# early x-mas present for me



## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

hi there, 
Long time since my last post. lets see, where do i start. About seven days ago i checked my water parameters as i have noticed my reds have been looking rather washed out and drab, exept for one that had turned completely black. no3 15ppm amonia 0, no2 0, kh 0, and my ph had crashed to under 6!!!. my reds were beganing to show little to no appetite. at this i became alarmed and decidcc to re-evaluate my stance on mantaning proper kh levels in my tank to keep my ph buffered (as the water is so damn soft in portland or.) and began administering calcium carbonate at a dose of 1 tsp per day(1/8 of a tspn per 10 gal. rule) to slowly boost my kh upto around 6 or 7 to corectly buffer my ph. I did this over 6 days time(adding upto 6tspns).at that time i was satisfied with the results and fed my reds.there appetites seemed to return so after they ate i did a 50 percent water change to get no3 back in check and then added 3 tspns of calcium carbonate back to the tank to replenish that which i took out. over the next 24 hours i noticed some of the heaviest aggro ive ever seen in my tank. I half way thought i was going to be one of those guys coming home to a dead piranha.when i got home from work i noticed that one of my p's had turned pitch black and was building a nest.I watched them for a few hoours fairly confident i knew what was going on and then the lighrs went out. I woke up the next day st see the blck one and my largest red gaurding a clutch of a couple hundred eggs or so tiny orange eggs. the rest of the school was being held at bay by mamma and pappa at the other end of the tannk. they were all beaten up pretty bad from what i can only geuss was competion over who would mate.my question is this. hwo guards the nest and does the litlle circle dance over the eggs keeping them free of debris? the male or the female? I could vaguely see them doing the deed but the lights were out and i was wondering if it was the male or the female who mantained the integrety of the nest or if that role was pre assigned?Im pretty happy withe situation and cant help but pat myself on the back as this is the highest compliment i feel your reds could pay you as a pet owner...well anyways ,sorry this is so long winded i just wanted to share my findings in pertenance to kh, ph and there possible roles in breeding....or maybe it was just luck i dunno.
cheers,
Ron


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

oh yeh im ight add that the p that is gaurding the nest the most is one that i added to the troop about three monthhs ago.so i now have 5 reds in a 75 measuring 5" -7 1/2".


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## nigaphan (Oct 28, 2003)

congrats!


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

nigaphan said:


> congrats!


 Yes congratulations..


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## ttldnial (May 14, 2003)

Good to see ya back rong666.









Congrats on you and your reds new orange eggs.
I was first suprised your reds mated at their present size...

Perhaps it was the biggest two...
Since the norm for sexual maturity is around 6". I think.

But then you said you had five in your 55 gallon.
Thats a packed tank. Someone had reds mate in a 45 gallon I think, but only three fish in it. Its not often I read about reds mating in smaller tanks. 
Good work on the water chemistry!










Mind sharing equiptment details? PICS!?

-ttldnial


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

nah, its five in a 75 and my smallest is at least 5" and my largest is at least 7 1/2"...this only a guestement as i have never acyually messured them...not into the whole"my fish is bigger than your fish thing" more into the " my fish are healthier than your fish thing" hehe j/k







as for pics i dumped my digi cam software and theres relly not much to see right now- just like an 8" diameter cluster of eggs....as far as my hardware here goes
75gal
temp:82 constant
36 in strip light
about an inch of nat. gravel
250 watt heater
rena filstar xp3 filter...using spray bar submerged
whisper 5 for backup
802 power head
and some random driftwood
I geuss thats really about it.....went back to function over fassion as plants became more of a headache then they were worth with piranhas.
ron


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

yeah plants do my nut







congrays on the new batch


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

nice work rong


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

well, got an update and a couple of questions. I have spawned corydoras in the past and their eggs usally take a week or so to hatch.....well not the case with red bellies....almost 3 days to the hour I now have several hundred tiny little spermy looking lil fry jumping around the gravel bed of my parent tank....I have a nursery tank set up and temp dialed in...going to fill it with parent water and use established filter media in the filter as well as some gravel from the parent tank.......but i dont have anythuing to feed these guys. Ive read newly hatched brine shrimp. Is there anuthing else I can buy or do i need to hatch my own. If i do need to hatch my own will I have food for them fast enough or am I going to starve the lil guys....any help rgeatly appreciated.....
ron


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

If your fry tank is ready, I would get them in there pronto. You can try hakari ''first bites'', or crushed up flakes.

