# lfs says feeder goldfish is ok for piranhas 2 eat



## spoondc2 (Oct 29, 2005)

so i went to my lfs to buy some bloodworms , was looking at there rbps , and theres a couple of goldfish in there i ask the fish manager about the growth problem everyone here says , and he told me its bullshit , he says that there piranhas eat it most times till they get sold , and he says that there piranhas still healthy and with no problems , he says if you have a small tank like 20 gallon and carrying 4-5 rbps then theyll have growth problems n he says unless you get a bigger tank 100+ gallons then you shoudnt have any growth problems .. i ended up buying a dozen of feeder goldfish after the talk and he ended up giving me 2 dozen for the price of 1 ..he says its to make my piranhas happy , i walked out happy too to get 1 dozen free

when i got home i put 8 goldfish in my rbp tank and 10 mins later only 1 goldfish is left , i guess my rbps are happy


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

dude, u didnt even quarantine them?
goldfish are desease fish man.


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## spoondc2 (Oct 29, 2005)

there qurantine in a huge tank in the lfs already ,i seen the tank at the back , it looked like a 150 gallon tank full of feeder goldfish , the water looked fine crystal clear so i didnt bother qurantine , + the goldfish looks clean no body damage or skin feeling off


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## kamekazi (Oct 7, 2004)

spoondc2 said:


> so i went to my lfs to buy some bloodworms , was looking at there rbps , and theres a couple of goldfish in there i ask the fish manager about the growth problem everyone here says , and he told me its bullshit , he says that there piranhas eat it most times till they get sold , and he says that there piranhas still healthy and with no problems , he says if you have a small tank like 20 gallon and carrying 4-5 rbps then theyll have growth problems n he says unless you get a bigger tank 100+ gallons then you shoudnt have any growth problems .. i ended up buying a dozen of feeder goldfish after the talk and he ended up giving me 2 dozen for the price of 1 ..he says its to make my piranhas happy , i walked out happy too to get 1 dozen free
> 
> when i got home i put 8 goldfish in my rbp tank and 10 mins later only 1 goldfish is left , i guess my rbps are happy


It'll serve you right when your redz die from disease one day. Then you can go pound the sh*t out of the ignorant fool who advised you to feed your p's feeders so that his lfs could make money. If you are going ahead and listening to stupid advice (most fuckers working at fish stores are dumb..and don't know sh*t about fish) instead of listening to experienced piranha keepers...then that's your perogative. Why would u even post on this sight if you don't even consider what people here have to say?


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

spoondc2 said:


> there qurantine in a huge tank in the lfs already ,i seen the tank at the back , it looked like a 150 gallon tank full of feeder goldfish , the water looked fine crystal clear so i didnt bother qurantine , + the goldfish looks clean no body damage or skin feeling off


i dont think thats a quarantine tank. Those are holding tanks. And sure a tnak is crystal clear but that means nothing.

Theres ton of dead fish at the bottom of the tank or even floating.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

dang dawg...i guess u wanna learn the hard way..


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## spoondc2 (Oct 29, 2005)

its not that its just hard to choose which side ,people say its bad n lfs says its good its like damn whos right or wrong ? and what i dont get is if goldfish carry disease y are my rbps eating them like its there favourite fish ??also my rbps wont eat my convicts in my tank n cons are suppose to be the healthy one .. i guess piranhas doesnt know what fish are good or bad for them ? i wanna feeed my rbps live fish , what freshwater fish can i buy thats not that expensive thats healthy no growth problems or desease ...what type of cichlids is weak n cheap not aggresive like cons ?? looking for weak cichlid so my rbp can eat them

im not gonna bother feeding the rest of goldfish to my rbps , ill just feed them to my red ear turtle or is that bad for turtles too ??

also i seen some tanks in the lfs n the water is like yellow , some are really nasty thats its not even cryystal clear anymore like there guppy tank but the goldfish tank was really crystal clear so i thought its nice n clean


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## yourhead (Jan 22, 2006)

*best announcer voice* Congratulations! You're playing Russian Roulette with goldfish! If not already, one of these days could be your lucky day to get a diseased and parasitic fish! Just think how much fun it will be to treating your fish for disease and parasites. That's only if they don't die first! What a lucky guy... What do we have for him Jonny?

Regards,

Brian

PS. Don't feed them "feeders". If you insist on feeding live then use quality stuff.


