# Whats a good feeder??



## gman34 (Mar 31, 2008)

I want to feed my piranhas some live fish. Occasionaly i will give them some rosey reds but i know that they are genetically prone to disease. What is a good live feeder to feed my red bellies that they will be safe to eat???


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

convicts that you breed yourself or purchase and quarantine for a lengthy amount of time before feeding... nothing is 100% guaranteed to be safe tho


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## LS1FDRx7 (Mar 6, 2007)

Fresh Live Sunfish aka Blue Gills. The season for these fish just began, very easy to catch.. sometimes without any bait! You'll find them at creeks, small ponds, rivers, lakes


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## BigBadBlackRhom (Sep 10, 2004)

i would be careful of feeders period. sunfish... well make sure they arent diseased. i have ponds and small lakes here that its super easy to catch a ton of them. but the feeder size sunfish are really diseased. not sure what they have but i did inspect a good number of them this summer and some would haveworms (?) in the flesh itself... others would have black speckles. (fish lice?) just be careful guys, piranhas are way too cool to lose to sh*t fish








Al


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

I some times go to my local bait shop and pick up some minnows.


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

If you live by the ocean go to a bait and tackle shop and pick up some killies or spearing. Since they are salt water keep them separate and only throw in what you think your fish will eat.


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## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

joedizzlempls said:


> convicts that you breed yourself or purchase and quarantine for a lengthy amount of time before feeding... nothing is 100% guaranteed to be safe tho


i try feeding my piranhas some black/blue colored convicts and they jsut become friends in the tank, but when i feeding them some bluegill or somethin, they'll eat that. convicts are the only fish that they'll leave alone....confused...


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

I have a 29 gallon tank set-up for feeders, and I mostly get Platty from the LFS. They cost around $1.50-$2.00USD and never had any problems with them.


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Any fish that you feed should be quarantined whether you buy it or catch it.


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## -NBKK- (Jun 22, 2007)

Ja said:


> I some times go to my local bait shop and pick up some minnows.


 I'm surprised you do that....... Do you really see nothing wrong with that ????

Anyways best live feeders ( in my opinion ) are crayfish. simple, healthy and usually done in one bite. Cant go wrong. Also crickets and earth worms are great.


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

-NBKK- said:


> I some times go to my local bait shop and pick up some minnows.


 I'm surprised you do that....... Do you really see nothing wrong with that ????

Anyways best live feeders ( in my opinion ) are crayfish. simple, healthy and usually done in one bite. Cant go wrong. Also crickets and earth worms are great.
[/quote]
Where I get them from is a good source and I quarantine them befor I feed them to my piranhas. If you want to look at it that way than any live food poses a risk and when I say minnows I'm saying that because the fish are small and I'm not sure as to what they are, I was told once but I can't remember. The store owner has a mixed shoal of pygos and he'll only use bait fish and absolutely nothing from a lfs.


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## -NBKK- (Jun 22, 2007)

i guess everywhere is different, but my bait shop has worse holding tanks then the lfs, dirty water dead one........ just a breeding ground for something not nice to come along.
the turn over there is great so he hardly cleans the thing out.

You do have a point, any live feeder is a risk, but i find environments like bait shops are worse.


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## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

-NBKK- said:


> i guess everywhere is different, but my bait shop has worse holding tanks then the lfs, dirty water dead one........ just a breeding ground for something not nice to come along.
> the turn over there is great so he hardly cleans the thing out.
> 
> You do have a point, any live feeder is a risk, but i find environments like bait shops are worse.


My guy's shop is really clean and professional it's the only one where I'll buy feeders from on occasion.


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

I usually just pick up one of the more expensive fish for a feeder like a tiger barb or an angel and sometimes a gourami. I guess because they arent all grouped together in the hundreds they will be less chance for disease.


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## Dorkhedeos (May 8, 2007)

Wont crayfish damage the Ps teeth?


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## -NBKK- (Jun 22, 2007)

Not at all. And if it does, which is unlikely, they shed there teeth often so i see no problem with it. when my red bellys eat crayfish they only eat the tail and the inside of the body. The claws, outer body shell and legs are left over.


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## TobiasRieper (Mar 14, 2008)

Speaking of crayfish, watch this fahaka chomp one.

video


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## Retaks (Apr 6, 2008)

-NBKK- said:


> Not at all. And if it does, which is unlikely, they shed there teeth often so i see no problem with it. when my red bellys eat crayfish they only eat the tail and the inside of the body. The claws, outer body shell and legs are left over.


Mine eat the tail, legs, claws, body, and leave the head and about half the really hard shell there. Then when i had a large crayfish in the tank it would clean the head out completely in about 5 mins then the Piranhas were done.


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## -NBKK- (Jun 22, 2007)

TobiasRieper said:


> Speaking of crayfish, watch this fahaka chomp one.
> 
> video


Jesus man! i was not expecting that, excuse my ignorance because i have no idea about these fish but woah. i didn't see that coming, they are innocent looking puffy fish that look silly..... and apparently they have a nice set of teeth. That vid blew my mind haha. i now have a new found respect for those guys. I always walked by them in the Lfs and just said "Meh" its probably a wuss fish. he took care of that crayfish very nicely.


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## TobiasRieper (Mar 14, 2008)

-NBKK- said:


> Speaking of crayfish, watch this fahaka chomp one.
> 
> video


Jesus man! i was not expecting that, excuse my ignorance because i have no idea about these fish but woah. i didn't see that coming, they are innocent looking puffy fish that look silly..... and apparently they have a nice set of teeth. That vid blew my mind haha. i now have a new found respect for those guys. I always walked by them in the Lfs and just said "Meh" its probably a wuss fish. *he took care of that crayfish very nicely.*
[/quote]

Yes he did







I dont think even a p could gulp one down that fast lol. Cant wait till mine get that big


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