If you decide to use gravel keep in on one side of the tank, and leave a good part of the bottom bare, they get caught up in the gravel and die. I have never used gravel since my first batch. It only causes problems. IMO

keep us posted


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

ok just got them over to the nursery tank or say a percentage of them....man theres alot still in there but this is my first batch so im not going to worry about the ton that are still in the parent tank....nursery tank is up and going now fry are goppn and swiming around the bottom and now im off to call lfs about "first bites"..god theyre really orange....didnt notice it until i saw em on a bare tank...thanks ill keep ya posted...
ron


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

oh yeh, i seemed to have siphoned in alot of dead too...will they eat the dead?....could be one food solution for today. what do you ya think?
ron


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

Salt will help with the hatching process. It all has to do with trial and error, but if I can make a suggestion... Keep the water level low, 1\2 tank, and add fresh water every several days. I've always had the most loss durring water changes. Keep things as gentle as posible









Be ready, and make a Mini syphon to clean the bottom when you deem nessesary.

keep us posted









Btw: are you using sponge filters|?


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

ok update on my fry...
i currently have them in a 10 gal tank. I would say there is close to 200 alive still ass to today.they are now swiming at all levels of the tank.the temp is at an 80 dgr. constant and i do 25% water changes every 3 days or so. I didnt have a sponge filter so i just used a hang on the back filter and wrapped one of the girlfriends nylons around the intake and rubberbanded it securely in place...seems to do the trick...fry do not get sucked in and i was able to swap out previously bio-active filter media from another tank into the fry tank filter: thus not having to wait for the tank to cycle. I would say i probably still have about 80% of the original stock I added to the fry tank about a week ago. Ive been feeding them crushed hikari cichlid gold pellets. and water parameters have been stable showing no amonia or nitrite....well thats all for now...
ron


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

hope it all goes well, its like we have our own little tv soap series going on.lol








oh 1 more thing, what size tank did you get those reds to spawn and mate?


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## BUBBA (Sep 4, 2003)

Congrats. very nice


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## You (Sep 22, 2003)

congrats will you be selling them to the lfs when they get bigger or keep them but i would like to buy some if you were to sell them


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

Yeah Congrats man... 
if anyone's is in the Ontario area trying to get rid of some P's lemme know
its a shot in the dark but whatev...


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

my natts spawned in a 75 gal. tank.i will sell babies to an lfs in the area or chep to members that can pickup in portland(THAT IS IF I CAN GET THEM UP TO THAT SIZE)


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## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

i would love to see pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## X-D-X (Jul 3, 2003)

cool


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

theyre big enough now that im pretty sure i could get a couple of decent pictures...ill see about reinstalling my digiam software in the next couple of days.
Ron


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## Noble (Nov 9, 2003)

PABST BLUE RIBBON!!!!!!!

hahah, sorry couldn't help myself.

Congrats on the Piranha fry!

Can't wait to see pics, and good luck raising them.

Must be fun to see it all happen.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

comgrats rong
and good to see you agian


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

well, another update on my fry. the remaianing that are alive (about 20-30) are around 1/4" and have been eating frozen brine shrimp.....but onto the parent tank:ANOTHER SPAWN!!!!!!! so this time instead of waiting for the fry to hatch and syphon them up, I syphoned up the eggs. It actually seemed easier to syphon up babies rather than eggs. i ended up with alot of rock with the transfer. I couldnt get them with air tubing because the eggs were sticking to the rocks. I went ahead and threw the eggs in with the fry from the original spawn. im not concerned with the fry munching the new eggs as much as i am concerned with water quality.......questions comments?....looks like this is probably going to continue for a while. I wish i had room in my apt. to set up my 55 for a fry tank. ANYONE IN THE PORTLAND OR. AREA IS WELCOME TO MY NEXT BATCH OF EGGS IF THEY WANT TO SCOOP THEM OUTA MY TANK..... cheers 
ron


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## HOLLYWOOD (Feb 6, 2003)

Ron,

Congrats on the spawn!









Arnold


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

Pick up another 10g (I have 6)







The fry will most likely not suvive through the new batch hatching, due to spikes in water parameters(sp)

keep us posted









good luck


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

well its been about 3 days since ive added the new batch of the eggs...water params have been kept well within acceptable levels and about 90% of the new egg stock has hatched. I havnt seen any casualties from the first batch but I will be monitoring the situation closely. Thats all for now.
Ron


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## b u d l i g h t (Dec 29, 2003)

congratz bro itsa real treat to have a breeding pair


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

f*ck.......at one point I had close to 400 live fry and then I got to busy with school and misseed two days worth of water changes......and they are all dead.....f*ck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## AzNP (May 21, 2003)

sh*t DAMNNNNNNN
man its ok man dont be too hard on urself u can get another batch 
i lost 2 Ps because of skool too ino....that seems like nutin compared to 400 but it was 2 Ps i had since they wer babies

theres always the nxt batch !! try to cheer up


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