Red Belly Piranha

[dbanner]

I have just set up a 55 gallon tank and all equipment and stand that i was lucky enough have off a family member for free iv added 3 young red belly piranhas, obviously these fish are and always will be the only fish in the tank, (only in this tank for around 6 months till i can get a bigger tank) i would like to know what would be best to feed them now and then what to feed them when they are bigger. Iv seen loads of videos on YouTube of people feeding live rats, mice and frogs to adults as well as live fish such as gold fish. Not only do i not like this idea but i also think its illegal in some places to feed live stock. What should i be feeding them and how often?? Thanks

 

[Iron Henry]

You could always use feeder fish I'm not know genius or anything but Im sure you wouldn't get into any trouble for that.

 

[Fishy friend2]

thats soo cool i love pirana

 

[Louiseness]

You could always use feeder fish I'm not know genius or anything but Im sure you wouldn't get into any trouble for that.

You might well get into trouble in the UK - it's illegal here. Plus feeding fish like goldfish and minnows is actually harmful and can kill your predatory fish.

 

[coldcazzie]

I don't know the ins and outs of piranhas, but, if you want to feed rats/mice but not live ones, you can buy them frozen online, bang them in a chest freezer, and defrost and feed as required. Keizebrink is one place in the UK. There are others. I use them for whole prey for my cats you do have to buy in bulk though to make the postage worthwhile. That's along the same lines as feeding prawns or whatever, which presumably you'd be alright with? Maybe you should post in the predatory fish section?

 

[Louiseness]

I don't know the ins and outs of piranhas, but, if you want to feed rats/mice but not live ones, you can buy them frozen online, bang them in a chest freezer, and defrost and feed as required.

I've bought frozen pinkies and adult mice from all sorts of local pet shops or Pets at Home type places when I had snakes, if the OP wants to feed them they're fairly easy to get IME

A quick google suggests that Piranhas can eat pretty much everything - beef heart, chunks of fish, vegetables, flake, pellet foods, shrimp, frozen foods..... I'm no expert though but I don't see why you'd have to go to the trouble of getting pinkie mice as more than an occasional treat.

 

[coldcazzie]

yes, they are just cheaper online

However, as you say, if piranhas have stomachs like black holes, then there's no need. I'm sure the predatory fish section would be a better place to get advice

Maybe one of the mods can move this thread?

 

[dbanner]

Hey, thanks to everyone for the replies. Sorry for the late reply back.... One of my piranhas has sadly died it jumped through a small gap in the tank lid, iv now covered all the gaps to prevent losing another. I'm lookin to get 2, maybe 3 more so i have a better group of them. Since my original post I'm happy to say my remaining piranhas are looking more lively, swimming around more, eating better and are in general nowhere as shy as when i bought them... Even though iv only had them for a week or so as for feeding them i have thought about and seen frozen mice at my lfs. I think they might be a little small for mice at the moment. They have however been feeding off frozen bloodworm cubes and frozen fish (both from my lfs, not sure what fish they are, look a lot like minnows). Iv yet to try them on anything else...

 

[Gavo]

I wouldn't feed them any animals (although its fun) your water quality would very quickly deteriorate and you would have dead fish.

 

[dbanner]

Yeah that was my first thought. Then after reading up on them i seen that they need things like frozen meat (fish, krill, shrimp, chicken etc) as part of their balanced diet. This is as well as pellets. At the moment I'm doing weekly 20 - 30% water changes using a gravel cleaner. The water is always crystal clear and readings are fine I think as long as i keep on top of the changes then i should be ok. It's probably only when they start to eat mice that the quality of the water drops....

 

[Aqua Tom]

So how do you gravel vac a pirahna tank withou loosing your fingers?

 

[Fishy friend2]

Do they nip u alot when u stick ur hand in

 

[Davo86]

If you want them to truly thrive then I would stick to more fish related foods, In reality a quality carnivore pellet is probably the best thing to feed them as a staple diet, and then a moderated mixture of frozen prepared foods like bloodworm, shrimp and prawns, as well as lancefish, mussels, whitebait and fish fillets mixed in as a treat

So how do you gravel vac a pirahna tank withou loosing your fingers?

In reality a small group of piranhas would act timid and shy, stick your hand in and the most likely outcome would be that the piranha would hide.

 

[dbanner]

Thanks davo86... And yes to the two previous questions if i put my hand in to gravel clean you would probably expect me to lose my whole hand never mind fingers but as what davo said is spot on. As they are a small group they just hide behind the plants. This has a lot to do with fact that they are still relatively new to the tank and they are young so they are very shy. When they get older it is a different story. Il have to attach the hose to a stick as its too risky to put your hands in

 

[Aqua Tom]

Thats just reminded me. Pirahna is on skt prem tonight.

Now I just have to watch it