# For those of you who feed Beefheart:



## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of feeding beefheart, poultry or any mamalian meats to Piranhas. So I decided to do a bit of a research and here is what I found:



> Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning that their body temperature rises and falls with their surrounding environment. They use fat for both an energy reserve as well as an energy resource. Just like humans, they have fat stores throughout their bodies. But these fats need to have a low melting point so that they can be utilized if the water around them is cold (like during the winter). Warm-blooded animals, on the other hand store fats that have a high melting point. If you feed your fishes fats from warm-blooded animals, they will not be able to mobilize these fats for energy use. Consequently, it will be stored in their livers, and over time it will accumulate leading to cirrhosis.


Article by Marc Elieson , here is the link to the whole article:

Marc Elieson Articles

I'm bying this article as I've asked Frank what would be the long term affect of feeding beefheart to Piranhas and he said the fishes would have liver problems.

National Geographci, Discovery, Nature channels will have you beleive that Piranhas feed on Mammals constabtly but this can be further from the truth.

Piranhas are apportunistic feeders and if given the chance, they will eat a dead mammal. However, this is a rare occurense and the main part of a Piranhas diet is fish. Even if they comsume some mammalian meat it would be much eaiser for the fish to burn the fat in their natural habitat then in a home aquarium. Why you ask?

1-Piranhas swim great distances in the wild as oppose to an aquarium.
2-Piranhas live in lakes and rivers that have strong currents. This is turn forces the Piranha to burn energy.

Some people will say that powerheads can recreate this. This is somewhat true but powerheads will never recreat exatcly mother natures strengh in water currents.

3-Piranhas feed less often in the wild then they do in home aquariums. This is why experts stress that after Piranhas reach the 6" mark, they should only be fed once a week or once every 2 weeks.

I hope I shed some light into this matter. I'm sure some members will disagree and if so, please post a rebuttal, but feeding beefheart can be just as bad as feeding live feeders.

Hater


----------



## CorGravey (Feb 13, 2007)

Great info hater! I agree mamlian meat is not what they mostly get in the wild so it probably isnt the bet thing to feed our piranhas. Which is why i never feed it.

Thanks for sharing this with us.


----------



## PygoManiac (Jul 26, 2004)

> Even if they comsume some mammalian meat it would be much eaiser for the fish to burn the fat in their natural habitat then in a home aquarium. Why you ask?
> 
> 1-Piranhas swim great distances in the wild as oppose to an aquarium.
> 2-Piranhas live in lakes and rivers that have strong currents. This is turn forces the Piranha to burn energy.


The first point is very true. Even their natural movement is very fast and sharp in the wild, kinda like how tank dwellers behave when spooked. I think that when they dont have a limit to swim in any direction they move a lot more and a lot faster as well.
Also, In the wild piranhas may have to chase prey a long distance(compared to a tank) before its actually caught. Even the feeding frenzy is far more energetic. And I believe that during the dry season they are driven to the very limit of starvation. They have to work a lot in the wild and I dont think a powerhead could simulate that.


----------



## Spiloman (Jul 9, 2007)

3-Piranhas feed less often in the wild then they do in home aquariums. This is why experts stress that after Piranhas reach the 6" mark, they should only be fed once a week or once every 2 weeks.

Just curious why feed them only once a week or every two? Why would it be stressed?


----------



## wpviper (Jun 25, 2007)

" Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning that their body temperature rises and falls with their surrounding environment"
"But these fats need to have a low melting point so that they can be utilized if the water around them is cold (like during the winter). "

in a tank tho they have a heater to keep there temp the same all year long, like many would say dont feed them one thing all the time and if beefhart is not all they eat then it wont build up and what is so bad with live feeders other then buying them out of a large goldfish tank . P's need to eat fish and live feeders will give them exersize that they need and if you mix that with shrip and other frozzen fish and even some veggies they will have the best of everything and you will have happy helthy P's

I think beefharts should still be in there diet but still everything in moderation and if someone out there is feeding them only beefhart they might run into problems but i think most have some sort of mixed diet for there fish and will not run into problems


----------



## Spiloman (Jul 9, 2007)

i totally agree


----------



## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

Great info Hater.
We all know it's not great to feed P's but thanks for actually going out of your way for this article which explains the reason why to everyone.


----------



## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

Spiloman said:


> 3-Piranhas feed less often in the wild then they do in home aquariums. This is why experts stress that after Piranhas reach the 6" mark, they should only be fed once a week or once every 2 weeks.
> 
> Just curious why feed them only once a week or every two? Why would it be stressed?





> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feed...an_cichlids.php


Because Piranhas store fat in their dorsum when food is plentyfull. When the dry season begin, they use the fat stored in their dorsum to survive.

In an aquarium, there is no dry season and the only way to allow the fish to burn the fat in it dorsum, is to feed less.

Wether you beleive it or not, once a week or once every 2 weeks is as often as Piranhas feed in the wild. Why do you think they attack anything that hits the water in the wild?



