# Feeding



## dorianc204 (Mar 12, 2007)

Hello everyone im new to this forum and proud owner of 9 red belly piranhas. I i was jsut wondering if or how long you can starve ur piranhas b4 they start to go at each other?


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

if you were a proud owner you wouldnt be starving your P's


----------



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

eightreds said:


> if you were a proud owner you wouldnt be starving your P's


Read up more before you jump to the conclusion that you know what you are talking about, fact is, you don't

To answer your question, you want your fish to be adults before you try and fast them.......it should be done every once in a while for up to a month at a time. If tension gets high during the fast, feed them small ammounts to tie them over.......but when fasting like this, risks are high and things can go wrong


----------



## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

What I wanna know is why do you wanna starve them to begin with?


----------



## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

eightreds said:


> if you were a proud owner you wouldnt be starving your P's


i let my caribe go weeks without eating, thats due to no food for them but its technically healthy for them...adults should be fed 2-3 times a week, juvi's can be fed as much as they will eat...depending on the size, say small for instance they are very cannibal so food COULD help with that, not in ever aspect tho....


----------



## tonggi (Sep 5, 2006)

he may just be curious so ne knows what the cushion date is incase he misses a day,

you people are quick to judge.


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

Leasure1 said:


> if you were a proud owner you wouldnt be starving your P's


Read up more before you jump to the conclusion that you know what you are talking about, fact is, you don't

To answer your question, you want your fish to be adults before you try and fast them.......it should be done every once in a while for up to a month at a time. If tension gets high during the fast, feed them small ammounts to tie them over.......but when fasting like this, risks are high and things can go wrong
[/quote]

What good will come from fasting your fish??? please enlighten me


----------



## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

tonggi said:


> he may just be curious so ne knows what the cushion date is incase he misses a day,
> 
> you people are quick to judge.


you say it like its plural....i think from 1" - 4-5" should be fed everyday, especially if they are baby's, around 4-5" id say every 2nd day and could go without eating from 1-2 weeks, and 6" and up could go 2-3 weeks w/o eating and should be fed 2-3 times a week...other opinions welcome


----------



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

lots of good comes from fasting a fish......lets all the extra stored unused fat and stuff be used by the body......I can't explain it as well as frank can.....so we will now call on him.


----------



## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

tonggi said:


> he may just be curious so ne knows what the cushion date is incase he misses a day,
> 
> you people are quick to judge.


Your Quick to judge us thinking were judging him. And your 9 piranhas what size tank are they in,filters and Temp?


----------



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Longest fasting I have heard of was a little over a month.......this is also to simulate situations that may happen in the wild.


----------



## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

dorianc204 said:


> Hello everyone im new to this forum and proud owner of 9 red belly piranhas. I i was jsut wondering if or how long you can starve ur piranhas b4 they start to go at each other?


And also welcome to Piranha Fury.


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

I am not attacking him... but ALOT of people buy P's and want this mean ass fish that will kill and eat anything!. Then relize after a month that they are not like that and think if they starve them it will help with their own entertainment.... I DO NOT AGREE with this!
thus being a first post asking how long will my fish live from starvation... sounds like...?
If i am wrong... my apologys and hope you get alot of info off this bored, as i have


----------



## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

eightreds said:


> I am not attacking him... but ALOT of people buy P's and want this mean ass fish that will kill and eat anything!. Then relize after a month that they are not like that and think if they starve them it will help with their own entertainment.... I DO NOT AGREE with this!
> thus being a first post asking how long will my fish live from starvation... sounds like...?
> If i am wrong... my apologys and hope you get alot of info off this bored, as i have


i understand where your coming from man, about the people buy piranha's to be killing machines when they arnt like what they seem, i guess if you held off on feeding they would be more aggressive towards that food that hits the water


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

I was asked to post a reply (an opinion). Based on natural conditions in the wild, piranhas do go through a period of fasting during the drought when food is scarce. The fish begin to eat fruits and seeds and live off the fat reserve in the dorsum. In cases of Pygocentrus, they live almost entirely on that reserve. The natural period of fasting can last for 4 months or until the rains return. In the last 10 years Public Aquariums have begun to change the method of feeding piranhas to include a 1 month fasting period to allow the piranha to use up the fat storage. If this storage is not used up, health problems will occur, including damage to the liver and other organs. Below is an example of what can happen if you do not allow the fish to fast.....in the extreme.


