The Piranha Nutrition Thread

[Zander_The_RBP]

i never said i feed steak and chicken all the time did i no infact i said 10% of the time! the OTHER 90% OF THE TIME I FEED FISH FRESH OR LIVE FEED! you should read what i wrote i'm not guna argue with u over a bit of meat but.

It is irresponsible becuase it's unhealthy for them.
It is a waste of money because it is providing no actual nuitritional value.
I am assuming it's for entertainment becuase it provides no nutritional value and that has been said numerous times on these forums and in this thread.

I exagerated a little i shouldn't have said "steady diet of" i should have said "being consistently fed" (10% is consistently IMO).

Personaly i don't see why you don't make the diet 100% live /fresh fish and cut out the beef and chicken altogether what's the point of feeding them those at all ?


And don't tell me you know how to tell whether a fish is healthy or not just becuase you've kept them "long enough"( not saying you don't know hwo to tell whether a fish is healthy im just saying it's not becuase you've kept them a long time, it's becuase you've read up on the subject and know what to look for ina healthy fish) ive kept fish for atleast 7 years but i ddin't know the gist of how to properly care for them until about 2 years ago ..... and i always assumed my fish were healthy cause you assume what your seeing is healthy if you haven't seen them in any worse condition. (not saying your fish are unhealthy im just making a point)



Look around in the piranha forum for a while and you will see how much the feeding of mammalian meats is frowned upon.


Oh i am by no means saying that beef heart is bad or chicken liver or other organs are bad i really am criticising feeding the raw steak, as that has the most fats (the organs are arguably good for the piranhas in moderation becuase they are very high in certain nuitrients and much lower in fat than the actual meat).


IMO the chicken / beef meats should make up no more than 5% of their diet and even then it should be the organs becuase those are lowest in fat


and i'm not arguing im merely stating the facts and my reasonings behind certain things i said earlier in this thread

I may be comming of harsh and i apologize if i am. I merely trying to make sure you are aware of the risks associated with the feeding of certain foods to your piranhas

 

[RedBellyRhen]

the frequency of that happening is so low that it hardly constitutes a staple part of their diet. Likewise, I imagine the odd bovine animal falls down dead in the amazon and they surely eat that too. The goal is to offer the same diet they get on a regular basis in the wild which this post outlines.

I wrote this based on scientific research, not anecdotes that people occasionally offer like, "I feed mine pinkies and their fine," or "I feed mine nothing but hot dogs and they've been fine for years." Just because they can eat it doesn't mean they should.

yeah you're right that does make a lot of sense and in the wild doesn't their diet consist mostly of plant matter and fish scales/fins? So would you recommend carnivore sticks?

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

yeah you're right that does make a lot of sense and in the wild doesn't their diet consist mostly of plant matter and fish scales/fins? So would you recommend carnivore sticks?

it really depends on the species, for a species like any pristobrycon or pygopristis denticulata (the most "silver dollar like" of the piranhas) that discription pretty much discribes what they usualy eat but if you look at a smaller serrasallmus species(probably 6-8 inches) it would drop most of the plant matter(still would probably consume some) in favour of more fins/scales and fish flesh then a larger serrasalmus species (rhoms and mannies) would probably consume mainly fish flesh and whole other fish and perhaps some fins to round out the diet and maybe some plant matter then you have the pygocentrus species preety much exclusively feeding on fish flesh and whole other fish maybe a rare plant snack.


But for all piranha species i would recommend carnivore sticks/pellets you basicaly are taking the calories and nuitrients of a feeder and concentrating it into a pellet without the risk of parasites or disease


but the pellets should also be supplemented with fish fillets and shrimp and stuff for the more carnivorous species and those plus some plant matter for the really omnivorous species

 

[Diogenes]

it really depends on the species, for a species like any pristobrycon or pygopristis denticulata (the most "silver dollar like" of the piranhas) that discription pretty much discribes what they usualy eat but if you look at a smaller serrasallmus species(probably 6-8 inches) it would drop most of the plant matter(still would probably consume some) in favour of more fins/scales and fish flesh then a larger serrasalmus species (rhoms and mannies) would probably consume mainly fish flesh and whole other fish and perhaps some fins to round out the diet and maybe some plant matter then you have the pygocentrus species preety much exclusively feeding on fish flesh and whole other fish maybe a rare plant snack.


But for all piranha species i would recommend carnivore sticks/pellets you basicaly are taking the calories and nuitrients of a feeder and concentrating it into a pellet without the risk of parasites or disease


but the pellets should also be supplemented with fish fillets and shrimp and stuff for the more carnivorous species and those plus some plant matter for the really omnivorous species

yeah this pretty much sums it up.

Also, Zander is one of the few piranha keepers you'll find on this board that successfully keeps his Ps on a steady diet of pellets which are by far the most balanced nutrition you can feed any fish. If you're new to the game I would listen to his advice.

 

[RedBellyRhen]

yeah this pretty much sums it up.

