# Best type of feeder fish for P's



## choi000

I've been thinking of breeding some feeder fishes for my P's but I don't know what type of fish to breed as food for my P's. I have two 10gal tanks setup and ready to use, does anyone have any good suggestions as to what type of fish I should use? I have some convicts in the tank with my P's but they're not eating them. I also wanted to breed fishes that are easy to spawn and maintain and nutritious for my P's. Do you guys think ghost shrimps will be a good source of food for my P's? I have 4 RBP that are 8", 2 Caribes that are 4.5" and 1 piraya thats also 4.5". Any help would be great, thanks!


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## MistaFishPimp05

Mollies and Guppies breed very easy but it takes em a while to get 2 feeder size evn for small P's


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## imachode

i wanted to this same thign last year. so i bred cons and i had sooo many. stupid thing is that the p's rarely eat them. the only fish that has consistently eaten them is my altuvei. they just chill with my other pygos,... sometimes even nipping at the pygos fins. ooh that makes me so mad when they do that.

overall, i vote against breeding cons for feeders.

just sharing my own experiences.


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## anzoil

We have fed ours on the normal goldfish however I don't know if they are nutricious or not nor how to breed them, but they don't last 5 seconds with my 5 rpb's.


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## Perry5136

Mine seem to like the rosies and they are very hardy. They aren't too big but are much bigger then a regular sized guppie.


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## Dragster

i feed mine goldfish,comets,shrimp and catfish.he loves them all and there never in the water for more than 5 mins.he wont eat dead food so i keep the fish in a separate tank and feed them flakes and pellets,in the hope he'll get some goodness from it.


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## Judazzz

Basically anything but goldfish and other Cyprinids, because of growth-inhibiting hormones they carry.

Keep in mind however that every single time you put a live feeder fish in your piranha tank, there's a risk of introducing parasites or diseases - it's comparable to playing Russian roulette, with your piranha's well-being at stake...


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## zygapophysis

i know mollies have babys in no time, but the babys do have to grow up


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## choi000

Anyone know if mollies have the growth hormones that stunt the P's growth like the goldfish? If not, then I might take a try at breeding the mollies as feeder fishes. I was also thinking about ghost shrimps but are they even big enough to fill my P's appetite? I heard they're nutritious though...


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## MistaFishPimp05

i doubt it and even if goldfish *do* have the hormone I don't think u could feed them enough to make a great difference


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## 1piranhaman

thats a good question. i will also try to experiment with this. but i think the convicts dont get eated very quickly, is because of the cons agression towards other fish. in my experience with ps and cons, the cons have the first pic on territories and the ps totally submit to them, unless they get hungry enough. my brother once had two ps in a tanks and i wanted to get rid of my two cons, so i put them in there. the cons beat the sh*t out of the red and took their spots in the tank untill i gave them to the pet shop.


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## r0d1mus

I have been breeding zebra danios as feeders for my p's


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## zygapophysis

r0d1mus said:


> I have been breeding zebra danios as feeders for my p's


 how??


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## radar22

Results of bad feeders 3 yrs ago,all died within 2 weeks!


Judazzz said:


> Basically anything but goldfish and other Cyprinids, because of growth-inhibiting hormones they carry.
> 
> Keep in mind however that every single time you put a live feeder fish in your piranha tank, there's a risk of introducing parasites or diseases - it's comparable to playing Russian roulette, with your piranha's well-being at stake...


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## zygapophysis

wow that really sucks, do you still have those in the bags


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## radar22

zygapophysis said:


> wow that really sucks, do you still have those in the bags


YES? The bags are stored in a vacuum pack plastic box, have kept well so far.


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## P-Rex

ouch that sucks radar22 sorry about your loss...

imo breeding any type of feeder isnt economical also what size of piranhas are gonna feed it to?... think about it, it will take sometime before those "feeder" grow into edible size. The time and money you spent on growing those feeders isnt worth the effort... just stick to prepared foods like cichlid pellets, shrimp, smelt, beefhearts, worms


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## Dragster

My girlfriend has just got a job at a,seafood specialist,she'll be bringing home some large catfish heads for my RB on Friday.yippy free food.


