# How to train a Baby Piranha?



## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Like my topic says....Anyone know how to train a bayb piranha to eat certain foods???! I'm having trouble......From the essay, they said that i cant fast him since he needs to always eat....Anyway method? for now he's nipping on Guppies only, dont want him eating that thiamese sh!t!


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

Only introduce foods you want him to eat .


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## ReDraGon-> (May 24, 2004)

MR HARLEY said:


> Only introduce foods you want him to eat .
> [snapback]1078584[/snapback]​


very true...

i myself have trained my Ps to eat floating pellets... and other food i want to feed them...

u see if u decide to try a "new food to your Ps half the time they wont eat it because they dont think its food...

to give them a diverse diet of pellets , shrimps, fish and etc so they can easily eat almost anything u throw into the tank


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

ReDraGon-> said:


> MR HARLEY said:
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> > Only introduce foods you want him to eat .
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i dont want him to starve! he'll die! I've put guppies in there, i guess that's enough for him to eat til he gets bigger. good idea? i've already tried shrimp but his mouth is too small, and i doubt he can bite it, i'm thinking of raising brine shrimps to feed him....O_O


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## PaNo617 (Jan 31, 2005)

theanimedude said:


> ReDraGon-> said:
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> > MR HARLEY said:
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My rbp's are at 1" and i fed them shrimp, they loved it. Their mouths are small but they were able to take tiny bites out of it. I just left it in there for about 5 minutes since it was a little bit more difficult to eat.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Pano617 said:


> theanimedude said:
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> > ReDraGon-> said:
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See the problem is that, i only have one, and since i only have one, so there's no competition for food! I've tried some talipia but he doesnt care for it....


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

I wouldn't worry about training your fish as long as they are babies: baby piranha's are gluttons, and will eat most things you feed them (at least, in my experience). It may take a few tries before they have figured out a new food item actually is intended to be eaten, but usually it's not hard to get babies to accept new things.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> I wouldn't worry about training your fish as long as they are babies: baby piranha's are gluttons, and will eat most things you feed them (at least, in my experience). It may take a few tries before they have figured out a new food item actually is intended to be eaten, but usually it's not hard to get babies to accept new things.
> [snapback]1087074[/snapback]​


oh really? for talipia, should i shred it? or cut a long thing peice? or...u got any suggestions?


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

theanimedude said:


> Judazzz said:
> 
> 
> > I wouldn't worry about training your fish as long as they are babies: baby piranha's are gluttons, and will eat most things you feed them (at least, in my experience). It may take a few tries before they have figured out a new food item actually is intended to be eaten, but usually it's not hard to get babies to accept new things.
> ...


Chop it up in small pieces: when my Reds were still babies, I sliced and diced a fillet into tiny pieces (about a centimeter at most in size), and they loved it. I did the same with smelt, shrimp and other foods. Once they grew, I started feeding larger pieces, until they were large enough to deal with large chunks or whole fish.
They will probably eat larger pieces as well, but the risks of injuries are smaller when you toss in a few small pieces, so each fish can go after his own piece of food.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> theanimedude said:
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damn that's what i did and it got all over and it was hard as hell to take em out. and messed up my water







that was shrimp too....all i have is one guy, that's all.....and so it's hard!!!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Oh, I overlooked that in your first post. With only one Red, it might be a bit more tricky to have it accept new food items (in a shoal, there are usually a few that are bolder than the rest, and are the first to try new foods: once one does, the rest usually follows quickly).

What types of food have you tried so far?


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> Oh, I overlooked that in your first post. With only one Red, it might be a bit more tricky to have it accept new food items (in a shoal, there are usually a few that are bolder than the rest, and are the first to try new foods: once one does, the rest usually follows quickly).
> 
> What types of food have you tried so far?
> [snapback]1087130[/snapback]​


well i've tried to feed my black diamond rhom (not red ^^) some raw shredded shrimp, it took one peice into it's mouth and spat it out. and then it ate the black worms ok but not anymore. doesnt even see it maybe......and so i tried frozen brine shrimp, dont work....i'm gonna try to breed some and then feed it to him....see if that works....otehr than that, he's been living off of guppies.... =\


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

My Manueli is also very picky: he eats live fish, shrimp, and recently started to nibble on smelt, but that's all. So I feed him live fish (tetra's only) from time to time, so his diet is at least a bit varied (although I prefer not to feed live, but I guess I have no choice). 
My reds on the other hand are thrash cans: whatever I throw in their tank, they'll eat it (even gravel







)

Just keep trying various things: drop it in the tank late in the evening, and keep it in there over night. Next morning remove all that's left, and do a small water change (to clean the water a bit). There's plenty to choose from: smelt, fish fillet, shrimp, prawns, mussels, earth worms, etc. Also keep in mind that there are many types of fish fillet and shrimp available: if one type doesn't work, try another one.