Also, Zander is one of the few piranha keepers you'll find on this board that successfully keeps his Ps on a steady diet of pellets which are by far the most balanced nutrition you can feed any fish. If you're new to the game I would listen to his advice.

alright umm how do you get them onto pellets? I threw a few in there and they didn't even notice them ):

 

[Diogenes]

alright umm how do you get them onto pellets? I threw a few in there and they didn't even notice them ):

have you read this thread? it outlines some strategy for getting fish onto pellets.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

alright umm how do you get them onto pellets? I threw a few in there and they didn't even notice them ):

The garlic method stated in this thread works very well i hear but my piranhas were ravenous eating machines from day 1 and i had no difficulty getting them to take pellets (they were eating flakes since they were little this is probably why they were so keen on the pellets)

Dispite this i think i may have a solution for you if the garlic alone dosen't work

For the next few weeks (maybe 2 weeks) chop all your shrimp/fish into pellet sized chunks (same size as the pellets you will be using), and just feed normal for the 2 weeks. The piranahs will get used to seeing you, and the food droping in, so if this works you will notice that whenever you get near the tank the piranhas will come up expecting a nice tasty peice of shrimp or fish and here is where you trick them. Mix in some of the pellets in with the chopped up shrimp/fish and toss bits in all at once they should go nuts as soon as they hit the water ( i know mine do) and will probably chomp a few pellets in all the commotion (it also helps to soak the pellets in garlic even while doing this). Do this several times( over a few days) and they will slowly learn that pellets taste good as well and should start taking them even without the shrimp or fish. Slowly phase out the shrimp/fish while doing "pellet feeding" (still feed them the shrimp and fish at other feedings) and voila you should have pellet munching piranhas.


Let me know if this method works but try the just garlic alone method first as it is much less work.

You can also try stuff the pellets in a peice of shrimp or rubbing them on a peice of shrimp (to get the smell on them so the piranhas get a stronger feeding response from them)

I kinda stole this method from another forum on here that had a very similar way of getting arowana's (i think it was arowanas may have been something else) onto pellets.

yeah this pretty much sums it up.

Also, Zander is one of the few piranha keepers you'll find on this board that successfully keeps his Ps on a steady diet of pellets which are by far the most balanced nutrition you can feed any fish. If you're new to the game I would listen to his advice.

you say it like im some sort of hero lol i just lucked out with the piranhas i bought that happend to be fed flakes at the fish store (i think but there were also some feeder guppies in the tank as well) it dosen't really make my advice any more credible than the avarage joe on here lol

 

[Greez]

Hmmm I never tried giving my P's pellets before but they went right after them
Guess I lucked out

Thanks for the idea for using them zander

 

[Diogenes]

The garlic method stated in this thread works very well i hear but my piranhas were ravenous eating machines from day 1 and i had no difficulty getting them to take pellets (they were eating flakes since they were little this is probably why they were so keen on the pellets)

Dispite this i think i may have a solution for you if the garlic alone dosen't work

For the next few weeks (maybe 2 weeks) chop all your shrimp/fish into pellet sized chunks (same size as the pellets you will be using), and just feed normal for the 2 weeks. The piranahs will get used to seeing you, and the food droping in, so if this works you will notice that whenever you get near the tank the piranhas will come up expecting a nice tasty peice of shrimp or fish and here is where you trick them. Mix in some of the pellets in with the chopped up shrimp/fish and toss bits in all at once they should go nuts as soon as they hit the water ( i know mine do) and will probably chomp a few pellets in all the commotion (it also helps to soak the pellets in garlic even while doing this). Do this several times( over a few days) and they will slowly learn that pellets taste good as well and should start taking them even without the shrimp or fish. Slowly phase out the shrimp/fish while doing "pellet feeding" (still feed them the shrimp and fish at other feedings) and voila you should have pellet munching piranhas.


Let me know if this method works but try the just garlic alone method first as it is much less work.

You can also try stuff the pellets in a peice of shrimp or rubbing them on a peice of shrimp (to get the smell on them so the piranhas get a stronger feeding response from them)

I kinda stole this method from another forum on here that had a very similar way of getting arowana's (i think it was arowanas may have been something else) onto pellets.


you say it like im some sort of hero lol i just lucked out with the piranhas i bought that happend to be fed flakes at the fish store (i think but there were also some feeder guppies in the tank as well) it dosen't really make my advice any more credible than the avarage joe on here lol

oh come now, you're far more credible than the average Joe. You're at least as credible as the average Zander...

 

[RedBellyRhen]

The garlic method stated in this thread works very well i hear but my piranhas were ravenous eating machines from day 1 and i had no difficulty getting them to take pellets (they were eating flakes since they were little this is probably why they were so keen on the pellets)

Dispite this i think i may have a solution for you if the garlic alone dosen't work

For the next few weeks (maybe 2 weeks) chop all your shrimp/fish into pellet sized chunks (same size as the pellets you will be using), and just feed normal for the 2 weeks. The piranahs will get used to seeing you, and the food droping in, so if this works you will notice that whenever you get near the tank the piranhas will come up expecting a nice tasty peice of shrimp or fish and here is where you trick them. Mix in some of the pellets in with the chopped up shrimp/fish and toss bits in all at once they should go nuts as soon as they hit the water ( i know mine do) and will probably chomp a few pellets in all the commotion (it also helps to soak the pellets in garlic even while doing this). Do this several times( over a few days) and they will slowly learn that pellets taste good as well and should start taking them even without the shrimp or fish. Slowly phase out the shrimp/fish while doing "pellet feeding" (still feed them the shrimp and fish at other feedings) and voila you should have pellet munching piranhas.


Let me know if this method works but try the just garlic alone method first as it is much less work.

You can also try stuff the pellets in a peice of shrimp or rubbing them on a peice of shrimp (to get the smell on them so the piranhas get a stronger feeding response from them)

I kinda stole this method from another forum on here that had a very similar way of getting arowana's (i think it was arowanas may have been something else) onto pellets.


you say it like im some sort of hero lol i just lucked out with the piranhas i bought that happend to be fed flakes at the fish store (i think but there were also some feeder guppies in the tank as well) it dosen't really make my advice any more credible than the avarage joe on here lol

Oh my god the garlic trick worked!!!!!!!!!! I have little wussies tho, they were AFRAID of the pellets at first and hid on the darker side of the tank then they got a good sniff of the garlic and it took them a while but they started munchin them like crazy! my usually more docile one Freddy just went crazy and kept stealing them from Jason! It was ADORABLE!!!!! thanks so much for the help!