# How many times a day do you feed your p's



## mike316 (Jun 6, 2004)

I feed my 3 p's once a day at night before i go to bed. I trow in two blood worm packs. Am i feeding them enough or not enough? Thanks alot!!!!


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

hpw big are they??

mine are six to eight and i give em food once to every other day


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## idontknow (Jul 12, 2004)

i havent fed mine for 5 days







, i'm guessing your p's are small because you're feeding them frozen blood worms. if they're not dying off, you're doing fine.


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## mike316 (Jun 6, 2004)

my p's are 3 inchs now.


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## outlook8 (Jun 30, 2003)

mike316 said:


> my p's are 3 inchs now.
> [snapback]817221[/snapback]​


might wanna feed them a little bit more...just throw some in and see how long it takes them to eat it; if they gobble it all up immediately, throw in a little bit more...i feed my 2 6-7"ers a piece of smelt everyday and 3 or 4 frozen cubes of bloodwroms...

chris


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## n0bie (Feb 15, 2004)

i feed my 1" red`s twice aday


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## Davo (Jan 29, 2004)

every other day as much as they want. Thats what I do with my Reds.

I even tried every day as much as they eat.

Its all ok as long as they are fed. Some say not to over feed... but I feel that they will eat what they want and no more. A few of my P's are a bit greedy and stuf them selves... But hey what ever makes them happy


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## steveling (Jun 6, 2003)

i feed my baby reds 3 inches and growing fast ! 3 times a day and there stomach are always full , my serraltus is fed every other day


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

The schedule I used (and still use) with my reds:

Up to 2" - 3x per day
2-4" - once or twice per day
4-5" - once per day
5-6" - once per one or two days day
6" and bigger - once every 3-4 days

*_Moved to Feeding and Nutrition_*


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## Jewelz (Feb 24, 2004)

my reds are about 6" or a little bigger, I feed them once every 2-3 days


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

Judazzz said:


> The schedule I used (and still use) with my reds:
> 
> Up to 2" - 3x per day
> 2-4" - once or twice per day
> ...


Yep, that's what I did :nod:


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

My now 4" p's get fed when they swim in cirlces and look hungry. Usually once a day when i get home from work, but then they are eating about 1 cube of brine shrimp and then 8 1" feeders fed brine shrimp and flakes. My fish are growing like crazy and have lots of color. and everyother day they get shrimp or smelt or catfish instead of the feeders. (keeps the cost of food down) MIne are allways happy and fat.


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## a_plus1234 (Jul 26, 2003)

I've got 7"-10" caribes that get fed 2x per week


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## Dr Exum (Nov 6, 2004)

Judazzz said:


> The schedule I used (and still use) with my reds:
> 
> Up to 2" - 3x per day
> 2-4" - once or twice per day
> ...


nice post good info... i'm going to follow this.......................


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

I feed 2 times a day


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## compton ass steve (Nov 12, 2004)

once every other day for me


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## Cobra (Sep 25, 2004)

once a day...........I might skip a day here and there but im not worried since theyve grown past the cannibalism phase.


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## Zarathustra (Nov 9, 2003)

1.-You mention "past the cannibalism" phase...I had a tank with 9 pirayas and 3 ternetzi, about 4/5" and have only five left due to cannibalism, and now are separated by divider. On another tanks I have 6 piraya ranging from 5 to 11", together with 5 6/7" caribe, and one 10" RBP, no cannibalism in this tank...and anothe with 15 rbp's and no cannibalism. What is this stage, and how is it determined? Have also had serious cannibalism with 24 spilos...only 12 left, but as they get bigger, it is less, but still, in one week the go crazy and eat themselves...any guidance in this topic?

2.-My 15 rbp's were eating like crazy every other day anything thrown in the tank. In two months they moved from 3 to 4" tp 5 and 6+, but now are far less voracious and leave food aroun. I saw posting of larger intervals between feedings the larger they specimens are (same with my piraya/cariba/rbp tank-less larger now, less apetite)...should I moved them now into a feeding evry 3-4 days and fear not cannibalism?

