# Breeding Maybe?



## moeplz (Feb 21, 2005)

Two of my larger reds (probably around 5-6" now) occasionally go dark and get that purple sparkle. They dont seclude themselves and I've never seen them trying to nest or anything but could this possibly be a sign of breeding or future breeding?
Has anyone who has bred their p's experienced this?

Also will it effect their breeding if they're are caribas in the tank?

BTW: If read through the guide and lots of breeding posts so don't reccomend I do that or scold me because you think that I didn't.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Mine turned dark a few weeks ago, it took them about 3-4 days to lay eggs.

There were terns in the tank,unfortunately it was the reds that spawned.
It would be better if they had their own tank, but not impossible.

Look for them to pair off, is a much surer sign.


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## moeplz (Feb 21, 2005)

Yeah two of the darker ones are starting to pair off a little bit. When I went down about five minutes ago the two darker ones were chasing each other around the tank and rubbing their sides on the gravel. Also there has been some changing in the formations of my gravel, I think that they are nests but I'm not 100% sure because I have not seen the piranha's make them. When are they most likely to fertilize the eggs, is their any chance of the eggs surviving with all the other P's in the tank?


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

The few times they have done it for me, most of the eggs got eaten, within a day.If you get eggs and want to save them better to have a fry tank ready.

The reds I have I havnt had for a while, they breed for the old owner usually just randomly once a year.I was doing water changes everyday using peat etc.. to try to get the terns to breed.

I never saw them lay the eggs,Im only sure of one of the ones I have is a male,he was gourding the nest, could have a few females not sure which one is the one.

there is lots of things you can try to get them to breed, maybe try a cold water flush, or try some water changes see if they will do their business.You could try to add some peat or black water extract to see if it will kick them into gear.

For any species Iv breed water changes always seem to be important.


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## moeplz (Feb 21, 2005)

Thanks for your help man. I would like to try the peat thing or black water but I'm not sure if my brother would be to hot on that idea. The water changes I can do. Ill ask my brother if he wants to try to do peat or blackwater.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Thats cool, I mean water changes are pretty suttle.You could try like 30% a day for 4 days then stop for 3, then change 4 days, and so on, or you could just do 25% a day for a week see if anything happens.

You could try the blackwater expert in a bottle, its the same effect as peat.Lots of fish like the soft water to breed.

Yours seam kind of small 5-6", but if they are old enough they still could breed.

I had some terns that darkened, but when talking to hollywood, he thought it was a little stress from my heavy water changes.I agree, he wouldnt say pre breeding behavour but I wanted him to :laugh:







With the terns the dark would be on and off, with the reds in the same tank, they all stayed pretty dark when doing this.


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