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## MR.FREEZ

radar22 said:


> zygapophysis said:
> 
> 
> 
> wow that really sucks, do you still have those in the bags
> 
> 
> 
> YES? The bags are stored in a vacuum pack plastic box, have kept well so far.
Click to expand...

i link this thread to a *profile on gold fish* i just thought that

picture is a good example of disease introduction

hope you dont mind


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## radar22

mr.freez said:


> radar22 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> zygapophysis said:
> 
> 
> 
> wow that really sucks, do you still have those in the bags
> 
> 
> 
> YES? The bags are stored in a vacuum pack plastic box, have kept well so far.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> i link this thread to a *profile on gold fish* i just thought that
> 
> picture is a good example of disease introduction
> 
> hope you dont mind
Click to expand...

 My pleasure,link away. This is what i was hopeing for. There were no visual effects of the feeders being ill. My fish are kept singley in tanks. The P's ate the feeders, then by the following feed, 2 thirds of the fish quit eating. No visual effects of desease on the p's, but they would stay at the surface now. Then one by one they went belly up! Hard to treat what you can't see,no signs or symptoms. And for me a p not eating for a period of time was not uncommon. Since i quit useing feeders i haven't had a ill fish.


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## Daywalker

anzoil said:


> We have fed ours on the normal goldfish however I don't know if they are nutricious or not nor how to breed them, but they don't last 5 seconds with my 5 rpb's.


 ive read here that you shouldnt feed goldfish to yr P's as they contain growth inhibiting hormones?


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## carisma02uk

i know people on thi site dislike feeding feeders but the majoraty of us still do it so we can but anloy guide them in, in trying to keep their fish healthy.

all who feed feeders check tihs out i mite help you make up your mind and anyone who has any input on this subject please let us know.
tickle me please

remember quaretine all of your feeders you dont want your p's to have to become you dogs new feeders now do you!!!

its a joke but gets the point across.


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## Judazzz

radar22 said:


> Results of bad feeders 3 yrs ago,all died within 2 weeks!
> 
> 
> Judazzz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Basically anything but goldfish and other Cyprinids, because of growth-inhibiting hormones they carry.
> 
> Keep in mind however that every single time you put a live feeder fish in your piranha tank, there's a risk of introducing parasites or diseases - it's comparable to playing Russian roulette, with your piranha's well-being at stake...
Click to expand...

 Holy sh*t, that's aweful















I'm really sorry about that....

But at the same time it probably is the most powerful way to show people the risk of using feeders, regardless of species: _every single fish_ you drop in a tank tank can carry diseases/parasites, wheter it's a feeder goldfish, a cichlid, catfish, guppy or whatever...


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## MR.FREEZ

radar22 said:


> mr.freez said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> radar22 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> zygapophysis said:
> 
> 
> 
> wow that really sucks, do you still have those in the bags
> 
> 
> 
> YES? The bags are stored in a vacuum pack plastic box, have kept well so far.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> i link this thread to a *profile on gold fish* i just thought that
> 
> picture is a good example of disease introduction
> 
> hope you dont mind
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> My pleasure,link away. This is what i was hopeing for. There were no visual effects of the feeders being ill. My fish are kept singley in tanks. The P's ate the feeders, then by the following feed, 2 thirds of the fish quit eating. No visual effects of desease on the p's, but they would stay at the surface now. Then one by one they went belly up! Hard to treat what you can't see,no signs or symptoms. And for me a p not eating for a period of time was not uncommon. Since i quit useing feeders i haven't had a ill fish.
Click to expand...

i think ill add the picture under the link also let me know if want it taken down

heres the updated profile 

also heres a short list of fish in the *Cyprinidae* famliy

now i dont know if thats all of em, im sure it aint but i try to look up some others for yall i you need it


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