# How often and how much do YOU feed your p's?



## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

I'm kind of curious to how often and how much you feed your p's.

I'm not relly sure how much I should be feeding them but my p's are ABOUT 4-6 (hard for me to tell, i'll post a pic) and I usually buy about 4 comets. They are basically giant goldfish that are about 1.5 inches long. probably 3 times bigger in mass than a regular goldfish.

.......... oh and i have 3 p's btw.

My fish seem to eat about one each and then start to slow down a bit. I'm just looking for what you guys do to see if that ammount sounds about correct.

I also feed them about twice a week to keep the aggression there.

in the picture the p closest to the camera is my smallest in size


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## Dan_U.K (Jul 13, 2004)

Feed them 1 comet evry other day,that should be fine


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

dont use feeders, they carry disease. just feed them fish flesh, feed them every day and see when they stop eating it, then adjust your daily food size to be the same amount as what they eat.


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

Dan_U.K said:


> Feed them 1 comet evry other day,that should be fine


 fair enough, but do you see anything wrong with feeding them about 4 twice a week or so?


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

illnino said:


> dont use feeders, they carry disease. just feed them fish flesh, feed them every day and see when they stop eating it, then adjust your daily food size to be the same amount as what they eat.


 i still haven't found anything I like feeding them better though. I find that they quite like the krill and it's cheap and easy but it makes a real mess of the tank so i stopped that.

with the feeders they eat them whole or in two bites and no mess is left


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## DirtyJersey (Apr 28, 2004)

you are just increasing the risk of cannabilism, keeping them hungry like that all the time.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

you really shouldnt use feeders, not healthy for them....


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## Dan_U.K (Jul 13, 2004)

no that will be ok,but it realy depends if you have aggrssive piranhas or not


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

I feed mine every other day. I use feeders, fillet and krill.


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## Dan_U.K (Jul 13, 2004)

I feed my piranha beef heart but it makes my flat smell like a damn butchery


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## stewarts (Jul 19, 2004)

i feed mine frozen shrimp ring, 1/4 every couple days. they seem to likr it.


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## Dan_U.K (Jul 13, 2004)

Hopefully my convicts will breed soon so thier young will be my future feeder fish


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

feed my fellas every other day and i give em catfish usually there about 6 inches

and the catfish is in bite size nuggs they get about two each and i havent feed a live

feeder gold in a really long time, after reading others opinions and facts i just dont

trust em any more


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

maybe you guys could give me some good ideas on alternative food.

i want something that isn't messy and i don't want to have to go to the local butchers









is feeding them every second day a better idea? how about every third day... or is that pushing it.

i want them to grow fast but i don't want a whole bunch of waste in the tank.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

every second day is a surefire way that they will eat all the food they can, 3 is too much for health reasons.fish filet isnt messy at all too...


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

cat fish has been workin great for me and shrimp when i catch it on sale and i give

them hikari carnivor pellets as snacks in between sometimes, not to many though

and none of which has been messy for me


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

isn't shrimp and fish fillet full of perservatives from the grocery store?

by shrimp are we talking large shrimp from the frozen section of your local grocery store?


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

i've posted on this subject a couple times now. i wish i could find something that is cheap and easy to feed.

the krill was great but it breaks up and pieces get left all over.

edit: am i going to have any problems with feeding them every second day..... wate-wise. i noly have about 500gph filtration in a 55 gallon. so as you all know that's about 50 gph under. i plan on getting another 330 in a couple weeks but i have to keep it how it is for now as my 170 is the only established filter.


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## rbp guy (Apr 19, 2004)

I have 7 natts. ranging from 4" to 6". I feed them 70 minnows, 2 dozen ghost shrimp, and 4 earthworms a week. Every once in a while I'll feed them some crayfish and tadpoles. They've been living on live foods since I've had them. The only time I've ever had them on dead food was back in February (I only had 2 at the time, Valentine's Day special at the LFS). They were about 1"- 1 1/2". I fed them flake food for a few days. Those two are at 6" and 5 1/2" now. I picked up three more about 1" to 1 1/2" in March, they are about 5" to 5 1/2". I picked up the last two in April at about the same size as the others when I first got them. One is at 4" and the other is at 4 1/4".

They are fed 10 minnows every day. Once a week, I go to the LFS and add 2 dozen ghost shrimp. I feed them the worms when I do the water change.