Diet alternating: (fish fillets, squid, shrimp, beef heart, land oysters (meaning bull's testicles), feeders, and pellets.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

It's hard to say wheter your fish will resort to cannibalism, or what things trigger it or prevent it. Piranha's prefer to feed on the weak, sick and injured, so if you have a tank full of healthy fish, the chances should be fairly small. But if one gets injured during a feeding frenzy or territorial/dominance issues, or gets sick for whatever reason, the tables might turn - when and why exactly remains hard to say...

Healthy adult pygo's can go without food for weeks, possibly even months (that's how they survive the dry season in the wild). Feeding your adult piranha's twice a week, or 3 times per 2 weeks, throughout the year, is a lot of food, compared to their wild intake.
So I don't think you'll have to be affraid less food would cause a higher risk of canibalisation (I've never experienced it with piranha's larger than say 2-3 inches). But cannibalism will always be a possibility, fed daily or weekly - for the reasons stated earlier. See it as one of the occupational hazards of pygo keeping: something you can't control, nor predict - piranha's follow their instinct, and I doubt us humans are able to figure out what really makes piranha's tick...

One more thing that makes the equation even harder to grasp is that every fish has a different temper or character - some will try to injure or kill rivals without second thought, while others are happy with a non-violent display of threats. That's why sometimes peaceful pygo tanks turn into gang land after adding one or more new fish - bad seeds, basically.
So just adjust their feeding regime slowly, and it should be fine.

As far as your spilo's (and many other serra species) go: they are parasites by nature, feeding on fins and scales, and remain so much more throughout their live than pygo's (who become full-blown pack-hunting predators). So putting them together and establishing a relatively peacefully coexisting group is so much harder than starting a pygo shoal, because you are basically going against their nature.
Btw: this parasitic behaviour is also very prominent with juvenile pygo's, which is why many talk about a "cannibalistic stage" - it's not really true, as they also hunt, but it describes that phase quite well nonetheless.


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## RHOMBEUS (Mar 18, 2003)

I feed every sunday and wednesday. The fish eat quite a bit. There is less waste. They very seldom leave any food lying around. I feed a variety. Catfish, shrimp, smelt, beefheart, pellet, and yes flakes. I've found with this type of feeding they more readily accept differant foods. I never feed live. HTH.


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## killerbee (Aug 18, 2004)

once a day for my 5"pygos and my 6" pleco. Tried to get them to eat every other day but there was more fin nipping than usual so i went back to a daily scedule. So far so good 
*knock on wood*

They eat about 4-6 pieces of 2-3" shrimp. Thats all i feed them with the occasional feeder. Like this weekend i threw in a $7 Koi (6'')







wish i had a camera to show u guys/gals.


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

so if mine are 6-7" - how often should i feed them?im feeding every 2 days at the moment


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## Northstar (Jun 19, 2003)

My Reds are 7 1/2" and I feed them once a day. Each day I feed them something different: Shrimp one day, Pellets the next and so on.

Lrg Shrimp 2 for ea fish
Pellets 5+ ea
Salmon same portion as the shrimp(strips)
Bay scallops 3+ for ea fish
Cod same as the salmon serving
Crab chunks 3 chunks ea
Beef hearts 3 chunks ea
Occasional feeders (quarantined) 2-3 med goldies ea


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## sadboy (Jan 6, 2005)

This is some good info.


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## Zim (Jun 4, 2004)

I have a large black rhom. So I feed him every other day


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## Little Waffen (Mar 13, 2004)

Northstar said:


> My Reds are 7 1/2" and I feed them once a day. Each day I feed them something different: Shrimp one day, Pellets the next and so on.
> 
> Lrg Shrimp 2 for ea fish
> Pellets 5+ ea
> ...


thats what i do all my p's range from 6 to 8 inches and i feed them something different everyday and they eat everything i throw in the tank the little pigs that they are


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