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## NTcaribe (Apr 8, 2004)

just because the water is clear doesnt mean its not dirty...im currently feeding my gar feeders and im in the process of getting something better like shrimp or squids or something.

its your call though whether or not you wanna continue feeding them feeders, sure it looks fun but its not good


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## Eating Machine (Jan 27, 2006)

spoondc2 said:


> he told me its bullshit , he says that there piranhas eat it most times till they get sold , and he says that there piranhas still healthy and with no problems ,


Their piranhas may appeary healthy, but the heavy goldfish intake may have stunted their growth.

I wonder if that guy has studied the growth effects on piranhas from longterm thaiminase intake.

I kind of doubt it.

But then again, they seem to be finding thiaminase in more and more food items. I often wonder if I am taking in too much thaiminase from drinking diet coke.... I seem to be growing OK.....


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## ShatteredSkyy (Feb 22, 2006)

just feed them some chicken, the growth hormones they put in those should counter act the growth inhibitors... lol


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## kamekazi (Oct 7, 2004)

spoondc2 said:


> its not that its just hard to choose which side ,people say its bad n lfs says its good its like damn whos right or wrong ? and what i dont get is if goldfish carry disease y are my rbps eating them like its there favourite fish ??also my rbps wont eat my convicts in my tank n cons are suppose to be the healthy one .. i guess piranhas doesnt know what fish are good or bad for them ? i wanna feeed my rbps live fish , what freshwater fish can i buy thats not that expensive thats healthy no growth problems or desease ...what type of cichlids is weak n cheap not aggresive like cons ?? looking for weak cichlid so my rbp can eat them
> 
> im not gonna bother feeding the rest of goldfish to my rbps , ill just feed them to my red ear turtle or is that bad for turtles too ??
> 
> also i seen some tanks in the lfs n the water is like yellow , some are really nasty thats its not even cryystal clear anymore like there guppy tank but the goldfish tank was really crystal clear so i thought its nice n clean


Gold fish are p*ssy fish so they let themselves get eaten. Convicts, however, are more territrial and aggressive than gold fish. I've seen adult convicts own pygo tanks and punk around redz so it's no surprise your redz don't eat convicts right away. Gold fish, as it was mentioned already, contain the growth inhibiting hormone thiaminase. Disease is not always visible in gold fish. The gold fish could have a viral infection and it could possibly be in remission so no symptoms are visible. Keep buying gold fish and eventually your p's will get a disease. Even if they wouldn't be proned to disease, gold fish are far from being nutritious. Don't feed your p's live food unless you are willing to dish out the dollars to buy good quality fish to feed them and if you do, make sure to over feed the fish some high quality flakes or pellets before throwing them in your tank.


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## RedBelly Dom (Mar 22, 2005)

I just fed my p's goldfish a couple of days ago and I didn't cuatintine them because there usually ok. I usually never feed my piranhas goldfish about once or twice a year. But they needed food and no lfs were open that had frozen healthy food so i had to get goldfish. then one of my p's died in a couple of days. I think it might be because of the goldfish and all my others are sick.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

to _Feeding and Nutrition forum_


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## ShatteredSkyy (Feb 22, 2006)

ill be honest, I feed my piranha gold fish. not as a main staple but at least once or twice a week. I do let them sit for a week in my nano but i dont worry to much about it. I have owned fish since i was in 5th grade I have yet to loose a tank from anything other then a snakehead I bought once(killed everything in my tank), and I have always fed feeders. I just heard about the thaiminase thing about 2 weeks ago... ill tell ya none of my fish ever had a problem other then growing to quickly. Only thing i was ever told about was the virus' and I have a UV sterilizer now that i think kills a lot of the sh*t in my tank so with the feeders I figure I break even. after 13 years of feeding goldfish i figure other then the disease I am not gonna start worring about it now.


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## buzz (Mar 10, 2006)

Feeders are not the greatest food for your rb's but if you feed them goldfish once in a while its not going to kill them!!!!! you should quaretine first but thats your choice... I personally dont quarentine my gold fish for 2 reasons- A: I got them to feed my redbellies because my fish are hungry and B:I dont buy too many at a time.... If i had a extra tank then i would buy alot at a time but i dont...
ive had mine now for almost 2 years and they are doing great!!!!!! The longest a goldfish has stayed in their tank is 3 maybe 4 hrs. Especially if i feed them a couple hours before i go to bed...
when i wake up nothing but my reds are there.... i also check the gold fish before they go into tank and empty all water from bag they came from before they go into tank...* Feeding goldfish all the time is like us eating cheese burgers all the time... "unhealthy" Also they can get a disease known as "hole in the head" exactly what it says is what it means!!!!* sorry to take up your feed!!!!