> in a tank tho they have a heater to keep there temp the same all year long, like many would say dont feed them one thing all the time and if beefhart is not all they eat then it wont build up and what is so bad with live feeders other then buying them out of a large goldfish tank . P's need to eat fish and live feeders will give them exersize that they need and if you mix that with shrip and other frozzen fish and even some veggies they will have the best of everything and you will have happy helthy P's
> 
> I think beefharts should still be in there diet but still everything in moderation and if someone out there is feeding them only beefhart they might run into problems but i think most have some sort of mixed diet for there fish and will not run into problems


Read the paragraph again my friend. It's a different type of fat that the Piranhas digestive system is not design to digest. That is why this type of fat is stored in it's liver not it's dorsum(where they should be really storing their fat).

Everytime you feed beefheart, the Piranhas stores a little bit of fat into it's liver. This will lead to health problems that could potentially lead to the fishes early dead. Why risk it when there are better alternative that are less riski and offer more nutrition?

*What is so bad with live feeders? *Feeders are kept under really bad conditions. They are often kept overcrowded and under filtrated. This means that any desease or parasite any feeder has can be transmitted to all the other feeders rather easily.

Live feeders carry parasites and deseases that could be potentially fatal to your fishes. Everytime you feed a feeder, you are putting your fish in great danger. Again, why risk this when the altenative is much better?

Also, because they are often under fed and because of the horible conditions they are kept in. Feeders offer little nutrition to any fishes that consume it.

Feeders also carry a growth inhibiting hormone that if comsumed can stunt your Piranhas growth. This means that your fish will never reach is full size and potential.

Need more?

Hater


----------



## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

wpviper said:


> " Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning that their body temperature rises and falls with their surrounding environment"
> "But these fats need to have a low melting point so that they can be utilized if the water around them is cold (like during the winter). "
> 
> in a tank tho they have a heater to keep there temp the same all year long, like many would say dont feed them one thing all the time and if beefhart is not all they eat then it wont build up and what is so bad with live feeders other then buying them out of a large goldfish tank . P's need to eat fish and live feeders will give them exersize that they need and if you mix that with shrip and other frozzen fish and even some veggies they will have the best of everything and you will have happy helthy P's
> ...


Does the temp change all that much in their Amazonian waters, though?

A lot of the feeders in the hobby carry loads of thiaminase (bad for ps) or disease (bad for anything!).

You can give them exercise with a powerhead--no need for feeders. Plus, if you're worried about making them work for food, you can create a feeding stick, on which you impale fish flesh and let them go after that.

Bottom line, though, given the argument that you've made--many, many people here have successfully kept ps without using beefheart, so it does NOT need to be part of their diet.


----------



## RAZOR_TOOTH (Jun 22, 2006)

Awesome info Hater...
Ive only tried beefheart a couple times.. 
Also I only feed my Larger Ps once a week and they seem very healthy..
By the way not to change subjects, but I picked up some of that bio-gold and my Ps went right for it..
Good stuff man...thanks Hater..

R.T.



ChilDawg said:


> " Fish are cold-blooded animals, meaning that their body temperature rises and falls with their surrounding environment"
> "But these fats need to have a low melting point so that they can be utilized if the water around them is cold (like during the winter). "
> 
> in a tank tho they have a heater to keep there temp the same all year long, like many would say dont feed them one thing all the time and if beefhart is not all they eat then it wont build up and what is so bad with live feeders other then buying them out of a large goldfish tank . P's need to eat fish and live feeders will give them exersize that they need and if you mix that with shrip and other frozzen fish and even some veggies they will have the best of everything and you will have happy helthy P's
> ...


Does the temp change all that much in their Amazonian waters, though?

A lot of the feeders in the hobby carry loads of thiaminase (bad for ps) or disease (bad for anything!).

You can give them exercise with a powerhead--no need for feeders. Plus, if you're worried about making them work for food, you can create a feeding stick, on which you impale fish flesh and let them go after that.

Bottom line, though, given the argument that you've made--many, many people here have successfully kept ps without using beefheart, so it does NOT need to be part of their diet.
[/quote]


----------



## P-Dee (Jun 1, 2007)

Thanks for the info Hater. 
I don't feed my piranha mammal meat anyhow (only because I'm vegetarian and don't have any in the fridge lol) I can't imagine only feeding my p's once a week though, they swim around staring at me with their puppy dog eyes if I miss a day, and they're about 6". Maybe I should try though if it would be better for them...


----------



## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

P-Dee said:


> Thanks for the info Hater.
> I don't feed my piranha mammal meat anyhow (only because I'm vegetarian and don't have any in the fridge lol) I can't imagine only feeding my p's once a week though, they swim around staring at me with their puppy dog eyes if I miss a day, and they're about 6". Maybe I should try though if it would be better for them...


Look p-dee, I'm not suggesting you feed your piranhas only once a week. You can feed everyday but if their dorsum starts to get to big, then its time to slow down their feeding.

Frank Mallaganes feeds his Piranhas every day for a month and then starves them for 3 weeks. This is why his Piranhas are in good condition.

Ultimatly it's up to you to decide what is best for your Piranha, just remember , as long as their dorsum is not to big then the Piranhas are ok.

Hater


----------

