To think a man who feeds LIVE goldfish to his Piranhas is a bad bet?

[MilkandWine]

This honestly isin't a wind up.
A good friend of mine has been going out with her new bloke for a few months now and seems fairly smitten. He is away working for the week and she is looking after his cat whilst he is away. Today I went round the flat with her and saw that he has a huge tank with 6 Piranhas in his living room!

Now each to their own but then on closer inspection I saw 2 terrified goldfish with all their fins bitten off cowering behind the filter! This guy feeds LIVE goldfish to his Piranhas!!!!!!!! Now I used to go to college with a lad years ago who kept piranhas and I know there is no need whatsoever to feed them live food. They are just as happy eating dead stuff.

So basically this guys idea of evening entertainment would seem to be watching live goldfish get ripped apart.

I am sorry but I honestly think this is a huge red warning flag and my friend needs to bloody well heed it. What sort of man is he????????? Wierdest thing of all is my friend is a huge animal lover and the last person I would have imagined stomaching such awful behaviour.

Oh and the fish are now in my parents pond. I fished them out and took them over there. No bloody way I was letting the poor little buggers get eaten alive! I think I'm still a bit traumatised.

[Vallhala]

My three dogs are trained not to chase rabbits.
My pet ferret is fed on kibble ferret food.

There are other, less cruel, ways of behaving Wombling.

[Goblinchild]

Piranhas don't need live food. Even if you don't find it revolting on animal rights grounds, there are practical reasons.

www.firsttankguide.net/feederfish.php

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'd be tempted to report to the RSPCA and see if its something they'd be interested in. Sounds very cruel to me.

[Strumpypumpy]

When you read the papers or go on child protection courses they tell you about this type of behaviour. But I have never had pirana fish so no idea. But it sounds odd. On the other hand we had a tropical fish tank for a while and the shark fish ate every single tetra. He even had a go at the catfish. It was awful! We fished him out in the end, gave him his own tank and fed him bloodworms!

[HipHopOpotomus]

Lots of pets eat live food - how about all the lizards etc that eat live crickets, locusts etc?

Not something I'm into but I have known dome quite nice people who keep strange pets. I wouldn't judge him JUST from the goldfish but get to know more about him before freaking out.

[microserf]

it's more keeping piranhas that would be a deal breaker for me. i think she should run a mile.

[cory]

Piranhas are not predatory animals in the sense that they have to have live food: any pet shop should have told him that. The only reason this man feeds live food (of a poor quality) is that he enjoys it.

Piranhas in the wild do chase live fish- but they also scavenge, so feeding them dead meat is not denying their natural insticts.

[Goblinchild]

Piranhas are beautiful fish, and rather like man with iguana thread, the idea of keeping them appeals to some but horrifies others.
However, a locust or cricket is usually eaten in a mouthful or two.
Piranhas will eat fish a bit at a time, starting with the trailing bits. Slow and painful and scary.

[piprabbit]

They are more than capable of consuming a chunk of frozen meat in moments.
I'm surprised that the goldfish got away with being nibbled, I'd expect the piranha to finish the job quite quickly.

[Goblinchild]

Depends how well fed they are, or over-fed.

[thisisyesterday]

those poor goldfish will be incredibly stressed going from a heated tank to a freezing cold pond.
if that doesn't kill them then they're very lucky :(

i don't have a huge problem with feeding live feed to fish, although goldfish does seem a bit excessive, and i belive they are not recommended for piranha anyway

[nulliusxinxverbax]

For me its not so much an issue of what food animals need to eat, but why he does this.

Its likely he enjoys watching them bieng killed and eaten. If this is the case this man is psychiatrically damaged and tell her to stay well clear. If she has children, no way on earth.

[cory]

agree with nullius- the fact that he is doing this when there is no need rings alarm bells with me

and is certainly something that people would be about on any of the tropical fish forums I have every frequented

[CurrySpice]

While I'm tempted to be flippant and ask how terror manifests in a goldfish, and suggest they will have forgotten their ordeal by now I would add that I would be SERIOUSLY put off by a man who did this so no, YANBU

[cory]

Curry, fish show very clearly when they are stressed through their behaviour (clamped fins, cowering away in a corner, lack of appetite), and experiments have shown that goldfish have long memories.

[CurrySpice]

Sorry I did say I was being flippant - tis my way

Having had a 7½ year old goldfish, and sobbing when he died (I was 40 ) I can very well believe they have both memories and feel fear.

Which is one reason why I would hate it

The other reason is I would worry about what pleasure this bloke is getting from seeing the whole thing unfold in his living room!!

[LoopyLoopsNincompoop]

The point is that presumably he does this because he enjoys it. Which means he's a nasty person.

OP, did you equalise the water temperature somehow before putting them in the pond?

[CharlieCoCo]

stranded bear.
im sorry, its not meant to be and i love animals, but your story about your poor DP's fish/shrimp/frog made me chuckle a abit. did he get more?

[hairfullofsnakes]

Can you report this so he doesnt feed them more live fish? What did your friend say when you told her this wasnt necessary for him to do?

[CurrySpice]

I lost your story a bit strandedbear were there 2 frogs? Who didn't agree with whose system? I need to know!