Good Luck wit ya PIRANHAS


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

spoondc2 said:


> its not that its just hard to choose which side ,people say its bad n lfs says its good its like damn whos right or wrong ?


I'm not saying that I'm right, but its a proven fact that thiaminese reduces other fish growth and that goldfish contain thiaminese. Goldfish provide no nutritional value to piranhas at all. It would be like eating at mcdonalds everyday for the rest of your life, it isnt good. I don't know who to trust, a LFS kid who makes $6-$7 or people here who love their piranhas more than their families.


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## ital1anstallion4 (Jan 27, 2006)

I quarantine goldfish for a few weeks before i feed to my rhom... I feed my rhom worms grubs and larva once a day.. and silversides everyday... and then a goldfish every 3 days or so... But now i have a minnnow trap in the pond and river, and i catch 3 inch small mouth bass, and bluegills and crappy, and sunnies... some trout too... all between 2-4 inches in length... throw them in the quarantine tank for a week.. and then watch them get eaten... much cooler than goldfish.

but ya goldfish suck... thats why i feed them alot in the quarantine before i put them in so my piranha gets some nutrients


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## buzz (Mar 10, 2006)

Talk about stunting growth, is is not true that your fish will grow to the size of their environment???

SORRY TOO THREAD CRAP!!!!!











spoondc2 said:


> its not that its just hard to choose which side ,people say its bad n lfs says its good its like damn whos right or wrong ? and what i dont get is if goldfish carry disease y are my rbps eating them like its there favourite fish ??also my rbps wont eat my convicts in my tank n cons are suppose to be the healthy one .. i guess piranhas doesnt know what fish are good or bad for them ? i wanna feeed my rbps live fish , what freshwater fish can i buy thats not that expensive thats healthy no growth problems or desease ...what type of cichlids is weak n cheap not aggresive like cons ?? looking for weak cichlid so my rbp can eat them
> 
> im not gonna bother feeding the rest of goldfish to my rbps , ill just feed them to my red ear turtle or is that bad for turtles too ??
> 
> also i seen some tanks in the lfs n the water is like yellow , some are really nasty thats its not even cryystal clear anymore like there guppy tank but the goldfish tank was really crystal clear so i thought its nice n clean


feed the rest of your goldfish to them but if you can quarentine.... You bought them for the piranhas so give them the treat!!!!!


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

the guy says its bullshit because if he tells you the truth and you stop buying them and tell other people they arent healthy they will lose alot of business selling feeders and the guy would probably lose his job because he would be causing loss of sales.

he is doing his job and feeind you a line of BS at the same time. its like car sales men selling fords.......... they say they are good but we all know they are lying


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## divinelawyer625 (Dec 12, 2005)

b_ack51 said:


> its not that its just hard to choose which side ,people say its bad n lfs says its good its like damn whos right or wrong ?


I'm not saying that I'm right, but its a proven fact that thiaminese reduces other fish growth and that goldfish contain thiaminese. Goldfish provide no nutritional value to piranhas at all. It would be like eating at mcdonalds everyday for the rest of your life, it isnt good. I don't know who to trust, a LFS kid who makes $6-$7 or people here who love their piranhas more than their families.
[/quote]


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## I-Eat-My-Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Here's my two cents. lol

I think there are always things you can feed your P's Mice, gold fish, bloodworms etc... I think most of the people on here are over reacting and just thinking that individuals are ONLY feeding FEEDERS ALL THE TIME AND NOTHING BUT, I don't know, but feeders for my P's can be a treat, I ususally feed them live food, because they are a predatory fish that likes live food. IF you feed your P's in moderation of EVERYTHING, then I think things should be fine.

As for the digs at LFS, I don't know about anyone elses, but the LFS that I go to is top quality and the guy knows his sh*t, he doesn't give me diseased fish because well if he did, and i called him on it, he sure wouldn't have my buisness as well as other ppl i know that shop there. I'm not talking about a Petsmart or a Petcetera, or a Walmart, but a LFS that is run by a person that enjoys fish and enjoys selling them to people. The guy has refused to sell me fish sometimes when I told him my tank size (until I upgraded).

