# Quick Questions About Nests



## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

had a quick question about what sex builds the nest?? is it males or females or either?


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

Males dig the pit.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

My sanchezi has been building a nest the past few days or at least I think, picking up stones and moving them chewing up plants


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

How big is it?


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

About 5" maybe more it is about 5 years old


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

Could be a male that wants to breed or it could be nothing.. I assumed they would need some sort of stimulation.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

My usual feedings over the past four years have been sporatic with maybe one silverside a week and has gone as long as almost two months with no food, and I don't give it a top off or water change for the summer months and the water level drops about a foot or so and then at the end of summer I fill the tank back to full and start feedings again, I've always done this since I've had him

With that said two weeks ago I turned the filters back on and refilled the tank and have been feeding ALOT compared to what he usually gets but I've never seen this behavior before my sanchezi is currently attacking the filter outlet and any valisneria that moves in its current


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Why


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

Well because I did wet/dry season with my reds to try and stimulate them to breed and it just became habit that continued on but I think this follows a natural course for piranha and from my experience my sanchezi is healthy lean and colorful so I never changed how I did things


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

He could be lean n mean with filtration with proper feeding. No reason to put a single fish through that(no filtration) except laziness imo.


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## JustJoshinYa (Mar 25, 2006)

an airstone is sufficient during the dry season, nitrates never go above 10-15ppm, plants are a natural filter for waste products essentially i am only depriving him of current a few months a year. lazzyness has nothing to do with it


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Simulating dry season in a solo captive fish is pointless. & when you depriving your fish of freshwater, filtration, & food imo its just plain laziness. Why else wouldn't you provide a weekly waterchange?


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

Sounds like he keeps his water pretty clean during his dry season.. also it's what the fish expect in their real life situation. So I don't see anything wrong with what he is doing. The fish is healthy.. it's not stressed, keeps good colors and goes through the same phases it would in the wild. This is natural to him. He isn't in dirty, cloudy ammonia, nitrite filled water. Plus with no feedings, an plants during his summer months.. I'm sure the water doesn't get very dirty anyhow... I see nothing wrong with what he does.. Also on Franks site it says piranha need the time of fasting because it's normal behavior to them.. any how it is his fish, to each his own

On the other hand, I see your point Bruner.. why put a solo fish through a drought.. Nothing will come of it.. But if he is not harming the fish, stressing it or anything.. what's the diff


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## ACrowe25 (Sep 23, 2011)

Even if he does it out of laziness, so to speak... It is his fish. Also, if he gets the same result as a "clean" P keeper then it looks as if he is doing it correct. It's obvious one path or another they can both lead to the same thing.


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