# I DONT THINK ILL EVER UNDERSTAND PIRANHAS



## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

i dont think ill ever understand the piranha. I have 8 pygos ranging from 5'' to 6'' to 7'' to 9.5'' ive been feeding them smelt,scallops,shrimp,cropii, hikari gold, i feed every day once a day, when i first got them on hikari gold they loved it i would somtimes feed it to them twice in a day and they would stuff there faces with it, lately they wont even touch it maybe just nibble at it and i end up taking out alot of pellets, i feed them smelt also and they may eat one and a half, i have eight of these piranhas and there pretty big and they are only eating one and a half smelt i dont get it and the same has been going for the shrimp to they will just nibble at one...... freakin weird, so what i ended up doing was changing to cat fish nuggets and they went crazey havent seen them eat so much in a long time i mean i would just keep throwing it in there and they would keep eating even tho they were stuffed, full stomachs poking out stuffed, so i waited three days to feed agin and they wouldnt touch it i fed catfish to them all week and this week they wont touch it just nibble so i switch back to my other food and now they wont touch that.

Here is the weird thing when i put the food in there they quickley rush to it like there hungry then just nibble and then they just start eating out of the gravel like there looking for food but wont touch whats in there just dont get it stating to loose intrest and i put so much time in to them.

WATER PARAMS

Nitrite-0ppm
nitrate-10ppm
ammonia-0ppm
ph-7.6
temp-83

Filtration
two fx5s

Tank
135g

Maintnence
i do 50% to 60% water changes every two to three days 
tank is overstocked but water stays good


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

My pygos won't even eat pellets. As long as they are eating though i wouldnt worry about it. I know i won't even try to understand some of their habits, but is interesting to observe.


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## AJerman (Nov 7, 2007)

Piranhas are known to be picky, but I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Feed them and leave (having you around can scare them from eating as well), then come back after 5 minutes or so and scoop out whatever wasn't eaten. Tomorrow, do it again, if they don't eat enough, they'll get hungry, and eventually they'll start eating. Animals aren't smart, but they know how to stay alive. They will only be picky for so long before they decide to eat whatever they can get.


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## Ironhead (Nov 25, 2007)

Have you feed them anything live recently, or did the ol' lady?
I had that same problem awhile back just to find out my wife 
threw in some feeders while i was away, which is just fine, 
but they allways get picky after eating feeders,..imo,..


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

Ironhead said:


> Have you feed them anything live recently, or did the ol' lady?
> I had that same problem awhile back just to find out my wife
> threw in some feeders while i was away, which is just fine,
> but they allways get picky after eating feeders,..imo,..


no she doesnt mess with them the only thing i feed live is feeder mice every once and a while


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

tiran said:


> ....i feed every day once a day, when i first got them on hikari gold they loved it i would somtimes feed it to them twice in a day and they would stuff there faces with it.....so what i ended up doing was changing to cat fish nuggets and they went crazey havent seen them eat so much in a long time i mean i would just keep throwing it in there and they would keep eating even tho they were stuffed, full stomachs poking out stuffed.....


You might be feeding them too much at once. Don't feed them for two or three days again, then go to smaller portions once a day. When I first started feeding Tilapia mine did the same thing. Once I reduced the amount of food I was giving them every day they were back to their normal feeding habits.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2008)

Don't know what to say. Could they be sick?


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## xplosivelikec4 (May 10, 2004)

Dont let your piranha's be picky feed it what YOU WANT. If they dont eat it then tuff sh*t, scoop it out and wait another day. Train them. My P's did the same thing with the pellets and I just scooped it out and did this for 2 more days and the finally ate it.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.

I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.


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## ashkahn (Nov 12, 2007)

Grosse Gurke said:


> There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.
> 
> I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.


i do the same the lol. i dont have a schedule i just feed my p's every few days no pattern. it seems to be working i have healthy, colourful piranhas.