A few more tips:
- if you store the food in the freezer, don't thaw it in hot water: instead, use cold water. Hot water will make shrimp rubbery, and fish may become flaky: in other words, it will loose its raw freshness, and may become less appealing to your fish;
- squeeze the food a little before dropping it in: the juices may interest your fish to a point it will taste it;
- try the same type of food for a certain period of time before trying something else (fish often need time to figure out something is edible, and are often hesitant when confronted with new foods: so give them time).
- Give your fish a few safe feeders (tetra's, guppies, mollies) after about a week to 10 days of not eating, so they don't starve or become weakened;
- as said, drop the food in about an hour before you switch off the tank lights: the fish will know it's there, and maybe they will eat it in the safe cover of darkness.

Good luck


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> My Manueli is also very picky: he eats live fish, shrimp, and recently started to nibble on smelt, but that's all. So I feed him live fish (tetra's only) from time to time, so his diet is at least a bit varied (although I prefer not to feed live, but I guess I have no choice).
> My reds on the other hand are thrash cans: whatever I throw in their tank, they'll eat it (even gravel
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Wow!! great INFO!!!








I'll try to give it some talipia........what type of feeders do you use?!! besides mollies ofcourse....


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

I used to feed Goldfish and Minnows, until I learned about the Thiaminase (growth-inhibiting enzymes) carried by these fish.
Nowadays, I only feed Tetra's or baby Cichlids (if available). Other suitable fish are livebearers (Mollies, Guppies, Swordtails).


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## mrwilson99 (Jul 12, 2003)

I stuffed my smelts with pellets, and your fish chomps on it, he will taste the pellets. I tried this for about 2 weeks, and after I just fed the pellets and they ate it. I guess you just gotta give them a taste, and they will grow to like it.

Goodluck! But don't try too hard, they will come around and try to introduce beefheart also, pump that lil guy up!


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

mrwilson99 said:


> I stuffed my smelts with pellets, and your fish chomps on it, he will taste the pellets. I tried this for about 2 weeks, and after I just fed the pellets and they ate it. I guess you just gotta give them a taste, and they will grow to like it.
> 
> Goodluck! But don't try too hard, they will come around and try to introduce beefheart also, pump that lil guy up!
> [snapback]1087264[/snapback]​


yeah my RBP is eating beef hearts, and talipia, pretty easy to make him eat when he starves for 3 days. but my lil guy, i rather feed him gold fishes than to lose 61 bucks!!! plus i love that lil guy!! he has a gold anal fun too so i'm lik waoh!


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> My Manueli is also very picky: he eats live fish, shrimp, and recently started to nibble on smelt, but that's all. So I feed him live fish (tetra's only) from time to time, so his diet is at least a bit varied (although I prefer not to feed live, but I guess I have no choice).
> My reds on the other hand are thrash cans: whatever I throw in their tank, they'll eat it (even gravel
> 
> 
> ...


Although guppies don't contain thiamese, there are still better foods out there.
I think Judazz sums it up extremely well.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Piranha_man said:


> Although guppies don't contain thiamese, there are still better foods out there.[snapback]1087999[/snapback]​


Yup, non-live food is always better, but if you have a picky piranha that refuses to eat prepared foods, you'll have to feed feeders from time to time, so the piranha won't loose too much weight or to prevent starvation. It can take weeks before a piranha accepts prepared foods: going without food all that time isn't good for the fish (especially when still being a juvenile or subadult).
But once it eats prepared foods, live should be removed from the regular diet, and only fed as a monthly treat.


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

Judazzz said:


> Piranha_man said:
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> > Although guppies don't contain thiamese, there are still better foods out there.[snapback]1087999[/snapback]​
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i tried to feed him alil talipia, but the meat flew and i dont know if he sees it, and then now i dont know where it is...i think it flew somewhere.....







now it's gonna rot!!!


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