# What Did I Do???????



## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

Ok i went to a pet store today and got another 5-6" RBP, and put it in with my other 4 that i have. So now they are all in the corner rubbing each other and going in cirlcles? Are they trying to mate? at first they were would swim past the new one sideways, now the other 3 casue one other is getting rubbed too, are rubbing them selfs all over the new one in acircles, but are nit fighting or biteing. the others are poited down with their fins going very fast but not going anywhere. Could they be trying to mate? they have been doing it for almost an hour now, man i wish i had a video cam, they scatter when i get close with the digi cam, but go right back to it if i back away. PLEASE HELP!!!!! if they are mating, what do i put around the inlets to the filter and powerheads? to keep the fry from being sucked up???


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

it may be aggression.. my caribe did that when i first got them... but then again it could b breeding behavior.. id wait n see


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

yeah, I agree, only time will tell

keep us posted


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

well today they are all swimming but, 1 and he/she is swimming on circles in one of the corners. it comes out everynow and eats or plays, but darts right back to its corner and stands guard. It's looking more and more like breeding, but i know nothing about their breeding phases or cycles. How long would it take to see eggs? i'll keep giving updates as i see things.


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

Update for today is the one is STILL in the corner and guarding it. He/she is the only one in the tank that has any red color to it at all now, the others went gray or tan colored. Are they breeding?????? I did get 7 baby guppys some how in a tank that had 1 fem when i left for work this morning, LOL something bred at least.


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

I sounds very promising, don't make any major changes to the tank, and be paitient.

In my experince, breeding rb's responded to routine water changes, like clockwork.

good luck, and keep us posted


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

OK well today the one is still guardng the corner like crazy and has actually gotten pretty agressive about it. there is still only one with color, two are black and 2 are tan, one of the dark ones litterally suts on the bottom and swims every now and then, I double check all my peramiters and they are good. every now and then the one gaurding the corner will let the one blackish one that just "lays" around in the corner and "sit" there. Is this normal???


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

5-6 inch red bellies aren't sexually mature. they're still considered juvenile


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

and to add, the rubbing and swimming in circles is most likely a territory dispute. they do that to basically arrange the pecking order and territories in the tank. my caribes did the same thing and it ended after a few days.


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## Davo (Jan 29, 2004)

hyphen said:


> 5-6 inch red bellies aren't sexually mature. they're still considered juvenile
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I don't quite agree with this. The size of your piranha depends on the conditions that they live in and the nature of the fish. Not only on the maturity.

If you follow a shoal for a while you will notice that some of them are smaller than the others. In my shoal I have fish with almost a 2 inch difference aalthough they were the same size when they were small.


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

ok well today , they are still doing the same stuff, exept the one that was in the corner is black with purple and another one is going black. the other three are starting to get their colors back agan. i am working on getting pics or a video of their colors and behaviors. Thanks for the comments.


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

they will often respond to routine water changes, do a good gravel cleaning. It may jump start somthing.

Be patient, It's only been a week since you added the new guy right


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

Davo said:


> hyphen said:
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> > 5-6 inch red bellies aren't sexually mature. they're still considered juvenile
> ...


good point. but stunting the growth of baby piranhas would be pretty tough. i mean, it takes about a year, on average, for a piranha to reach sexual maturity from birth [give or take]. and a piranha shoots up to the 5-6" mark in a very short time. usually around 4-5 months. and to stunt their growth at that young of an age would require someone to be holding the babies in a goldfish bowl and feed them nothing but cornflakes.

what i'm trying to get at is that stunting is usually seen past the 6-7" mark [in most cases i would think], unless they were put through some serious neglect.

either way, if they are breeding, then best of luck to you.


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## Davo (Jan 29, 2004)

hyphen said:


> Davo said:
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> > hyphen said:
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You probably have a point mate. Will just have to wait and see.

Thanks


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## HOLLYWOOD (Feb 6, 2003)

Have you checked the corner to see if there are any eggs or free floating fry at this point?



firepisser8104 said:


> OK well today the one is still guardng the corner like crazy and has actually gotten pretty agressive about it. ........[snapback]879682[/snapback]​


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

yea, they could easily be missed


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## firepisser8104 (Dec 7, 2004)

well, the one is still in the corner, they are still very agressive, but i still see NO eggs, i am starting to doubt that they are mating, i do have two that are black and purpleish, the problem is my gravel color and size makes it even harder to see the eggs, i dont see anything floating. Only time will tell i guess. I am keeping an eye on them.


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## tmwhite (Jul 13, 2004)

actually we have 6 ~6inch RBs and they did the same thing changing colors and getting all upset over one corner of the tank- the other day i saw several dozen fry swimmin around- unfortunately i could only manage to rescue about 10. i would be interested in how to protect them from the filtration until they can be scooped out and transferred to another tank. maybe pantyhose over the intakes??? i was also wondering how to properly care for the fry i did manage to save. right now they are in their own 20 gallon at about 78 degrees with aeration but no filtration cuz im afraid they will get sucked up. suggestions on feeding???


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