# Are They Going To Breed?



## Redruckus

my fish have recently got alot darker and dug a bit of a little pit in the gravel in the tank and i have noticed they are rubbing each other and kind of vibrating but its the 2 darker ones doing it to the more colourfull ther has been a bit of agression between them note the fins and busted lips any expirence or thoughts is wanted they use to be very red like the top of the lower back fin right across ther whole body
would a change in ther diet do this

the photos look alot lighter they they actualy are they are very dark grey and almost black


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## CLUSTER ONE

sounds liek breeding. If they were already rubbing together there may already be eggs or there shoudl be some soon.


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## Redruckus

i have a feeling they may be getting eaten by a 3rd party should i continue to feed of just stop for the next few days and see if they lay a clutch of eggs


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## CLUSTER ONE

Redruckus said:


> i have a feeling they may be getting eaten by a 3rd party should i continue to feed of just stop for the next few days and see if they lay a clutch of eggs


 The p's shouldn't eat them and the parents would usualyl defend them. Do you have a pleco as they would definitly eat the eggs if left unguarded.


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## Redruckus

no i dont have a plec i was just wondering about the other piranha ther are 3 in the tank only 2 are a breeding pair right?

what will the eggs look like when i see them so i dont think they are scraps of meat/food and take them out of the tank


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## BRUNER247

Sounds like they did the deed already. Tiny white or orange eggs which will be very hard to see with your sub color. Look very hard in spot. If they spawned the male will circle/fan the eggs for several days. 1-2days after they spawn the eggs will hatch & fall into gravel. & I've had 3 fish spawning at once many times. It might look like one is eating them but I doubt its the case unless they were infertile to begin with.


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## CLUSTER ONE

If you missed the eggs you could try gently stirring up the gravel to see if there are any wigglers in there but be careful as the parents will be more aggressive


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## Redruckus

ill look to see what up but when will i see free swimmers with out yolk sacks if i do end up getting them and what would i feed them or would they just eat the meat scraps left over from feeding or should i syphon feed egg yolk or mashed blood worm or something like that


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## CLUSTER ONE

Redruckus said:


> ill look to see what up but when will i see free swimmers with out yolk sacks if i do end up getting them and what would i feed them or would they just eat the meat scraps left over from feeding or should i syphon feed egg yolk or mashed blood worm or something like that


 It will be a few days after hatching before they are free swimming and needing to eat. You will need to hatch your own brine shrimp eggs to feed them.


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## Redruckus

then i am probably gona loose this batch because i cant get a brine shrimp kit or eggs in the next week is ther any other options like anything untill they get big enough to take blood worm(mashed earth worm, mashed tilapia fillet..by mashed i mean put in a food processor till its like baby food even thinner) and when should i move them to a 10 or so gallon tank (all i have) or could i set up a make shift moving bed filter/ air canaster filter in a large plastic tub 25-30 galons and toss in a bunch of java moss


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## BRUNER247

I'd suk em out & flush em. They'll spawn again, again, again, again, & again. Tons of threads here on raising fry & babies. If your want to raise babies, research about it. Get brine eggs, salt, & hatchery or two. Its a lot of work if you add it up after 2months of work. & the first 3 weeks are touchy. Miss a feeding they die, water a tad off they die. 1000 rbp fry sh*t more than a person thinks & can foul your water quick. Research & be ready for the next batch if your going for it. After you research & you still not sure bout something ill try my best to help ya.


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## CLUSTER ONE

If you don't rasie them I would just dispose of them or they will soon die anyways so its better they are not in your tank when it happens. You pretty much need live brine shrimp or some other tiny live food (other then brine is hard to find). You should be able to buy eggs online and have them shipped to you. You will also need some air tubing, airstone and a empty 2L pop bottle.

You will probably get another batch in a month you can try to raise if they have indeed already laid eggs. TOday I would keep an eye on their pit to see if you see any babies poking their heads out and mayby tommorow disturb it a bit to see if any fry are hiding in the gravel.


