# Forced breeding reds



## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

I went home to check on new fry today, and to my suprise the 75 gallon w/ my 2
pairs of reds that bred first,had a fresh batch of eggs! It does'nt look to be as large
as the one from larger pair, but seems to be about half the amount of eggs at least. I have a 10 gal hospital tank that I will siphon the fresh spawn into. So here are a few of my specifics. The reds are all at least 3-4 years old, and grouped like this: 150 gal w/9 reds, 75 gal w/ 2 pairs that bred first in 2002, and my first group
of5 reds which recently got moved mid-project into a 75 gal . They were in a 125
gal but got bumped out temporarily to make room fo spilo/cariba shoal. About a month ago I started the cycle. I raised the water temp to 82-84 , fed every 3rd
day only pellet food, and unplugged 1 filter per tank. All fish darkened after changes, with aggression in 150 gal going off the scale! This group is the youngest
so I feel aggression might be due to that. After about 3 weeks , I started the reverse, lowered the temp/added cooler water, started feeding every day, and 
plugged up the filters again. During this period I even moved the red group from the 125 to the 75 upstairs in my living room! There were three pits in the 150 gal,
3 pits in the 75 downstairs, and even three fish making pits in the upstairs 75 gal.
This considering the move they just endured!So now I have spawns in both down-
stairs tanks,and nesting in the one upstairs! Does this count as a deliberate spawn? I hope so, because I actually tried this time! I am taking photos, they will come soon!


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## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

Well the fist spawn is showing eyes, and the yolk sac is getting smaller! THey are'nt free swimming yet, but some swim around a little. I swear this spawn looks like it #'s in the 1000 range! I'm getting ready to go buy a new 125 gallon just 
for fry to grow up a little in. And yes pics are coming, going to try to buy software
to be able to download my camcorder.


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## NIKE (Jan 27, 2003)

here i will lend you a pic







but you owe us some, don't think we forget easy in this forum







j/k congrats on your spawning.


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## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

That's what they looked like as of this morning! Do you have any pics of a large spawn? I'm not kidding , the 2 ten inch parents really let loose! This really caught
me off gaurd, I would not have known what to do if it were not for your posts and
experiences! I give you some personal credit! And Ash talked to me for an hour 
today w/advice, he helped lots! And this site is the best, bar none. Well I'm off to
set up 125 gallon tonight! Hopefully I can move some free swimming fry in the next few days!


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

damn nike that pic is amazing









Keep us posted nubsmoke.


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## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

Ok, after staying up til'4:30 this morning setting up 125 gal for fry, I'm finally up.
It might seem like a big tank for fry, but water quality is so important. Due to my slack on water quality in fry 20 gal, it looks like I lost about 200 fry total. My first
slip up was putting fry in uncycled tank , this all happened so fast. The 2 sponge filters in the 125 have used filter pad wrapped around them to "seed" them. I moved the fry into 125 this morning, with good results. Let's just say a turkey baster is a breeders friend! There are about 50-75 already swimming around. I'm
hatching brine shrimp right now , I hope they are hungry! Well got to go get some
feeders for the spilo tank, I keep posting and taking pics! Almost forgot, the spawn
from my 75 gal tank , which I put in a CYCLED 10 gal aquarium, started hatching
this morning! It was only about 200-300 eggs, but it looks promising!


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## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

Things are progressing fast now! It looks like the majority have released themselves from the filter, and under the filter area. There are about 100,maybe 
more, activly feeding on Hikari First Bites. When I turned the lights on this morning
alot of them actually scattered, so they are responding to enviormental changes.
This 125gal is about to get exciting! The 10 gal tank has more movement in it 
also! There is gravel in it, so they "jump"up every now and then, but it is hard to count/see any actual #'s. I reccomend anyone syphoning eggs to do it to a gravel-
less tank. It is much easier to work with, and safer/healthier, just don't forget to
have a cycled sponge filter ready! Hopefully when these fry get big enough I can
put w/others in 125 gallon. I'll get a computer/new digital camera in the next few
weeks, and have a detailed thread w/ pics! Until then I have to get that software
to make memory stick work on moms computer. I don't want to buy a "dock"
to download to moms computer, as my new one won't need it.


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## nubsmoke (Feb 4, 2004)

It looks like my intentions with breeding have been misconstrued! It seems that some "older"members , and even some new ones , took this too far. It seems 
that there are still some elements that are the same as they were in 1999(the 
reason I stopped checking message boards). It seems that I have had some of the same sucesses without any(except for 2 books!) help from other people. I count this as learning from experience! I have had spawns that I did'nt want to keep,
which is why I had to ask some questions about raising large #'s. Netting out 20-
30 and feeding brine shrimp was as far as I have went. From what I see ,raising
fry in large #'s is not that hard! And my questions by no means implied I could not
manipulate my reds behavior! I mean I got them to spawn in 2 separate tanks side by side.I just asked for the fishes health how long to rest them, ONLY to 
make sure tank parameters did not cause them to start any more spawning
activity. I mean a new mother has to rest right, I just wanted the best enviorment
for the new mother. Another thing, I did not mention wanting to try to breed other
species to belittle B.Scott or anyone else devoting time to this subject! I just pointed out that My fish bred by themselves, so maybe my husbandry/care had 
something to do with it. This might provide me w/ some insight to other fishes down the line, which is why I listed "goals" of breeding other pygo's! I am an ex-
perienced fishkeeper,done it for years w/o messageboards, and will do it for more!
I don't feel I need anymore breeding advice w/reds, thanks all!Pics coming !soon!


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## armac (Nov 28, 2002)

> I don't feel I need anymore breeding advice w/reds


uh, ok. keep in mind quite a few people have spawned reds, this is not a great breathrough. but congrats anyway


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> nubsmoke Posted on Mar 22 2004, 01:18 AM
> It looks like my intentions with breeding have been misconstrued! *It seems that some "older"members , and even some new ones , took this too far. It seems
> that there are still some elements that are the same as they were in 1999(the
> reason I stopped checking message boards).* It seems that I have had some of the same sucesses without any(except for 2 books!) help from other people. I count this as learning from experience! I have had spawns that I did'nt want to keep,
> ...


_1). Let's keep the laundry (dirty or clean) in PM and not open forum like this. It diminishes what this forum is for. That is discussing how they (piranhas) are bred by people knowledgeable in that field.

2). We all look forward to seeing your pics.

3) I don't want to make it a habit of closing threads that get out of hand, so please keep it civil at all times. Lively discussion is encouraged, but when it degenerates (not saying yours is), the thread will be locked up._


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