Pirahana Diet Question

[Delaneia]

Hi. I had some bumps along the way with my pirahana's but everyones been so great at helping me out. Thanks to all
So my RB pirahana are seperated in 2 tanks, doing well and growing rapidly. However I made the mistake of giving them earthworms as a treat and now they won't eat anything else (shrimp, bloodworm ect) It will lay there in their tanks for days and not be touched (eww lol) So my question is can they live off earthworms alone or do I need to force them to eat other stuff?
Thanks (BTW they are about 2-3 months old)

 

[Puffdaddy]

You can't really force a fish to eat certain foods that you want them to eat. You can try soaking other foods in galic flavor liquid, your lfs should sell it. Or keep trying different foods. As for the earthworms your fish can live off those but should vary there diet if possible. Have you tried feeder guppies? If the RBP take to these good, but you well want to breed your own so you can feed health feeders. They are rather easy to breed and don't need much for a tank set-up. hope this helps.

 

[Gatorbait]

What's the temp of your tank?

RBP's are usually very easy to switch to different foods.

Firstly, I would check your water params. Leaving food in there for 2-3 days will make the water bad and thus, your RBP's will be stressed with high ammonia/nitrite levels and won't eat. I wouldn't leave anything in there fore more than 30 minutes. Personally, after 10 minutes if mine don't eat, I will take it out.

How often are you feeding them?

 

[Delaneia]

really 30 minutes? The pet store said overnight or longer (again eww). I'd be happier to take your advice. I haven't tried guppies because I don't think my RBP's are big enough to handle them. Temp is 75 degrees.

and I feed them once or twice a day depending on how fast they ate in the AM (if they ate fast I'll feed again in the pm)

 

[Gatorbait]

really 30 minutes? The pet store said overnight or longer (again eww). I'd be happier to take your advice. I haven't tried guppies because I don't think my RBP's are big enough to handle them. Temp is 75 degrees.

and I feed them once or twice a day depending on how fast they ate in the AM (if they ate fast I'll feed again in the pm)

No, don't listen to your LFS. 30 minutes maximum. If the rbp's don't go after the food within a few seconds, it most likely will be left alone.

75 degrees is your answer, I believe. Way too cold for piranhas to live comfortably. I would slowly up it to 82 over the next day and you should notice a difference.

The guppies won't be too big for them, at this point, they will only eat the tails but I would stay away from feeders if at all possible.

 

[Delaneia]

*scream* I had the tank at a beautiful 80 degrees and the ppl at the petstore told me it was way to hot. They had said to lower it to 70 but I still kept it at 75.
Thanks sooo much for your advice
^.^ Glad I joined this forum. Will raise the temp slowly
G'nite all

 

[Gatorbait]

*scream* I had the tank at a beautiful 80 degrees and the ppl at the petstore told me it was way to hot. They had said to lower it to 70 but I still kept it at 75.
Thanks sooo much for your advice
^.^ Glad I joined this forum. Will raise the temp slowly
G'nite all

Most piranhas will be able to live at 70 but I've heard of some dieing at 68-70 degrees.

I keep mine at a minimum of 80 and up to 84 at times.

I'm glad you joined this forum also and I hope you post back how it goes for you.