What should you feed your pet’s piranhas?
For some who may seem obvious, feed them, right? Not quite. Like humans, you need to make sure your piranhas eat a balanced diet to make sure they stay healthy. Feeding them table scrapes is not recommended (which often happens).
Feeding piranhas is not extremely complicated. The red-bellied piranha, for example, is a carnivore, so meat-like products should be a big part of its diet. But you can’t just feed them meat all the time. It is important to change with other types of food. Here is a list of piranha foods that have worked for me in the past and other popular suggestions that I found on different forums:
* Frozen fish / shellfish such as cod, salmon, tuna, catfish, shrimp, krill, mussels, and squid. You can buy them in pre-made cubes that you keep in your freezer or make your own.
* Food pellets such as Hikari Gold or Hikari Cichlid Bio Gold.
* Small pieces of vegetables like celery, cucumbers, and peas (some prefer shelled, others shelled) can be a good addition to your diet.
* Pinkie mice.
* Live feeders.
Important: keep in mind that there is a lot of debate surrounding the latter. Many people believe that it is okay to feed live fish to piranhas (minnows, tetras, etc.), while others believe that you should never. The main reason is that live feeders are prone to diseases that can later be transferred to your piranhas. One way to help with this problem is to quarantine live feeders in a separate aquarium for a few weeks before introducing them to your piranhas. This will not completely eliminate the risk of disease, however it will help.
How often do I feed them?
This is a very good question. The general rule of thumb is that juvenile piranhas should be fed 2-3 times a day, while adult piranhas should be fed once every other day. It is highly recommended that you clean up leftovers 4-5 hours after you have finished eating. If you don’t, the food will rot and contaminate the water, making your aquarium maintenance job that much more difficult. Doing this will ensure that you are not constantly changing the water.
One more thing to keep in mind is that when you first get your piranhas, they may refuse to eat. This is common. Sometimes they only need a few days, even a week or so, to adjust to their new environment. The same goes for the introduction of new foods.
