Hi,

I am looking for an interesting fish to breed that could also be a good feeder fish.

I have been thinking Fancy Guppies ... What do you think? I heard Platies are good BUT wouldn't they be a little large .. aka a mess when eaten.

This post has been edited by piranha_tim: Jul 11 2008, 09:54 PM

I would avoid platys as they grow soooooo slowly....!

Sure posting something like this is wise in the livebearer section!!!!!!!

I know i dont like the idea of feeding my guppies to other fish but when it comes to belonesox i used to breed loads of cichlids to feed this beast, and yes it's a livebearer........

try googleing it

What fish are you wanting to feed with the feeders?

why not use the most common one which is goldfish. Cheap,easy to catch and grow quick.

plus if you live in Britain im sure its now illegal to feed feeder fish( and mice as many seem 2 do) to piranha's

Im sorry, but that is terrible advice. Gold fish have little nutritional value ( plus the fact they arent being fed at the lfs), are disease ridden ( you try being stuffed in a 55g tank with 4 thousand other goldfish, no food, and not get sick). They just are not a good choice for feeding fish.

Thank you ... Thats good information



Thats crazy I would go for it but nothing locally sells them I don't think but I will look into it ...

I would do a internet purchase but ironically I couldn't do that to any fish even a feeder fish I do intend to allow some to live there full live not being food



Well I just bought a 50 Gallon ... I am looking to put another large fish in there ... So My Piranha and what ever else arrives in the 50G



Gold Fish contain a chemical which I beleive helps them with there ability to take cold waters that depletes vitamin D ... Something around that anyways.

everyone i know on piranhaforum would never feed live fish due to it being illegal in britain and the disease issue. most feed white bait and prawns and other cheap fish bought from supermarkets as this is cheaper than buying from fish shops.

It's NOT illegal to live feed in Britain!!

to my knowledge the law covered feeding of live vertibrates ei no feeding of live mice to snakes but ok to feed crickets to lizards. Either way its cruelty and unnecessary surrering so you would have to be pretty sick to choose to do it when there are other alternatives.

As far as i am aware, live feeding is perfectly legal unless it is in a public place.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/c...u/52/52we76.htm

Yes, its about snakes, but I'm assuming that the law would be the same for all predatory animals?

I love how people are against feeders ... I would agree if most these people weren't avid meat eaters themselves ... If I had a farm of pigs and sold them to a food store ... there would be no issue. I farm my own fish for other fishes consumption and its cruel.

Truthfully ... All the shrimp, mussells and squid meet a not so good fate either.

I bought 20 feeders to cycle my 4ft tank and then was going to feed them to my range of cichlids...but they wont eat them...now i have 8 feeders left IN my cichlid tank swimming merrily around with them. I gave our LFS my other feeders.

Fancy guppies are not easy to keep or breed. The wild guppy is small, relatively colourless, and its fins are in proportion to its body. The creation of artificial colours, markings and fin shapes mean that guppy populations are so inbred they are virtually impossible to keep. If you want something hardy that will just keep on reproducing and churning out feeders, don't get into guppies.

I don't tend to eat my pork when it's still Oinking.

The law (in the Animal Welfare Act 2006) merely states there should be no unnecessary suffering. A quick death where a fish is consumed whole in one bite is not likely to be considered unnecessary. Putting a large oscar in with RBP and waiting for it to be slowly ripped apart would be.

Particular debate occurred in the Houses of Parliament as the Act (then a Bill) passed through parliament regarding the feeding of live vertebrates to predators (and can be read online via Hansard). It was decided that an outright ban would not be best as there are times when the feeding of live foods is necessary to keep a fish alive. After all, which is worse, letting the predator slowly die from starvation, or letting the feeder fish die swiftly from a predator?



So cruel? You do know that pretty much all flake and prepared foods have fish in them, yes? And you realise how most fish caught commercially tend not to be culled in the most humane ways?

And what about when there aren't alternatives?

Fancy guppies are easy to keep and breed if you start of with good quality fish
if you find they are virtually impossible to keep you must be doing something wrong.

Just to make a quick point ....

Feeder fish = Setting up a nice environment for fish to breed and when over populating some are giving away and some benefit my preds. and are eaten quickly and in one mouthful (i can't feed hundreds to the preds so some will def survive a full life)

Fish food = big nets dragged catching hundreds of fish ... dragged up out of the water with no decompression (painful and fear causing) ... thrown into a fish pit in which usually break something ... and slowly suffocate ... the fish who do however have a longer out of water time get the pleasure of being ground up while still alive usually slowly. (this is what you feed your fish with)

Now lets think who is really being cruel.

I think the reality is 80% of the people who are against feeders are just the people who don't like to see death of an another animal but when the process is remove from them and it looks harmless feel it is ok.

Tim, I'm guessing you're about 16 and just gagging for an argument, yet you haven't even bought your so called preds yet so can't state whether they will need live food or will be happy with alternatives.

Andy just loves to stir up arguments so nuff said on the subject.

Bored of this conversation now my point has been put across