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## ShaneN. (Mar 8, 2004)

rbp guy said:


> I have 7 natts. ranging from 4" to 6". I feed them 70 minnows, 2 dozen ghost shrimp, and 4 earthworms a week. Every once in a while I'll feed them some crayfish and tadpoles. They've been living on live foods since I've had them. The only time I've ever had them on dead food was back in February (I only had 2 at the time, Valentine's Day special at the LFS). They were about 1"- 1 1/2". I fed them flake food for a few days. Those two are at 6" and 5 1/2" now. I picked up three more about 1" to 1 1/2" in March, they are about 5" to 5 1/2". I picked up the last two in April at about the same size as the others when I first got them. One is at 4" and the other is at 4 1/4".
> 
> They are fed 10 minnows every day. Once a week, I go to the LFS and add 2 dozen ghost shrimp. I feed them the worms when I do the water change.


 sounds pricey


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## Drewzie (Jun 29, 2004)

i think im going to go with the catfish route on mine, because that is what the previous owner used to feed them. But how do you recommend preparing it, and in what kind of quantities? feeding everyday is too much right? or is that ok, i want them to get really big so...


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## rbp guy (Apr 19, 2004)

ShaneN. said:


> rbp guy said:
> 
> 
> > I have 7 natts. ranging from 4" to 6". I feed them 70 minnows, 2 dozen ghost shrimp, and 4 earthworms a week. Every once in a while I'll feed them some crayfish and tadpoles. They've been living on live foods since I've had them. The only time I've ever had them on dead food was back in February (I only had 2 at the time, Valentine's Day special at the LFS). They were about 1"- 1 1/2". I fed them flake food for a few days. Those two are at 6" and 5 1/2" now. I picked up three more about 1" to 1 1/2" in March, they are about 5" to 5 1/2". I picked up the last two in April at about the same size as the others when I first got them. One is at 4" and the other is at 4 1/4".
> ...


Well, I can get about 35-50 minnows for $4.24 at the local bait shop. That's the price set for 2 dozen minnows but the owner just sticks in a huge net in the holding tank a few times. The two dozen ghost shrimp I get for about $4.00 at the LFS. The worms are $2.00 a dozen but I run out of them once a month. Weekly, that's only about $16.24 plus tax. So, about $17.00 a week. That's not expensive for me right now and I think I can keep it that way until all of them pass the 6" mark. If I'm not making any more money by then, I think I'll have start buying the dead stuff.


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## piranhafighter97 (Jul 21, 2004)

feed them earthworms from your yard. there good for them and are fun to watch em eat them.


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## zygapophysis (Jul 16, 2004)

earthworms from the yard may have pesticides on em


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## ReDraGon-> (May 24, 2004)

earthworms from your yard...?? wtf man u know what kind of bacteria u can introduce to your P tank....

dude for your 1st post piranha fisghter...it wasnt a smart 1


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## ColdStone (Jun 30, 2004)

I feed a mixed combination of Omega One, Hikari and other pellets. I mix them together in container and feed the Ps a couple of sprinkles a day. This hopefully provides the plant material and nutrients/vitamins that they need while also providing variety. 
I also feed them frozen silversides, beef heart, krill, black worms, home bred pink convict babies and earthworms every few days instead of, or in addition to the pellets.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

I just bought 1lb of catfish fillet for 98 cents.


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

ReDraGon-> said:


> earthworms from your yard...?? wtf man u know what kind of bacteria u can introduce to your P tank....
> 
> dude for your 1st post piranha fisghter...it wasnt a smart 1


 Tru dat!

Where can you get catfish fillet? How much is it usually?

I usually feed my one rbp the frozen pellets and they are very messy! I even turn the filter way down during his feeding time and it still manages to get flung all over the tank.

What would yall say is the unmessiest food that you can feed to them and that is cheap too?


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## Sam (Mar 18, 2004)

ReDraGon-> said:


> earthworms from your yard...?? wtf man u know what kind of bacteria u can introduce to your P tank....
> 
> dude for your 1st post piranha fisghter...it wasnt a smart 1


Wow...way to make someone feel welcome.









Anyway...I feed my p's (8 baby reds @ 2.5") twice a day...one gelatin cube in the morning and either shrimp or smelt at night.

They're growing pretty fast so the amount I feed them is constantly changing. I feed them one smelt at a time until they seem full...which takes about 5-6 pieces.


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