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## Redruckus

so today i checked both spots i thought they would have layed eggs poked around and rolled over a bit of gravle didnt see any fry so im going to do a gravle vac tomorow and see what i suck up and i am going to cut the portions i feed in half because it must be stressing them out when i have to go in every other day with a net to scoop out left overs hope fully they lay the eggs soon they dont seem to be agressive towards the net they kinda aviod it but some times swim right into it if it is blocking one of the escape routs but i did set up a 40 gal rubbermaid contaner with a make shift bottle filter with a 2L bottle and some filter media thinking of putting in a diy moving bed filter just to get it going then toss in a big clump of java moss just incase


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## CLUSTER ONE

I'd wait until you have eggs for sure before setting everything up. If this batch doesnt work you will soon have a new one anyways


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## Redruckus

well just to get the tank and filter cycled so when they go in its not a shock to the "tank"


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## CLUSTER ONE

Redruckus said:


> well just to get the tank and filter cycled so when they go in its not a shock to the "tank"


I understand your reasoning but it may be abit soon if you don't even know if they are laying eggs for sure yet. Also a few days cycling won't really do much anyways. Youd be best to just setup the new tank with some media from the parent tank when you actually need it.


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## Redruckus

ya im going to focus on getting some brine shrimp eggs/ proper salt(what brand should i use) then i know how to make a breeder


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## BRUNER247

Just put a small hob filter on parents tank or put its media in your other filters to get it cycled. Then when you have wigglers your filter will be ready to transfer along with your fry. I wouldn't use undergravel filter or even gravel in fry tank.


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## Redruckus

my main filter on the perant tank is a hob i was thinking of using a make shift version of the sponge filtersyou see at pet stores some times with the air sucking the water thru the foam and circulating the tank at the same time that and/or a DIY fluid bed filter and with cut up straws to make sure about amonia and nitrates.....on a side note upon inspection/gravel vac water change today i did not suck up any dead fry or eggs to the best of my knowledge if any one could post what the eggs look like it would be great so i have an idea on what im looking for also would they even concider breeding in this set up it is only a 40gal with very little bottom area (photo uploaded in next post)


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## Redruckus

this is all 3 of them.. no clue who the perants are but 2 of them are very dark


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## CLUSTER ONE

Redruckus said:


> ya im going to focus on getting some brine shrimp eggs/ proper salt(what brand should i use) then i know how to make a breeder


 Id get a small bag of something like instant ocean marine salt. I've heard of people using any salt really and having it work but i use marine salt (easy when you have a sw tank) and I get a good hatch rate.

Your parent tank looks too small for them.

A large sponge filter with good airpump or a small hob with a sponge on the intake wil lbe best for the fry tank. Before going out and buying things id be sure you actually have eggs and need these things. If you find eggs they can stay with the parents a couple days while you get what you need so right now I wouldn't spend money without knowing for sure you need it.

Eggs
If you check the info center there is also another breeding article.


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## Redruckus

i was thinking of up grading to a 45gal long tank so they would have more room to swim around that or i was going to buy a 100gal and just up grade everything my 10gal to that tank, my prianhas to the 45 and make the 100gal a salt water or full black water bio type planted comunity tank..dont have much $ right now so anything is a posiblity the 45 gal also has a snake in it so maby swaping tanks is an option


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## Redruckus

today they are getting the colour back so i dont think they are going to lay eggs but i might stock up on the eggs and salt tho because im 2 hours from a fish store 2L bottles arnt hard to come by and i have countless air pumps and air stones and like 20 feet of hose so anything is a posiblity


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## CLUSTER ONE

Redruckus said:


> today they are getting the colour back so i dont think they are going to lay eggs but i might stock up on the eggs and salt tho because im 2 hours from a fish store 2L bottles arnt hard to come by and i have countless air pumps and air stones and like 20 feet of hose so anything is a posiblity


 Like i said just don't spend a ton of $ before you know they are breeding. Pretty much any smaller fish will hatch frechly hatched brine shrimp so if you dont have eggs and have other fish you can feed them it. A few vials of eggs should be fine to start you off then if you decide to breed more you could think about a can or jar of eggs.


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## Redruckus

ya i went to my fish guy today and he gave me a few cups of aquarium salt from his big bucket he uses for his salt water tanks and i got a 4pack of little egg envelopes for like $5 so it wasnt a real walet buster....the tank they are in now is a 40gal tall the 45gal long is less deep but about 4' long(ill take a pic tomorow of the 2 side by side) so they would have more swiming room and i can aquascape it how i want for good wood to bottom surface area most of my plants i attach to wood because of the fish up rooting them all the time


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## CLUSTER ONE

The longer tank may be better but they should get a tank even bigger then that.


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