# I think my red bellys are ready to mate



## nitrofish (Jan 14, 2003)

after having my first pygo's for about 3 years now belive a pair are ready to mate. they have turned very black while the others are normal colors. they are also chasing the others away from one quarter of the tank. one other thing I have noticed is they are moving rocks around with thier mouths.

if theyt do lay eggs what is the first thing I should do. I assume remove the eggs and put them in a 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter. is there anything else to it, what should I feed the fry? I kinda hope they don't ley eggs, but at the same time I think it would be nice to have the experience.

and how big would they have to be before I could get rid of them?


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

You should be able to get rid of them once they reach the size of a dime or so.


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## maniac_richboy (Feb 1, 2004)

I usually leave the eggs in the tank until they hatch and the fry are able to swim around. The parents (or other p's) don't usually bother with the fry too much cause they are way too small. I wait about a few days or a week before I carefully siphon them out and into their own tank(s), but whichever technique works for you should be fine. I just don't like dealing with the siphoning eggs into their own seperate tank, cause usually fungus can spread on the eggs, which will eventually infect the tank. Some fungus medication can also stain your tanks too, so I don't bother with it that much. I usually use microworms to feed the fry and then brine shrimp later (and any other food they are willing to take in).


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

I only had sucsess, syphoning out the eggs. If you have good flow in your tank, your likely to lose alot of eggs. Especially, with your P's whipping around.

It's exiting to have eggs, but you need some spare time, and tank space, to make it work.

keep us posted


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## nitrofish (Jan 14, 2003)

they keep doing their thing, but Im having my doubts they will mate.


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

if your reds are ready to breed. its good to turn off any powerheads or heavy filteration that is in the tank. this way the eggs will get properly fertalized.

good luck


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## weezplz (Oct 18, 2004)

you also have to send me some of them...


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