feeders are gone.
In general, it's not hard to get Reds off live foods, so don't worry about it too much.

Oh, and before I forget: welcome to PFury


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

go buy some shrimp from the store. either frozen in a bag, or fresh.

give them 15 minutes to eat it.

the goldfish seem to have sorta slowed your Ps growth a bit.

when i got my guy a month ago today, he was under 2 inches. now he's pushing 3. ive fed him medium prawns (or shrimp or whatever you wanna call them) at least once a day. i take out what he doesnt eat in 15 minutes. he's usually on the shrimp within seconds.

i feed him live food 1 every week or two. he loves it. but he also loves to swim around with a big chunk of prawn hanging out of his mouth:laugh:

try some livebearers for feeders


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## redbelly93 (Dec 12, 2004)

I feed my pygo shoal shrimp,frog legs,smelt, anything but goldfish. Use your imagination and one day they will be alot bigger and healthier. Feed your babies right so they can grow up to be monsters


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## dva (Mar 20, 2005)

thnx...this site is really helpful...

so that crap thyamine that's in GF slowed my Ps growth...daaamnggg...

Im gonna let them strave for about a week..cuz i'll be out of the country...for spring break....so yea..by the time....I'm back...they prob eat ne thing i drop in the tank...hahaha....

i prob not gonna let dem eat beefheart..too tuff for da lil guys...

but yea...b4 i left..i dropped in a few dried shrimp..those u get from the market..and they ate them all...but tats their last snak..hahah...

HOPE THEY DONT DIE WHEN WE GET BACK...


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## jamesdelanoche (Dec 15, 2004)

they can go a LOT longer without eating


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## jamesdelanoche (Dec 15, 2004)

btw i forgot, welcome to the site! I think its stupid when people here what the dangers of feeders are, yet they still use them, saying "its cooler than feeding other stuff" or "i don't care!", seriosuly, whats cooler than seeing like 10 HUGE pygo's tear into like a whole quail or something.i'd rather spend less money, feeding better foods and end up with huge fish with great color, than have a couple 8 inch fish because i liked to watch them chase fish when they were younger. Good luck man, thoese guys will turn into monsters someday!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

jamesdelanoche said:


> they can go a LOT longer without eating
> [snapback]943754[/snapback]​


Not when they are a mere 2,5" in size









For proper development, baby reds need a steady supply of food, and should be fed at least once, preferably twice a day. Don't do that, and the chances are high you'll disrupt their development. Starvation is also a possibility, as their very fast metabolic rate (much faster than adults) requires a regular food intake.
And as others mentioned before: keeping Reds at that size hungry for a few days, let alone a whole week, will more likely than not result in cannibalism and the loss of at least some fish...

True, adult Reds can go without food for weeks, even months (if they are healthy enough, of course), but that's absoluetly not the case with 2,5" youngsters!


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## cracky (Mar 2, 2005)

drop only small amount of shrimp, 1 or 2 first , p's love to compete and eat.

and fresh shrimp make the water cloudy if they stay for a long time


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