Anyways thats my two cents. =)


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## buzz (Mar 10, 2006)




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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Not to discredit the goldfish thing, but...

We had a red belly returned to us a little while ago at the store I work at because he got too big for the tank the people had. The tank was a 10 gallon. This fish was at least 4" long, if not 5", and that's without the tail. (The way you're supposed to measure fish.)

The fact that he got that big in a 10 gallon tank is extraordinary in itself.

However what was completley amazing was the looks of this fish. From all the pics I've seen online he looked a lot like a super red. His belly was so red it was unbelievable.

And guess what the people fed him? Nothing but goldfish! Once or twice a week they'd come in a pick up a dozen feeder goldfish and that's what he would get.

I know this is moreso the exception than the rule. But the fact that he grew to such a large size in such a small tank on a diet that consisted of ONLY goldfish is amazing... And I know it was only goldfish because the woman would come in to buy them and I'd try to tell her something else would be better but the few things she tried never worked.

I'm not advocating feeding goldfish as a diet. Just playing devil's advocate is all.


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

spoondc2 said:


> there qurantine in a huge tank in the lfs already ,i seen the tank at the back , it looked like a 150 gallon tank full of feeder goldfish , the water looked fine crystal clear so i didnt bother qurantine , + the goldfish looks clean no body damage or skin feeling off


Ok, I don't want to get too involved in this, but I just want to say one thing. If you do decide to feed live feeders, you should always quarantine. I'm not saying that the people at your LFS don't know what they are doing, but you can't consider the time they spend in thier tank as quarantine. Most of the local fish stores around here, get feeders in on a weekly basis. It's possible that they just got them in, and they may have been shipped with some sort of disease or infection, that hasn't started showing symptoms yet. Always play it safe and quarantine all live food


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## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

ShatteredSkyy said:


> just feed them some chicken, the growth hormones they put in those should counter act the growth inhibitors... lol


only KFC chicken.


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## Eating Machine (Jan 27, 2006)

Mettle said:


> We had a red belly returned to us a little while ago at the store I work at because he got too big for the tank the people had. The tank was a 10 gallon. This fish was at least 4" long, if not 5", and that's without the tail. (The way you're supposed to measure fish.)
> 
> The fact that he got that big in a 10 gallon tank is extraordinary in itself.
> 
> . But the fact that he grew to such a large size in such a small tank on a diet that consisted of ONLY goldfish is amazing...


*Large size*?????

What you described is small for a Nattereri piranha.


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## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

I-Eat-My-Master said:


> I think there are always things you can feed your P's Mice, gold fish, bloodworms etc... I think most of the people on here are over reacting and just thinking that individuals are ONLY feeding FEEDERS ALL THE TIME AND NOTHING BUT, I don't know, but feeders for my P's can be a treat, I ususally feed them live food, because they are a predatory fish that likes live food. IF you feed your P's in moderation of EVERYTHING, then I think things should be fine.


One bad feeder can be enough to kill your precious piranhas
Obviously if you use feeders only once in a while, the chances of this happening are quite small, but it can still happen.

How do you know piranhas like live food better than frozen foods? I would think they instinctively prefer to get their food the easiest way, so dead food rather than live food.


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## Handikapped (Nov 5, 2004)

i remember one time the guys at the LFS told me i could keep 2 male bettas together, another time they said that pH didnt affect gold fish.

Did i listen to them? no

Should you? no

theyll say anything to sell you something from their store


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Eating Machine said:


> We had a red belly returned to us a little while ago at the store I work at because he got too big for the tank the people had. The tank was a 10 gallon. This fish was at least 4" long, if not 5", and that's without the tail. (The way you're supposed to measure fish.)
> 
> The fact that he got that big in a 10 gallon tank is extraordinary in itself.
> 
> . But the fact that he grew to such a large size in such a small tank on a diet that consisted of ONLY goldfish is amazing...


*Large size*?????

What you described is small for a Nattereri piranha.
[/quote]
Not for a Redbelly raised in a 10g tank on a goldfish-only diet.


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## oscar119 (Nov 26, 2005)

Mettle said:


> .
> 
> And guess what the people fed him? Nothing but goldfish! Once or twice a week they'd come in a pick up a dozen feeder goldfish and that's what he would get.
> 
> ...


