# I Just Bought A Black Piranha And It's Not Eating.



## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

i jsut bought a black piranha and it's not eating at all!

it's been like 4 days now

it's only 2 1/2in

in a 55 gal by itself

i have hiding spots for it but it doesnt hide in them

no plants yet but very soon! after i pay my credit card bill

just bought a gravel sucking thing to clean the sh*t out

a ph tester, my ph is at 7.6 !!

some uncooked shrimp, talipa fillets

and feeder guppies and a stress thingy

and an ich thing just in case it happens, it happened to my red bellies before

new carbon filtration

what else should i buy! tell me!


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## wisco_pygo (Dec 9, 2009)

what are you offering him for food?


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

wisco_pygo said:


> what are you offering him for food?


right now just feeder gold fish

and they are ALL still there! since 3 days ago

i put in 4 of them


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

AAHH!!!!!! i need to go to the store later and go buy some stuff for it


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## wisco_pygo (Dec 9, 2009)

you may feed your fish as you please, but goldfish and other feeders aren't the most sound, or safe source of nutrition. also, baby/juvenile rhoms are very shy fish so he most likely won't be eating fish in front of you.

go to the store, and pick up a bag of tilapia white fish fillet, and a bag of raw shrimp. those two items will serve as staple nutrition for your rhom. try to get him on hikari and new-life-spectrum feeder pellets as well.

also, if you decide to feed him fish meat or shrimp, squish the food up in your fingers so its easy for him to eat.


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

wisco_pygo said:


> you may feed your fish as you please, but goldfish and other feeders aren't the most sound, or safe source of nutrition. also, baby/juvenile rhoms are very shy fish so he most likely won't be eating fish in front of you.
> 
> go to the store, and pick up a bag of tilapia white fish fillet, and a bag of raw shrimp. those two items will serve as staple nutrition for your rhom. try to get him on hikari and new-life-spectrum feeder pellets as well.
> 
> also, if you decide to feed him fish meat or shrimp, squish the food up in your fingers so its easy for him to eat.


ooo...i see, thanks man! i'm off to the store after i get some sleep!

how am i going to get him to eat the pellets??


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## wisco_pygo (Dec 9, 2009)

start with the tilapia fillets and shrimp. i would get him eating first, and worry about pellets later. i have a hard time getting my rhom to eat pellets though- some will, some won't. good luck


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Trout worms(small nightcrawlers)be the best food to start him off on.cheap n high in nutrition. Plus they can't resist the wiggle.make sure you cut fillets up to small pieces. He's more likely to eat them, also I'd try krill, my fish love krill! Also welcome to the site.


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## bricklr (Aug 14, 2010)

Frozen Pollock cut into 1/4 strips is my P's food of choice.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

id also see what the lfs / person you got him from fed him, Mayby try some feeder guppies or a smaller sized prety to start but ideally you want him off feeders and get him on to frozen fillets and possibly even pellets (tryto get him on this while young.


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

I'd also try some feeder guppies, since they are small and are probably good sized for the baby P to eat. You can even catch those in nearby lakes etc.


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

Don't be surprised if it doesn't eat for a week or so, it's common for piranhas to not eat for long perioeds of time after being moved. Just be patient because it will eventually eat, piranhas can go a long time without a meal. When I first brought my brandtii home from the airport it didn't for like a month but after a while it started eating everything offered. Also now would be a good time to start getting it used to pellet food and try to stay away from feeder fish especially gold as a staple food. I have almost all of my serras on a 90% pellet diet, I feed them a frozen treat (krill, squid, tilapia or sole fillets and shrimp) once or twice a week.


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## T-wag (May 21, 2009)

my lil guy eats EVERYTHING


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

wisco_pygo said:


> Don't be surprised if it doesn't eat for a week or so, it's common for piranhas to not eat for long perioeds of time after being moved. Just be patient because it will eventually eat, piranhas can go a long time without a meal. When I first brought my brandtii home from the airport it didn't for like a month but after a while it started eating everything offered. Also now would be a good time to start getting it used to pellet food and try to stay away from feeder fish especially gold as a staple food. I have almost all of my serras on a 90% pellet diet, I feed them a frozen treat (krill, squid, tilapia or sole fillets and shrimp) once or twice a week.


