# Ill sare whats worked for me



## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

(pin this topic)this was originaly posted by wes.lets hear what he has to say.

if you want to breed red belly p's the first thing you need is a large tank. preferably 100g or over. you will also need a large schoal of at least 6 p's to better your chances. this will insure both males and females. it will also make the p's feel more comfortable. they should be together for at least 6 months. during this time they will get to know each other.

imo the best way to do it is to buy adult p's from different places and then put them together. i bought 9 p's from different places and put them in a 190g and within 3 months they were breeding non-stop. however this is vary rare.as you can see above it usually takes at least 6 months for them to feel comfortable. my p's varied in size from 6-9 inches. i feel that is the way to go. that way you have males and females.

the males piranhas are smaller and skinnier. the female piranhas are bigger and thicker. when you have a female with eggs in her you can tell because her sides will bulge out and it will look different to you.

now to the tips and tricks of the actual breeding. i believe that there are 4 steps to breeding p's in this categorie. these are in no particular order. #1 water quality. make sure you keep up on gravel vacuuming to keep your water quality good. #2 no stress. your fish must be comfortable with their surroundings. you cant let your friends stick their fingers in the tank or tap on the glass to see if they bite. that stresses the fish out and makes them unhappy.#3 water changes. now this goes back to #1. but also what you are trying to do with this is simulate the rainy season.so first you have to simulate the dry season. what i did was let the water evaporate to 25% down and then left it there for 2-3 weeks. then id fill the tank up with water and do #4. #4 is heavy feedings. i would put a lot of feeder fish in when i added the water. when they have very full bellys they like to breed.but overfeeding is bad. it works against #1 water quality. so i wouldnt recommend doing it all the time. i would do it if i seen 2 paired off or showing breeding signs.

in this paragraph i will discuss breeding signs. the main one is your p's will get very dark almost black looking.another is building a nest. the fish will look down at the gravel and blow it away. this is usually done by the male, but the female also does it. the male will build the nest and then try to coax the female to breed on it. they will also swag next to each other. the male will circle the nest. during breeding they get very territorial and a lot of bites happen. dont worry they will heal shortly.

when they are actually breeding the males and females will vibrate on each other in a circular motion over the nest.when you have eggs the male will circle the nest very aggressively chasing any intruders away. sometimes even the female who laid the eggs will get chased away. the eggs are very small and are white if unfertile and orange if they are fertile. they will be in almost like a slime ball.

once your fish start breeding they wont stop. you can use the steps if you need to so theyll continue breeding but its usually not necessary. when 1 pair breeds in a large tank usually others will start also. its a chain reaction.

i hope this helps you people who wanted this. i will try to add more later once it comes back to me. if you have any questions or additions please feel free to post them. i know im forgetting somethings.
wes

WES IS GOD :rockin:


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## fishman2 (Nov 27, 2002)

Wes, would help alot if you could specify the conditions the fish will breed at. Give us the facts man :







: Like what pH, temperature, filtration you were using. Make us be there with you seeing what is happening.









Thanks, Doug


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

i havent successfuly bred reds yet,but i got them blowing at the gravel.heres some info...

the temp sould be at around 82. some say 84. my buddy bred reds at the ph of 6.8 or so.
with peat moss in his aqua clears.be sure not to use carbon in the aqua clears or that will filter the peat and the water wont be as soft. if u have more then one filter on the aquarium,when u see the male blowing at the gravel un plug all the filters and leave only one running. this will make sure that the sperm gets on the eggs directly and this will insure good fry.when doing water changes...do a heavy feeding before the 30% water change,this way you wont stress them out of eating.another good thing is to stick peat plates under the gravel. that way they can pick at it and use it for nest cunstruction.

just some things to add to wes's info.









if u have anything to add please feel free.


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

im getting some 12" reds tomorrow. all my reds are sold. maybe ill have a spawn with the larger reds.but it will take some time.


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## fishman2 (Nov 27, 2002)




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## SnowCichlid. (Jan 10, 2003)

well lets face it guys these P of ours are no convicts:laugh:


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