# breeding S. Maculatus



## Tarzan (Aug 28, 2003)

What is the recommended minimum tank size for breeding one pair of juvenile S. Maculatus.


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

how small are we talking, if your mac is less than 6" then they are still not mature yet.


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## Tarzan (Aug 28, 2003)

What size tank is recommended when they mature?


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

Till this day, im still not sure how a maculatus looks like.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> o snap its eric Posted on Dec 17 2003, 06:39 AM
> Till this day, im still not sure how a maculatus looks like.


 Enjoy:

S. maculatus photo


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

Thanks frank but now my question, how dies it differ from my sb spilo which i think it is a mac. I mean since the red went away in the gills and it got bigger and thicker it transformed and looks like the one you posted up.


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## serrasalmus_collector (Mar 9, 2003)

Perhaps these pics can help. The left most fish is a SB_Spilo, the rest are S.Maculatus. From what I have read the Strawberry guy will keep a clear hyaline boarder @ the end of the tail for life, while the Maculatus will be solid black upon maturity. Distinguishing Gold Spilo's and S.Maculatus while juvenile, appears to be a very hard task. But for the SB_Spilo, I have noticed soft acidic water appears to be bringing the coloration back on my 2 Strawberry spilo's.

This soft acidic water bringing back coloration is not a fact in any shape or form, just something I noticed in my home aquarium.

Pre-spawn coloration appears to be slightly different too. My SB_Spilo's turned completely black. From head to tail one fish is completely black, not boarder or anything. The Mac's don't appear to undergo such a drastic darkening. If you would like pics of the fish All black, just let me know.


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

Well if im reading corectly and looking at my fish correctly then i have a mac. Im going to post up a pic when i can. My fish is alllll black with a slight hint of gold due to my coloring of the gravel which happens to be black


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## serrasalmus_collector (Mar 9, 2003)

o snap its eric said:


> Well if im reading corectly and looking at my fish correctly then i have a mac. Im going to post up a pic when i can. My fish is alllll black with a slight hint of gold due to my coloring of the gravel which happens to be black


 There is another difference in the Mac and Spilo. The above picture doesn't do much justice. But the Spilo will also have a humeral spot in the gill area. The Mac won't. But and a very big but. The S.Maculatus does get a darkening in the gill area during pre-spawn or stress situations...

With all the similarities and changes during stress they are extremely hard to distinguish. The Mac may also have red around the eye area, that could be a dead give away of the species. I believe there is also a different number of palatine teeth.

I will be looking into this difference in teeth. I won't recommend it, but I am going to have someone help me hold the fish, and try to photograph the inside of the mouth with a zoom lens. Toothpick and camera may work. Just use extreme caution. I had a friend get bit by one of mine, and it removed a nice plug of flesh.

Frank is the guy with the all the information on noticable differences....

Whatever species you have is a fine choice in piranha... They are some of the few serrasalmus that can be shoaled without extreme caution...


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

concerning about the humeral spot. When i had my fish in a almost white environment, i saw flame patterns running up the body, purplish upper body and sometimes a very very very faint humeral spots that comes and goes. Now that i have a dark background i cant see the humeral spot and barely the gold but i still see hints of purple on the body. About the red eyes, do you mean red like rhom red eyes or just orangy red eyes. I know spilos have orangy red eyes but then again, coloration is not the key to identification like how frank says.


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## serrasalmus_collector (Mar 9, 2003)

o snap its eric said:


> concerning about the humeral spot. When i had my fish in a almost white environment, i saw flame patterns running up the body, purplish upper body and sometimes a very very very faint humeral spots that comes and goes. Now that i have a dark background i cant see the humeral spot and barely the gold but i still see hints of purple on the body. About the red eyes, do you mean red like rhom red eyes or just orangy red eyes. I know spilos have orangy red eyes but then again, coloration is not the key to identification like how frank says.


 I don't know if you read this... Frank did post some pictures and give the visual differences between Gold and S.Maculatus.... I may be wrong about the eye color. But I belive the red eyes of my fish is what made people start to think the fish aren't gold spilos..

Here is the link

Frank to the Rescue again.


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