# Too Young To Be Breeding?



## viper2g (Nov 8, 2007)

I've been reading all of the posts on breeding, and my rbp's have shown some of the tell-tale signs. They have made a nest in the sand, I have seen one of them lay down in the nest, and the aggression has gone up in the tank a lot. The one problem.....they are only a few months old. My biggest ones are around 3.5". My thoughts are that maybe they're running on instincts even though they're too young. I was hoping for some opinions on the matter.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

yep they are to small

5 inches is the VERY minumum for breeding and 6"+ is more common


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

I'm pretty sure that they are too young to be able to breed, if you did happen to have a female, I don't believe her egg sack is fully developed yet at such a young age to be able to breed. Have you seen them actually blowing at the sand and making the nest, or did you just find a indentation in the sand that looks like a nest? Also, your reds might be getting more aggressive because they are getting to a size where they are trying to establish dominance within the circle of other fish. Do you happen to have some pictures?


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## viper2g (Nov 8, 2007)

I believe that's what he was doing when he laid down in it. At one point i did see some sand getting stirred up in the water, I was across the room though. I will try to post some pictures as soon as I can. The nest looking divot in the sand appeared over night. I wouldn't have even paid attention, but they made the hole all the way to the glass bottom. I just attributed the aggression to the fact that there are five in a 30 gallon tank. I try to keep them well fed to keep the nipping down. I just built the stand for their 75g yesterday. Hopefully within a week or two I will have everything set up and cycling in their new tank. Thanks for the help.


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

Wowza, 5 in a 30 gallon tank, how long have they been in there? Honestly, I don't believe that your reds are in breeding mode quite yet as I've never heard nor read of anyone breeding reds in a 30 gallon with 5 fish as it's incredibly cramped in there and there's basically no room for any sort of territories, think about it, they're just in each others faces all the time. But, hoping for the best that you do have a pair, and I hope that you do, you will better notice their breeding behavior, such as digging nests and establishing territories, once you move them into the 75 gallon tank that they long for. If I were you I would get that bad boy cycling right away because with the heightened aggression in your tank you might just end up with a casualty, unfortunate but definately happens more often in overstocked tanks. What kind of filter are you running on your 30gallon tank? And what are you planning on running for your 75 gallon tank? I ask this because if you were to use the already seeded filter from your 30gallon tank on your 75gallon tank along with your new filtration, you should be able to put your group of fish in the 75gal in a day or two rather than 4 weeks for the cycle.


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## viper2g (Nov 8, 2007)

Trust me, I'm doing my best to get them moved asap. I got them all at 1" just shy of 2 months ago. I would've got their new tank a month ago, but my folks got me a tank for Christmas so I had to wait. Now that I have the tank, it came with absolutely nothing and I have to get everything for it. Thanks for the tip on the cycling. I'm not sure what kind of filter i have. It's a hang on filter that would be easy to relocate to the new tank. The only problem is their tank wouldn't have a filter for that day or two. I'm trying to get everything up and running but gifts for all the little monsters made me a little light until Friday, and we all know that nothing worth having in this hobby is cheap. Thanks for the continued input.


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

lol yea, I believe the hobby of keeping fish never ever gets any cheaper.


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