# Fish from local pond



## CostaKapo (Apr 23, 2009)

Would it be alright to feed my piranhas sun fish or large mouth bass from the pond near my house if i cut em up?

If they need to be cleaned how do i go about cleaning the fish and what part of the fish should i avoid feeding?


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## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

I am not an expert on this topic. I can tell you that it is a good thing that you asked about it, especially if you haven't fed them this yet. I can take an educated guess, and guess that if any of this fish should be fed to your P's, it should probably be just the filet. Hopefully someone more knowledgable can shed some more light on this for you.

From searching, what I did find is that you would want to remove a thin line of red meat from the filet. The downfall to the bass is that they feed on minnows and other fish, that aren't so good for your P's. So if they are eating crap, and you are feeding them to your P's it may not be such a good idea. As I said, I hope someone else can help you out as well!


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

ITs generally not a good idea to feed your P's anything from the "wild". IT could be fine but you never know what could be wrong with the fish itself like diseases and parasites. Nothing wrong with feeding P's whole fish. I feed mine whole fish anytime I can get some at the grocery store. Any white meat fish is safe. For those that have to feed live I suggest they get whole fish from the grocerer. They go just as ape over it but the meal isnt gettn eaten alive and more likely to be healthy for them. If its good enough for us it cant hurt them is the way I look at it. I know others on here feed their P's trout and other fish they catch but thats up to them. I dont recomend it but do what you want. Id rather pay $5lb for talapia fillet then feed em something I cought for free and have it die cause the fish I put in there was diseased or somthing.


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Just my .02, you're doing the same exact thing as any fisherman are doing who provide the supermarkets with stock that you in turn buy. Think about it.... They go fish with nets, you go fish with a pole. You pay to get the same thing that you're now getting for free.

Freeze it to kill the bacteria and voila. I've done this many a times with absolutely no repercussions. Keep the skin on the fillets. It is packed with nutrients.......

Just fillet the fish, skin on, cut it up into bite size pieces, freeze it in ziplocs and use as needed. Since day one I have been feeding my P's personally caught fish and couldn't be happier. Better than spending 6-10 $ a pound on food that I should be eating









Ask yourself would you eat the fish that you're catching, if the answer is yes, then by all means feed it to your p's. These fish are scavengers, they eat way worse things in the wild......


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

roccov12345 said:


> Just my .02, you're doing the same exact thing as any fisherman are doing who provide the supermarkets with stock that you in turn buy. Think about it.... They go fish with nets, you go fish with a pole. You pay to get the same thing that you're now getting for free.
> 
> Freeze it to kill the bacteria and voila. I've done this many a times with absolutely no repercussions. Keep the skin on the fillets. It is packed with nutrients.......
> 
> ...


I do the same catching sunfish and bass and cut them out freeze them feed to my ps. they love them. you can keep the scales if you want, that's extra calcium for your piranhas, depends on the size of the fish and your piranhas, I sometimes keep some of the bones too, extra calcium.
Try to avoid feeding internal organs from those wild caught fish, and inspect the fish first to see if there's any visible parasites on them.


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## CostaKapo (Apr 23, 2009)

thanks for all the advice guys. I dont know what im gunna do yet but since some members have actually already fed their p's wild fish i may.


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## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

Costa Kapo said:


> thanks for all the advice guys. I dont know what im gunna do yet but since some members have actually already fed their p's wild fish i may.


Just be sure to take the precautions that they have mentioned into consideration, and prepare the fish properly.


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

I agree that as long as you freeze it first there shouldn't be any problems or risks.


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

Freezing meat does not kill bacteria. It inhibits their growth and basically puts them in hibernation. Theres a reason you cant eat raw hamburger or well shouldnt eat raw meats. Only way to kill bacteria is with heat. Personally I dont eat fish from my local waters. I find many fish have grubs and other parasites. Most fish you buy in stores are farm raised not from the wild. I think P's are basically the amazons garbage disposal and you would think they would have a high tolerance or resistance to disease. Basically is it worth the risk to you to feed them fish you dont know are healthy or not. IF its a private pond and fed by a natural spring I would think they'd be healthy but if its a public area I wouldnt risk it. MY 2 pennies.


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## CostaKapo (Apr 23, 2009)

It is a private pond next to my college which only university students are allowed to fish in.


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## Guest (May 22, 2009)

Ibanez247 said:


> Freezing meat does not kill bacteria. It inhibits their growth and basically puts them in hibernation. Theres a reason you cant eat raw hamburger or well shouldnt eat raw meats. Only way to kill bacteria is with heat. Personally I dont eat fish from my local waters. I find many fish have grubs and other parasites.


This is true. Freezing does not sterilize meat. Some bacteria, viruses, and even eggs from certain parasites can easily survive household freezer temperatures. It's the cooking that makes fish and meat safe for us to eat.

That being said, I've fed alot of live fish that I've caught myself to my aquarium inhabitants. I have also fed raw fish fillets and shrimp, both wild and farm raised, as a staple diet for many years. I have never had a problem with any parasites that I could see and I have never had any diseases sweep through any of my tanks.

I understand there is a theoretical possibility of fish introducing parasites and diseases into my aquarium, but I have never experienced it.

I just have too much fun feeding my big predatory fish to not do it.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

^^ Yeah, my opinion is that if your piranhas are healthy to begin with, and your water parameters are good, they'll be fine.
Look at piranhas in the wild... they don't eat fish that has been quarantined or frozen or cooked... in fact, they often go for the sick and dying fish!

I think it mostly depends on the _"Health of your tank."_
If your fish are stressed and living in a borderline environment, then it may not take much to put them _"Over the edge."_

If they're healthy and living in good conditions, they can handle it.

Again, this is simply my opinion.


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## michaelj (Nov 18, 2007)

our native stock are full of worms, diseases and parasites. not to mention pollution and the tumors most of our natives get. its common knowledge that you dont introduce aquarium fish to our waters to prevent our kinds of diseases affecting our stocks, and it's also true the other way around. freezing dosent kill bacteria, if it did we could eat frozen raw meats instead of wasting our time cooking it. you do what you want, but I think its ignorant to intermingle parrasite ridden fish with your SA aquarium kept fish. the biggest piece of advice I could give you is to medicate your fish with prazi pro every 2 weeks while on this diet to prevent internal parasites from infesting your fish. and yes in the wild piranhas are full of disease and parasites and so are the fish they eat, but thats why alot of them die in the wild of sickness, have stunted growth from infestations robbing theyre nutritional intakes, sores and fungal spots are common place in the wild


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