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

tiran said:


> i dont think ill ever understand the piranha. I have 8 pygos ranging from 5'' to 6'' to 7'' to 9.5'' ive been feeding them smelt,scallops,shrimp,cropii, hikari gold, i feed every day once a day, when i first got them on hikari gold they loved it i would somtimes feed it to them twice in a day and they would stuff there faces with it, lately they wont even touch it maybe just nibble at it and i end up taking out alot of pellets, i feed them smelt also and they may eat one and a half, i have eight of these piranhas and there pretty big and they are only eating one and a half smelt i dont get it and the same has been going for the shrimp to they will just nibble at one...... freakin weird, so what i ended up doing was changing to cat fish nuggets and they went crazey havent seen them eat so much in a long time i mean i would just keep throwing it in there and they would keep eating even tho they were stuffed, full stomachs poking out stuffed, so i waited three days to feed agin and they wouldnt touch it i fed catfish to them all week and this week they wont touch it just nibble so i switch back to my other food and now they wont touch that.
> 
> Here is the weird thing when i put the food in there they quickley rush to it like there hungry then just nibble and then they just start eating out of the gravel like there looking for food but wont touch whats in there just dont get it stating to loose intrest and i put so much time in to them.
> 
> ...


maybe you should take a day off from feeding once in a while i usually take 2 days off a week usually in a row just to get them nice and hungrey then i throw a big a-s piece of fish and make a video


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Grosse Gurke said:


> There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.
> 
> I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.












I'm tired of this guy riding my coat tail!!!


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## irishman (Feb 12, 2008)

What about garlic? I dont know if piranha are like other fish but when my Green terror ( yes its a cichlid but Im using it as an example) got internal parasites and stoped eating I laced her food with garlic. When I put it in her tank she hit it like a Large mouth bass hitting my jitter bug!


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Grosse Gurke said:


> There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.
> 
> I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.


This is the same method I follow and would suggest it. Fish are smarter than we give them credit for and they learn alot quickly about feeding times.

I doubt it but they could also be getting ready to breed since it's getting close to their breeding season (if I'm not mistaken) and they could be rushing and striking the food simply cause it's new to the enviroment and once they discover it's just food they don't care. When you do your next water change make sure they last 5-10 gallons is down right cold and see if they don't start to change color. When mine start breeding they get very picky ......at the same time though they will strike anything I put in the tank.


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

Grosse Gurke said:


> There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.
> 
> I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.


\

hahahahahahahahh condition your fish arnt they already conditioned wen they are born wow


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

pirayaman said:


> There really is no reason for them to eat...they always know you will feed them again soon...so unless they are hungry...or it is something they desire...they dont need to eat. That is a problem with feeding fish daily....or on a regular schedule. My fish never know when the next meal is coming....so they will eat everything I put in the tank. I also never stuff them....I personally hate fat fish...so I always feed them less then they would eat. I always change it up..sometimes I let them go a week...sometimes I feed them every other day...but it is never a pattern...so when they get food...the eat. I also feed all my fish the same....the solo fish....and the fish in groups.
> 
> I dont recommend this to people because you do need to condition your fish to eating like this......but this is what works for me.


\

hahahahahahahahh condition your fish arnt they already conditioned wen they are born wow
[/quote]

Lol no, where you already conditioned when you were born?

Fish weren't have to get conditioned to their surrounding within the tank. I've had reds and rhoms that would chase your finger and try and take a hand if you put it in the tank but you move them to another tank and they become skittish again until they get used to that tank. It's sad when you have an aggressive fish then you change him to another tank cause he grows and after the switch he's never aggressive again.


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## robert69 (Jul 16, 2005)

tiran,

Your posting describes EXACTLY what is going in with my fish this week. I couldn't have written your post any different. It's really wierd. I am going through the exact same thing!


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

pirayaman said:


> hahahahahahahahh condition your fish arnt they already conditioned wen they are born wow


Ever hear of Pavlov's dog? Look it up and get back to me......

Believe it or not...the fish in your tank are living creatures which will react to different stimulus inside and outside of the tank. I can wave a piece of catfish outside my rhoms tank...and he will nose up and get all excited which tells me he wants to eat. If he is not hungry...he doesnt react at all...and I know not to feed him. When I remove the lid on his tank..he will start snapping at the top of the water in anticipation of the food. He has been "conditioned" to react to food if he wants to eat...and knows that if he doesnt react and show me some interest...he doesnt get fed. He has also been "conditioned" that after I wave the food...I will remove the lid and drop in the catfish....so he is anticipating the food hitting the water....which is why he starts snapping at the surface of the water.

But I guess you are right...this is how all rhoms react to food. Maybe you should try paying attention to how your fish behave...they are a lot more complex then you seem to give them credit for.....


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Try flakes...my reds even now still eat them.


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