# Feeding Rotten Fish To Piranha



## STUD (Jan 27, 2005)

Since Pirahna eat all kinds of spoiled/rotten food in the wild, is it ok to feed them raw catfish that has thawed out in the refrigerator for a week or so and is now rotten/stinking? They eat dead carcass in the wild, so I wasn't sure if rotten fish would be ok to feed. I know their systems process/digest food different from ours, so I'd like to know if anyone has ever done this before. Thanks.


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

I would think it would mess up your water quality.


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## BUBB$ (May 8, 2006)

i wouldn't even risk it...


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## Alexx (Jan 20, 2006)




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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Yeah, no bueno... once it is starting to rot, the nutritional value is basically shot, they eat dead stuff in the wild because it's an easy meal, not because it is their healthiest choice


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> Yeah, no bueno... once it is starting to rot, the nutritional value is basically shot, they eat dead stuff in the wild because it's an easy meal, not because it is their healthiest choice


 Most dead things in the wild are also freshly dead and are gone before they can rot. I wouldn't try simply because of water quality/


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## STUD (Jan 27, 2005)

Sounds logical, but I've never seen the question asked and was just curious what people with experience thought. Thanks for the replies!


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## Uncle Rico (Sep 4, 2005)

Yeah I agree, I don't think dead things would last very long in the amazon. There are many different types of scavengers. And even if piranhas do eat rotten things in the wild, its not something you would want to recreate in your home(there are a lot of things you would not want to recreate in your aquarium that happen to piranhas in the wild. If you had the same death rate in your aquarium as piranhas face in the wild, you would probably go broke buying new fish constantly.)


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

I'm going to say Yes and No

It depends just how bad its gotten.

After I thawed out fish and it passes the 5 day mark it will start to smell and get slimy, once this happens I normally take the fish out of the bag and rinse/clean it under cold water and put it in a new zip lock bag. In sea food restaurants it's quite normal that we'll rinse the sea food under cooled water to remove that lair of slime making the product last a day or 2 longer. I've worked on sushi bars and a few fine dinning restaurants where 85% of the menu is sea food.

If it's started to change color or is really smelly(like almost makes you wanna vomit) and slimy/ or still smells after you've rinsed it under cold water then I'll toss it cause it is no longer good, my guidelines is "If I wouldn't eat it then I wouldn't feed it to the fish".

I've noticed my fish enjoy the fish way more the older it is, maybe it's cause they can smell it better I'm not sure but when it's fresh it'll hit the bottom of the tank and when it's on the borderline it barley makes it half way to the bottom of the tank.


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## nero1 (Jul 26, 2008)

sean-820 said:


> QUOTE (JoeDizzleMPLS @ Apr 9 2010, 07:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Yeah, no bueno... once it is starting to rot, the nutritional value is basically shot, they eat dead stuff in the wild because it's an easy meal, not because it is their healthiest choice
> Most dead things in the wild are also freshly dead and are gone before they can rot. I wouldn't try simply because of water quality/


^ I second this. I would think that not many things have time to really rot in the wild all that often. Besides if it aint good for you its probably not that good for your fish either.


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## Jhowell (Jul 5, 2009)

STUD said:


> Since Pirahna eat all kinds of spoiled/rotten food in the wild, is it ok to feed them raw catfish that has thawed out in the refrigerator for a week or so and is now rotten/stinking? They eat dead carcass in the wild, so I wasn't sure if rotten fish would be ok to feed. I know their systems process/digest food different from ours, so I'd like to know if anyone has ever done this before. Thanks.


STUD, I know from personal experience that my last P died from a rotten tilapia filet I usually fed the 2 P's (3-4") 2 small pieces of Tilapia fillet once a day and one week the fish smelt rather disgusting but I was in the same predicament you just thought of.. "Oh well they eat this in the wild.." Well the answer to that is no do not do this it is not healthy for them I lost my 6" Pygo to a Tilapia fillet so take caution!!


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## ___ (Feb 19, 2006)

Not to highjack but I made a gelatin mix and had 6 little pucks that wouldnt fit in my freezer so I put them in the refrigerator... How long would you think those are good for?

Thanks


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