# Where to order frozen fish?



## Knifeman (Feb 3, 2003)

Hey Guys,

I lost my connection to get frozen silversides. Anyone know a good place to get some frozen whole fish to feed my piraya shoal?


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

Try an asian market or fresh market. Or forget the frozen fish and buy a bag of bio gold.....Which I think is an ideal diet.


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## Knifeman (Feb 3, 2003)

SeedlessOne said:


> Try an asian market or fresh market. Or forget the frozen fish and buy a bag of bio gold.....Which I think is an ideal diet.


Thanks for the reply, but I prefer whole and natural foods that are not processed and/or heat treated. I also believe that the bulk of a piranha's diet in the wild is almost entirely made up of whole fish. Therefore I lean towards feeding silversides or another species of whole fish with the guts, fins, and head intact. I also prefer that they be frozen before feeding. The freezing process will eliminate a good portion of the risk in feeding live feeders or fresh fish, because it typically kills many forms of diseases, parasites, or bacterial contamination.

So the feeding of whole frozen fish makes up at least 60% of the diet that I give to my fish. The other three days a week I rotate night crawlers, raw shrimp, and very occasionally cut beef heart. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try the Bio Gold once in a while like I do the beef heart, but only as a source of variety in their diet.

I should add that this diet (minus the Bio Gold) has enabled me to grow both 2-3" juvenile piraya and caribe to 12 inches plus within two years time. I am not saying that the entire shoal reached this size, but in each case the largest three or four fish in the shoal measured over 12", with the smallest in the shoal going about 9". Unfortunately for me, in both single species tanks, cannibalism then kicked in and they almost always seemed to target the largest fish. I suspect this was because the largest fish were egg filled females, which triggered hormonal changes in the males in the shoal and greatly exaggerated their territoriality. This behavior kicked in with the piraya shortly after the second year of raising them, but the caribe shoal went close to five years together before the killings began.


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2009)

I am lucky to live close to The Shark Aquarium, so I never have that problem.

The local bait shops may be able help you. I don't know anything about Ohio, but at various times of year, the bait shops in NJ near the large reservoirs and the shore carry freshwater herring such as alewife and even small eels (anguila). I heard some even carry killifish.

It would be very expensive, but perhaps you could buy alewife and freeze them, yourself.

Some brands of sardine and kipling are canned whole, but they're extrememly oily.


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

Knifeman you really should try a feeding one group of Ps pellets and the other your normal diet. You might be surprised. Plus I would like to see the results. I used to to have a very similar diet you have now. I made the switch to pellets and saw some amazing things.


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## chomp chomp (Oct 28, 2003)

Hey Knifeman- I have bought them from a pet store on East broad..I think it is pet supplies plus (next to office max). Anyways, they do not always have them in stock so I would call before heading over there. I have bought both the large sheeets of frozen krill and the whole silversides there. Aquarium adventure has them too but that is quite a haul from the east side..


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## Knifeman (Feb 3, 2003)

Thanks for the responses guys. I have found a place that I can buy the silversides wholesale.

Seedless, I may give the pellets a try like you say, but my stance will not change completely on diet no matter what I see. I have learned over the years that diet is huge in raising animals of any kind, and there is no substitution for whole, raw, natural foods. This goes for the fish I raise, the rottweilers I have bred since 1981, and for the most part even what my sons and I eat. Still, I also view variety as very important, so I believe that the pellets that you are suggesting may add something to the diet if done in moderation.

Chomp, I think you are referring to Pet Supplies Plus. You are correct that they do occasionally carry silversides, but they have been out of stock on them for the last several weeks. They are actually the first place I phoned.


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