----------



## bootdink (Jan 17, 2007)

that is absolutely retardedly insane!


----------



## itstheiceman (Oct 5, 2006)

thats insane frank, i dont know if my caribe could go 2-4 weeks with out eating, dont know if they would get chomped etc...


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

My P's WOULD NOT go a month without feeding... they get pissy if i dont feed them on time!...lol.


----------



## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

hastatus said:


> I was asked to post a reply (an opinion). Based on natural conditions in the wild, piranhas do go through a period of fasting during the drought when food is scarce. The fish begin to eat fruits and seeds and live off the fat reserve in the dorsum. In cases of Pygocentrus, they live almost entirely on that reserve. The natural period of fasting can last for 4 months or until the rains return. In the last 10 years Public Aquariums have begun to change the method of feeding piranhas to include a 1 month fasting period to allow the piranha to use up the fat storage. If this storage is not used up, health problems will occur, including damage to the liver and other organs. Below is an example of what can happen if you do not allow the fish to fast.....in the extreme.


Dang Piranha looks like the Elephant Man.


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

hastatus said:


> I was asked to post a reply (an opinion). Based on natural conditions in the wild, piranhas do go through a period of fasting during the drought when food is scarce. The fish begin to eat fruits and seeds and live off the fat reserve in the dorsum. In cases of Pygocentrus, they live almost entirely on that reserve. The natural period of fasting can last for 4 months or until the rains return. In the last 10 years Public Aquariums have begun to change the method of feeding piranhas to include a 1 month fasting period to allow the piranha to use up the fat storage. If this storage is not used up, health problems will occur, including damage to the liver and other organs. Below is an example of what can happen if you do not allow the fish to fast.....in the extreme.


So... in the "dry season" they still eat... fruits..ect..ect.... since i am against starving MY P's... should i feed them alot less for 1-2 months out of each year? i have never done this befor and have always had them well fed for the last 2 or so years... i dont see any signs of over weight or any abnormal "fat" them seem to be very lean and muscular always moving ( no couch potatoes)


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> *So... in the "dry season" they still eat... fruits..ect..ect.... * *[sup]That does not apply to genus Pygocentrus, re-read my remarks.[/sup]*
> 
> since i am against starving MY P's... *should i feed them alot less for 1-2 months out of each year? *i have never done this befor and have always had them well fed for the last 2 or so years... i dont see any signs of over weight or any abnormal "fat" them seem to be very lean and muscular always moving ( no couch potatoes)


Now we are getting to a realistic questions... cut down their feeding by 3/4 of what you have been feeding them. You condition them that way. Eventually you will be able to cut off their feeding altogether for 3 to 4 weeks without much damage (by that, there is no guarantee they won't bite fins). They do that anyway, but the fins regenerate. The fasting, I REPEAT, the fasting should be done with ADULT PIRANHAS NOT JUVENILE as these small ones go the shallows or into the rain forest to continue feeding on smaller fish the own size or smaller.

The problem with "well fed" doesn't mean much to me. Some people feed the fish so much that their bellies are distended and gorged. That may be fine for 2 or 3x a week meal, but not everyday. To help with using up the fat reserve, using strong aeration helps in order to allow the fish some exercise on a daily basis for a couple of hours.<<<<<<<This last remark does not apply to S. rhombeus which is a strong current swimmer as adult.