I'll believe it but I bet what helped that fish grow so good even in a 10g is good water quality, regular water changes..


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Judazzz said:


> We had a red belly returned to us a little while ago at the store I work at because he got too big for the tank the people had. The tank was a 10 gallon. This fish was at least 4" long, if not 5", and that's without the tail. (The way you're supposed to measure fish.)
> 
> The fact that he got that big in a 10 gallon tank is extraordinary in itself.
> 
> . But the fact that he grew to such a large size in such a small tank on a diet that consisted of ONLY goldfish is amazing...


*Large size*?????

What you described is small for a Nattereri piranha.
[/quote]
Not for a Redbelly raised in a 10g tank on a goldfish-only diet.
[/quote]

Especially since the fish in question was bought at the size of a nickle and was only kept by them for 6 or 7 months.

And I never said the fish was full grown. I said the fact that he grew that big in a 10 gallon on a diet of goldfish feeders is amazing. I used the term 'large size' relatively.

I know how big they get, thanks.


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

piranha_guy_dan said:


> the guy says its bullshit because if he tells you the truth and you stop buying them and tell other people they arent healthy they will lose alot of business selling feeders and the guy would probably lose his job because he would be causing loss of sales.
> 
> he is doing his job and feeind you a line of BS at the same time. its like car sales men selling fords.......... they say they are good but we all know they are lying


dude...I drive a ford for the last ten years and I just got emissions with flying colours....but what ever. I still agree with you because that is what I got handed to me when I bought my first P........a bag full a feeders







oh ya...cool, I am going to bring these bad boys home and they are going to eat them....right? Nata, but I learned alot through this site.....and my P's are doing great with a balanced diet now....and tricks to make them eat the sh*t they are surpose to....like kids man.....
the guys at the local fish store want the sale...or want to look like the guy that knows sh*t...well do your own reseach....and do the math....its all about youuuuuu


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

K, I think you guys are all mama's boys....I am a mom...and I love to see my family eat like a frenzy.... cool it dude, you aint thier mama...yo thier dealer...yo bring them the goods...so they don't have to hunt. Remember these dudes we have are not from our bodies. but they are so part of us and we want to make them the best they can be....so. do the research give them the best you can....not for you but for them.


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## spoondc2 (Oct 29, 2005)

well no more feediing goldfish for my piranhas ...now in the wild where this reds belly live , just wondering what type of fishes live with them ??? i know they live with catfish but what else ???


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

spoondc2 said:


> well no more feediing goldfish for my piranhas ...now in the wild where this reds belly live , just wondering what type of fishes live with them ??? i know they live with catfish but what else ???


most likely eat tetra's because they are from the same waters. usually they eat in a group so they take down bigger fish that you wont be able to use as feeders but if you want smaller feeders go with tetra's and barbs


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## blazednosferatu (Feb 27, 2006)

goldfish are bad! I started out with 6 rbps and they all died from desease that the goldfish gave them, i will never feed my p's goldfish ever again. No matter what, youll eventually run into some problems and youll have your hands full!


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=51402


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## red hot mini coopers (Jul 30, 2003)

The least you can do is give the goldfish a salt bath before feeding to piranha, eg get a container full of tank water, spoon of salt for a couple of mins, then put fish in another container of water (the rinse - lol) then add fish to p tank


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

piranha_guy_dan said:


> well no more feediing goldfish for my piranhas ...now in the wild where this reds belly live , just wondering what type of fishes live with them ??? i know they live with catfish but what else ???


most likely eat tetra's because they are from the same waters. usually they eat in a group so they take down bigger fish that you wont be able to use as feeders but if you want smaller feeders go with tetra's and barbs
[/quote]

Aren't barbs also Asian fish? And aren't they related to goldfish?


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## red hot mini coopers (Jul 30, 2003)

yes they are cyprinids although I'm not sure whether this means they have 'danger' levels of thiaminase too.


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## Timmy44221 (Oct 11, 2005)

How do goldfish get so large if there full of something thats stunts growth? just a thought.... and also many other fish contain, thiaminase, and people who are anti-golfish feed those to their Ps. I feed mine Lard golds, or whatever else is big and cheap, but mainly they get J-E-L-L-O
unflavored of cource... Homemade food is the best.


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