# starving my black



## fishfinder (Feb 6, 2004)

i have what i think is a 5-6 inch black piranha that only eats feeders. my question is how long can i starve him to get him to eat something else.


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## cooldudectd (Mar 4, 2004)

P's can live up to 3 months in the wild without eating.

I wouln't reccomend it though.

You are defiantely right in thinking abut varying his diet. Longer, happier life!


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

I wouldnt recommend starving your Ps, but to cutback the feeding routine while slowly introducing them to new and different varieties.

_*Moved to Feeding and Nutrition *_


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## fishfinder (Feb 6, 2004)

i have waited up to 5 days and tryed chicken, beefheart, pellets, bloodworms, beef, and shrimp. if it hits the bottom forget about it, he wont touch it. i have a clip tied to the hood to hold food but he wont touch it either.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

I had the same with my manny.
What I did was starving his ass for about a week, and then toss in some shrimp and see what he would do.
First few times he refused, so I gave him some feeders to stay on weight (he already was a bit mal-nourished when I got him). Then, I starved him for a few days more.
I repeated this until he reluctantly started to eat shrimp - nowadays, he eats shrimps and fish fillet (about a 70% of all feedings he actually eats it: he's still a bit picky) and live fish.

What helps is to add a pleco or one or two raphael catfish to your tank (if you have some hiding places, otherwise don't bother) to clean up uneaten foods - just to keep the tank tidy.
Also, squeeze the food first, so the juices leak out and spread once in the tank - this may help attracting the rhom...

Good luck.


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## rufus (Jan 6, 2004)

My spilo eats anything that goes in the water, meat, seafood, veggies, fruit, etc. I'm blessed with a non-picky p!


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## kopid_03 (Mar 3, 2004)

do they get any nutritional benefits from fruits and veggies?


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## Griggs2121 (Aug 18, 2003)

what I did to get my rhom to eat something else was live glass worms. They're little aquatic worms that twitch to swim. They circulate the tank without falling to the bottom, and as they float around my rhom cant help but eat that little twitching worm. The twitching is what does it. Check to see if your lfs has live glass worms or live black worms.


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## Brendan (Oct 7, 2004)

try after a week


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

my irritan has went a month without eating all on his own. I had him eating shrimp, catfish, and earthworms, and he stopped taking any of it. He went an exact month without eating. I didnt notice him losing weight or acting differently, so i let him be difficult. He ate one day out of the blue, and has been eating regularly ever since.


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