# Females and Egglaying



## Budfather (Jan 28, 2009)

Hi, I have kept 4 red bellys for nearly 2 years. I have a 240 litre tank with extra filtration and an air feature. I got them when they were 1 1/2 inches in lenght and they soon grew to about 6 inch. Had no real problems a few fin nips here and there, kept them well fed. I cycle the water regular and hoover the gravel often and it is well planted. The Piranhas are fed on floating meat pellets (tetra doramin), cockles, muscles, beef heart, frozen dead smelt and the occasional live fish. I also have in the tank 2 brislenose catfish, and even a few shrimp and a red tail shark in there all living quite happy. I did have to make little hide aways for them where the piranhas cant go and it seems to of worked ok.
The last few weeks I noticed the piranhas getting more aggresive towards each other. One had a big tail nip, the other a pectoral fin missing but no real flesh wounds but chasing each other more than often. The other day I fed them well, changed about 30% of the water, gave the gravel a hover and left them to it. On returning I was shocked to see there had been comotion in the tank, scales and debris was everywhere. I noticed a Piranha in the corner under the filter with a huge bite out of it's back. On closer inspection all of the underside from his tail to his belly had been eaten. It was still alive but soon keeled over and died. I left it over night to see if they would finish it off. But come the next morning they hadn't really touched it so I removed it not wanting it to pollute the water. On removal I shocked to see its belly was full of eggs. I wansn't !00% certain that is wasn't organs I was looking at not being an expert of fish anatomy, so I googled images of piranha eggs and they were definitely eggs.

So my big question is does the presence of eggs inside the fish mean she was just about to pair off and lay??? I do not know the sex of the other 3 and had given them all male names anyway. Is there a prefered method to sex them??? 
I did notice after she had been killed 2 piranhas kept play fighting while one stayed pefectly still on the gravel over the same spot for a good few hours. This still Piranha did seem a lot darker than the other 2. Tried to look for any eggs in the tank but may of hovered them up earlier.

Also would the fact that they are about to breed make them more aggresive enough to eat another as they were all the same size, had been together from the start and were healthy and well fed ?????
(I know they are cannibals and this can happen anyway)

Any light anyone could shed on the subject would be most appreciated.

Thanks Budfather


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## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

Well I dont have any breeding experience, but....

Welcome to P-Fury. Everyone here is cool and willing to help out. Dont be afraid to ask any questions at all. Most people are more than willing to help you out man. Hopefully one of the more experience guys can help you out. Good Luck Man! and again Welcome!


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

maybe someone can correct me, but i don't believe the presence of eggs means she was def. about to pair off. i think she still needs a male that is interested.

you can't really sex piranhas. males and females look alike. the only way to tell you might have a female is if her belly is swollen from all the eggs inside her, and even that is difficult to tell.

they do get more aggressive at breeding time, so its a possibility that was the cause of your cannibalism.


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## x-J-x (Nov 28, 2002)

Its not possible to sex the Ps base on looks..eggs bound or not...they all look the same...during spawning...both fish will look very dark and has a purpleish color...both usually have the head upside down blowing the gravel...I believed there is a video on this around...both fish will be extremely aggressive guarding the eggs...but I belived the male usually guard the eggs....


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

i could never tell my golds or reds, male from female. just saying i HEARD that you might be able to tell a female, or at least make an educated guess, if the belly appears swollen beyond what it is usual before or during courtship, only.

yes males will guard the eggs. i also *think* i could tell a male because they would seek out the territory for the breeding and then pursue a female. i don't remember this with my rbp cuz they would not breed withe me around, but it was noticeable with my golds' breeding. my rbp breeders were much more skittish.


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## Budfather (Jan 28, 2009)

Thanks guys for the info. I have been watching them to see any signs of pairing off but nothing yet. 1 piranha is still very dark with no red on his belly and the other 2 look the same as before. Where as before the 4 fish usually stayed as a pack, now they seemed to be more aggresive and more spaced out. They all look slightly bloated, but at the same time they are well fed. Also as my tank is only 240 litres, is that big enough for them to breed in?

Have enclosed a pic of the remaining 3.

Thanks again

Budfather


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

they could easily breed in that size tank. i've heard of 3 pairs forming in only a 55g.


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## Budfather (Jan 28, 2009)

Came home today to find another dead piranha, again pregnant and full of eggs. I'm down to only 2 now. The whole time this has been happening 1 piranha has stayed a purplish black colour while the others look normal. I didn't witness either attack so it's hard to say who has killed who. The one that was just killed was missing a pectoral fin from a previous battle but was swimming ok. They have been displaying some strange behavoir I have never seen before, simular to the video of 2 rb's mating on youtube but not quite the same.

Is it possible that I had 3 females and a male and the females have been fighting to pair off with the male??

















You can see from the remaining 2 that the 1 on the right is a lot darker.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Budfather


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## dschoter05 (Oct 14, 2008)

sorry for yet another loss man.


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