# Havent Had Piranhas In Years Starting Again Have Food ? Red's



## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi,
1. What is the ideal food for Red Bellies?

2. how often Should they be fed?

3. How Much?

4. used to feed my old ones Gold Fish and Bait fish Minos and what not, Usaly a couple dozen a week.


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

1. Ideal food is pellets with a mix of white fish meat.(shrimp/tilapia/etc.)

2. For pygos under 0.5-2" two times a day. for pygos 2"-5" I would feed once a day. Then 5"+ I would consider once every 2-3 days.

3. As much as they can consume within 2-3 minutes.

4. Feeding gold fish is not good for your piranhas. Refer to #1.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Feed them silverside and shrimp every other day or two until they're full. Stay away from GF and minos cause they might contain diseases.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Ok, My old Piranhas I had for over 7 years and all I fed them was Goldfish and Minos I d rather feed them pellets and what not but my old guys wouldnt eat them. Can you guys give me some names the foods u suggest so when I go the pets store Ill know what to ask for. What is silver side? what kind of shrimp? what kind of pellets? Are you talking about shrimp from the food store or the pet store? Thanks


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Ideal diet would be a varied diet. Lots of frozen foods for baby & juvies. Adults nightcrawlers, multiple kinds of pellets, silversides, krill, shrimp, white fish fillets,clean feeders, the more things you offer in rotation the better IMO. Feed baby & juvies twice a day. Adults everyday- weekly or even longer. Welcome to P-fury.


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

Yep, shrimp/fish from the grocery store. Just make sure when you buy it, that it is raw and unsalted. I would also suggest asking the pet store for sinking pellets. They are a lot easier to get piranhas onto because they won't have to swim to the top. After they are hooked on them you can go to floating pellets.


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## BuckeyeGuy777 (Oct 30, 2010)

MPG said:


> Yep, shrimp/fish from the grocery store. Just make sure when you buy it, that it is raw and unsalted. I would also suggest asking the pet store for sinking pellets. They are a lot easier to get piranhas onto because they won't have to swim to the top. After they are hooked on them you can go to floating pellets.


getting them on pellets is good...dont use feeder fish they are gross-high in fats and normally have chemicals and kept in poor conditions...get them on pellets and maybe 1 or twice a week give them some raw shrimp/white fish...then take out any leftovers


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Is there a special Type of pellet Flavor and size?


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## Parsa (Nov 12, 2008)

hikari gold cichlid is what i use.


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## BuckeyeGuy777 (Oct 30, 2010)

i feed mine just real small omega one sinking pellets...most tropical pellets are ok...


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

What they said.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

What are teh silver sliders You guys talk about?


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

Type of fish.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Is that a live bait type fish? is this somthing most pet stores carry? I never heard of them.


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## Dolphinswin (Jun 26, 2010)

to Joe. G http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+are+silversides+for+fish%3F Watch that. Jk lol clusterone did that to me so i saw the perfect situation to do it.

Anyways to the original poster, Its cheap to go to your local aldi or grocery store and buy shrimp and tilapia. the shrimp must be RAW.


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## BuckeyeGuy777 (Oct 30, 2010)

still stick with pellets though as your staple food


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Dolphinswin How do you do that Google thing.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Ok I picked some frozen brine shrimps mixture. I also picked up pellets and freeze dried brine shrimp and blood worms. No Silver sliders at the pet store I was at. My Piranhas are about the size of nickle right now.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I'd wait untill they are a bit bigger for thigns like silversideds and fillets. At nickle size they are best on things like brine shrimp, blood worms and pellets (if you can).

You can buy sivlersides/smelt at a grocery store for pretty cheap.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

So ANy white fish thats fresh at hthe grocery store is good for them?

Do I just cut it in to chunks?

Do I freeze it or feed it fresh ?

If thats the case I should only buy a little at a time fromthe store.

I am not a fish eatter so I dont know much about fish from the store. I will wait a bit for stuff like this to feed them.

So Far they have been eatting better then the last time I had Red Bellies, These guys are eatting flakes and everything, my old guys from day one would only eat Live food.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Joe.G said:


> So ANy white fish thats fresh at hthe grocery store is good for them?I cant think of a whitefish thats not ok. Most raw fish are fine though some may be more fatty and oily then others so you dont want to feed it too much. People often use talapia, smelt, shrimp, cod,... as the basis of their diet
> 
> Do I just cut it in to chunks? Portion it for one feeding. You can throw a full fillet in the tank if you have adult p's that will eat it all though i prefer mayby 2 chuncks makign up one feeding so they are less agressive as they are going simultaneously for 2 pieces so theres less chance one will end up with a bit lip or something.
> 
> ...


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Shrimp do You leave shell on or do u peel it? I am trying to stay away from live food, last bunch I had to keep three tanks two for feeders for 7 years got to be a pain. I used to trap minnows out of the pond and id mix it up with goldfish. I didnt know back then that it wasnt heatlthy Il prob feed them minows and gold fish once in a while. My last bunch grew to a good size and always had great color.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Shell on or off is fine. For smaller fish id take the shell off as they probably wouldn't eat it but for adults you can leave it on as it can help with their colour, Id still remove the tail though.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

So far they are eating great there loving the flakes, pellets and freeze dried brine shrimp, havent tried the frozen yet. I am going to grab some other freeze dried foods and diffrent pellets this week. Its so much easier then the live only diet.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Ok pellets are a no go. None of the fish in the tank want them.


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

Joe.G said:


> Ok pellets are a no go. None of the fish in the tank want them.


Keep trying. Don't feed them anything but pellets and they will start taking them.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Don't give up on getting them on pellets. What I like to do is get a cup of tank water and let the pellets soak for about 5 mins, while they are soaking I toss in some flakes just to get the little guys up to the surface to feed. Mine love flakes.....while they are feeding on flakes I toss in the pellets and they devour them as well. Make sure to buy some really small pellets. They sell the pellets in Small, Medium and Large sizes go for the small ones. Soak them and I bet they'll eat em up. If I don't soak mine the Ps grab them and spit them back out.

I also thaw out some shrimp and stick my hand in the tank and let them hand feed. It's a good practice while they are small to let them get used to you. Try your best to build a good relationship with them now that way they won't be as skittish when they get bigger.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

Ok I got the med size they only had Med and large. Mine eat flakes also Ill Keep trying the pellets, None of the fish in the tank seem to be intereseted.


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## BuckeyeGuy777 (Oct 30, 2010)

they'll catch on to them...put some in and turn off the lights and leave the room....worked for me


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## Alexraptor (Jan 30, 2003)

Pellets are by far the best staple food IMO.

1.) They don't mess up the tank like meat does.
2.) They got a healthy mix of pretty much all the nutritional requirements for a fish, and perhaps more.
3.) No risk of parasites or disease

So yeah, i swear by them, with occasional shrimps and crayfish tails as a treat.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

I think they may have just been to big and hard I have since soaked them first and they now eat them pretty well.


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## BuckeyeGuy777 (Oct 30, 2010)

Joe.G said:


> I think they may have just been to big and hard I have since soaked them first and they now eat them pretty well.


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## Joe.G (Dec 20, 2010)

There not big fans of Krill, its funnyhow the same type of fish will like stuff for one person and not another.


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