How Often Do You Feed Your Piranhas

[nudzy]

Hi all I have two red bellied piranha and I feed them every other day, they eat white fish, cockles, uncooked prawns, and seafood, (er not all at the same time) I am worried that I could be underfeeding them, or maybe feeding them to much.
The dont have a massive quantity, like two cockles each type amount, there is never any uneaten food in the tank, which makes me wonder is this enough.

They do seem to have grown since i had them (about 6 weeks) one is now over 6 inches and the other one is approx 6 inches, they have good colour and have recently been moved to a bigger tank 125 liters, which is over filtered.

thanks for any advice, hints or tips.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

I feed mine once a day. Feed them till they are no longer obviously hungry.

But 125L is far too small of a tank. You also shouldn't keep 2 together, 1 or at least 3. A 55g is the minimum for 1, 75-80 for a shoal. If you keep 2 together you will end up with 1 or none unless they are an established pair.

 

[cane76]

my opinion is red bellies belong in a group of at least 4 fish and need a 5x2x2 minimum with decent filtration
i would also say daily feeding is best for them

 

[nudzy]

Thanks so much for replys, will be getting an even bigger tank for them didnt relise they needed quite so much room I inherited them with a tank that i bought.

They are an established pair, and have even bred. Was going to re-home these fish when I aquired them, (at the time no-one wanted them, not even the local fish shope) but since then I have grown quite fond of them and will concentrate on getting the right set up for them to be happy in. Also up feeding to a daily basis.
I have taken your advice on board.

thanks again for the replys.

 

[jonny_dw]

Daily feeding is fine,look for a filter that turnover the tank capacity over 4x an hour minimum, look for 6x plus, they are messy fish as im sure you know.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Really I'd try to go for closer to 8-10x turnover at least with a shoal of pygos. That's just my opinion though.

 

[flyboy367]

i had 3 in a 125 (which became 2) they were amazon raised reds i got from thesharkaquarium. (good to have a semi local place that runs amazon trips) anyway id feed some goldfish twice a week, inbetween i would add some crayfish (live) mice (frozen just thawed out pinkies) uncooked shrimp, and beefhart. i also took some foil and folded it over twice. then poked holes all iin it and put it between the tank and the light. cuts down the bright uv and the color rreally comes out.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Feeding fish goldfish isn't a good idea due the thiaminase content. It breaks down vitamin b1 into two parts thus not allowing the fish to get ample amounts of it. It also isn't a good idea to regularly feed piranhas mammalian meat. Stick to things like silversides, prawns, and krill as a staple, and maybe some beefheart once every 3-4 weeks.

 

[Neesmo]

I feed my 6 reds mostly Smelts and new life spectrum pellets. I think NLS is the best pellet food PERIOD if you are going to feed pellets to your reds, or any fish for that matter.. It seems to be the general opinion of most fish people atleast in north america. I was able to pick up a box of ~1000-1200 smelts for $25, which lasts me about a year of feedings. they get smelts every 2-3 days
NLS pellets every morning and usually other foods including, Scallops, krill, white prawns and Carnivore sticks inbetween. I usually feed them sole too as i found they liked it the most as far as human consumption white fish filets go..make sure to only feed white meets. my friend used to treat with a bit of fatless chicken(uncooked) when he had 12 rbp, but i havent tried chicken yet. Keep variety and keep it clean after a feeding. some days they dont eat as much as other days, so always clean up at most 2 hours after feeding so you dont have rot. Mass filtration is a must with these messy messy little fish!
Most importantly STAY AWAY FROM GOLDFISH

Kyle