----------



## eightreds (Mar 2, 2007)

hastatus said:


> > *So... in the "dry season" they still eat... fruits..ect..ect.... * *[sup]That does not apply to genus Pygocentrus, re-read my remarks.[/sup]*
> >
> > since i am against starving MY P's... *should i feed them alot less for 1-2 months out of each year? *i have never done this befor and have always had them well fed for the last 2 or so years... i dont see any signs of over weight or any abnormal "fat" them seem to be very lean and muscular always moving ( no couch potatoes)
> 
> ...


good info!
Ok so after I have cut the food supply by 3/4..how long should that go on for befor I decide to fast them all together? 
"WELL FED" would be 2 white prawns and a 4"x2" piece of talapia..(prawns at about 10am and talapia around 6pm)...thats everyday also a 1" cube of beef heart on the weekends.
I have 8 RBP ranging from 5" to 10" I have great current in the water for them i have a aquaclear 50 pwrhd thats on 24-7 and a AC 70 pwrhd that is on a timer for the day only. (jus to give you a bit of a rundown on my tank)
thanks in advance for the info!


----------



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

well dude, Your fish are of adult size.....so you should not be feeding everyday anyways.......when you do decide to fast....drop your tank temps alot.....to 74-75 degrees

Thanks for the reply Frank.


----------



## rockymax (Feb 12, 2007)

is that just for pygos or serras too? and what size /age should you start "fasting" them? and im guessing its just one month out of the year? or is it every other or what?


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Read the information at the top of the page and the list:

http://opefe.com/pirafeeding.html

If you look at newly imported piranhas, you will see that most are needing a good heavy diet as their fat reserves are depleted.

You want to condition them first by gradually cutting off their food supply over a 2 or 3 month period. Then let them go for 3 to 4 weeks without food or just tiny morsels on a weekly basis. Just enough to let them expend that dorsum area fat reserve. You can also add strong aeration to exercise them. Once the 3 or 4 week period is over, gradually reestablish the feeding regimen until the next cycle, 8 to 9 months down the road.


----------



## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)




----------



## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

Great thread! Some really good info here. Thanks Frank!


----------



## dorianc204 (Mar 12, 2007)

Sangre_Roja said:


> What I wanna know is why do you wanna starve them to begin with?


I dont want to starve them! A friend of mine has fully grown Red Bellys and he starves them to the point when he drops a mouse or a big fish in they tare tha sh*t out of it and i was jsut qurius to how long they can go with out food till they start at each other thats all.


----------



## dorianc204 (Mar 12, 2007)

thx for the welcome







I have a 400 emperor and one heater forget wut watt and im just using a shity light right now. i ordered a new light from a fish store in tha peg. but yah im not going to starve them or even tried jsut curious about how long and wut will happen. im new to piranhas and just want to keep em for as long as i can. i know i will probably have to sell a couple of them when they get a bit bigger becz a 70 gal is to small for 9 RBPs. i only want 3 fully grown ne ways just there a fish store that buys fully grown RBS for good cash. but thx for tha help and feel free to give me advice the more tha better


----------



## LRM (Mar 15, 2007)

hastatus said:


> I was asked to post a reply (an opinion). Based on natural conditions in the wild, piranhas do go through a period of fasting during the drought when food is scarce. The fish begin to eat fruits and seeds and live off the fat reserve in the dorsum. In cases of Pygocentrus, they live almost entirely on that reserve. The natural period of fasting can last for 4 months or until the rains return. In the last 10 years Public Aquariums have begun to change the method of feeding piranhas to include a 1 month fasting period to allow the piranha to use up the fat storage. If this storage is not used up, health problems will occur, including damage to the liver and other organs. Below is an example of what can happen if you do not allow the fish to fast.....in the extreme.


Was the cause of that discovered from a biopsy or necropsy? I'm new to piranha but very much interested in parasites, and that reminds me of a severe parasitic infection. What sort of a series of biochemical reactions occur within the fish to cause such degeneration of tissue as that? Has there been much work done in the field of endocrinology and parasitology in pygos?
edit*
I just found a pretty good link on OPEFE about disease. Still doesn't sate my curiosity but it is better than nothing.


----------