8O. wow my guy was in a bag for 5 hours untill he got home! i was so scared it was going to not make it to his new home!

but why a pellet diet?? j/w

thanks everyone for the advice! wow thats a lotto money on trying new food! C:


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

pellets are a good overall source of nutrients, even if you cant get him to eat them by themselves, try and stuff them into the small fish pieces. you will need to buy the mini size for that. good brands are NLS and Hikari bio-gold +


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

Dont panic if he doesnt eat for a couple of weeks. My Rhom went 4 weeks without eatting at all!! His previous owners fed him feeders and I wanted him to change to prepared foods such as Raw shrimp, Tilapia, smelts etc. It was a long battle but I won, lol. He will not let himself starve, just be patient.


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## Pirambeba (Feb 1, 2010)

You can also try frozen mysis shrimp, but it tends to get a tad bit messy.


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

Soul Assassin said:


> pellets are a good overall source of nutrients, even if you cant get him to eat them by themselves, try and stuff them into the small fish pieces. you will need to buy the mini size for that. good brands are NLS and Hikari bio-gold +


?? is it the one with the picture of an oscar on it? or is it the one with the betta??

i was at the store today and i bought uncooked shrimp, talipia fillets and feeder guppies.

and i was looking at a bunch of the hikari pellets but didn't know witch one to get. so tell me witch on it is so i can get it tomorrow morning.

is it the hikari cichlid boi gold??

C:


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

ksls said:


> Dont panic if he doesnt eat for a couple of weeks. My Rhom went 4 weeks without eatting at all!! His previous owners fed him feeders and I wanted him to change to prepared foods such as Raw shrimp, Tilapia, smelts etc. It was a long battle but I won, lol. He will not let himself starve, just be patient.


i got raw shrimp and tilapia, and feeder guppies and gold fish.


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

bigblackasianguy said:


> pellets are a good overall source of nutrients, even if you cant get him to eat them by themselves, try and stuff them into the small fish pieces. you will need to buy the mini size for that. good brands are NLS and Hikari bio-gold +


?? is it the one with the picture of an oscar on it? or is it the one with the betta??

i was at the store today and i bought uncooked shrimp, talipia fillets and feeder guppies.

and i was looking at a bunch of the hikari pellets but didn't know witch one to get. so tell me witch on it is so i can get it tomorrow morning.

is it the hikari cichlid boi gold??

C:
[/quote]

yes, the hikari bio-gold plus for cichlids and nls is new life spectrum, look for a good one for cichlids, mini size for now


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## RuthlessCarnage (Apr 1, 2010)

I suggest going to your lfs and getting your hands on some ghost shrimp, my small mac's loved the stuff. Ate them whole. Good Luck


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## PiranhaMike661 (Jul 9, 2010)

Smoke said:


> I'd also try some feeder guppies, since they are small and are probably good sized for the baby P to eat. You can even catch those in nearby lakes etc.


Make sure that if you pull them from a nearby lake, you isolate them for a while to watch for any evidence of illness(i.e. bacteria, internal/external parasites).


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## bigblackasianguy (Sep 29, 2010)

Soul Assassin said:


> I'd also try some feeder guppies, since they are small and are probably good sized for the baby P to eat. You can even catch those in nearby lakes etc.


Make sure that if you pull them from a nearby lake, you isolate them for a while to watch for any evidence of illness(i.e. bacteria, internal/external parasites).
[/quote]

but there's no lake around here with guppies..........i think?


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## PiranhaMike661 (Jul 9, 2010)

but there's no lake around here with guppies..........i think?
[/quote]

I wouldn't know about any lakes in your area with guppies, but maybe mosquito fish. They usually have them in lakes and ponds to keep down the mosquito population. I keep a 12-gallon with some mosquito fish in my kitchen that I'll use for feeders eevery once in a while.


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)




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## impalass (Nov 20, 2009)

Someone should go to bed and sleep it off.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Give him some time to adjust to his new surroundings. What are you water parameters? Ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,ph? Throw in a powerhead if you haven't already,what temp do you have your tank at?


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

the_w8 dug this up. It's OLD. Somebody was up drinking again, lol.


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