# Piranha swimming in a circle



## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

I was speaking with truballa about this but i want more opinions...

one of the reds is circling a point in the tank...is this to mark his\her territory? whenver someone comes near the "circle" it swims around in, itll chase it away...then return and do circles agian....pauses, then circles agian....lol id get dizzy if i did that all day...


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## TheTyeMan (Aug 9, 2004)

maybe getting ready for nesting? mine do that before they lay eggs. possibly mating.


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## JuN_SpeK (Oct 6, 2005)

the last time mines did that my other one got bit on the tail bad and some side marks too.. maybe territorial.. or just breeding procedure..


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

What size are your Reds?


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

5-6" for two of them, and the snakeskin one is like 4-5"? caribe is 5-6" .....should look at my sig more often lol its listed in there...


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## molsonian (Nov 12, 2005)

id say deffinatley territorry....tanks too small to breed. i wouldnt worry about it


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## TheTyeMan (Aug 9, 2004)

molsonian said:


> id say deffinatley territorry....tanks too small to breed. i wouldnt worry about it


yeah true enough. territory


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

Dawgz said:


> one of the reds is circling a point in the tank...is this to mark his\her territory?


This is a very common behavior to all Pygos. They do not actually mark anything by this circle movement but merely chase some other Pygo away from what they consider their territory.

Regards,


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I dont think they breed, seem to small to me, but all you have to do is stick gravel vac in that spot will take 1 second to see if babies are coming up from substrate..........sounds like guarding a spot, but also sounds similar to male nattereri behaviour when babies are there. Fish seem to small to be sexually mature, plus you probually would have seen them darken, or seen eggs on the substrate....


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

mashunter18 said:


> I dont think they breed, seem to small to me, but all you have to do is stick gravel vac in that spot will take 1 second to see if babies are coming up from substrate..........sounds like guarding a spot, but also sounds similar to male nattereri behaviour when babies are there. Fish seem to small to be sexually mature, plus you probually would have seen them darken, or seen eggs on the substrate....


:nod:

Yeah, I agree that it isn't due to breeding. Like Mas said, you would have noticed something prior to this, and also they are a bit too small and haven't reched sexual maturity yet. This does sound like however, a territorial thing, which is common to all Pygos and is normal behavior. No need to worry.


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

heres a vid of wat they do in the tank (of wat that red does)

http://media.putfile.com/MOV0423

the order of the fish placed in the tank from left to right

Caribe, Snakeskin, Red (the one thats in question for circling, and has a bittn lip), And another Red.


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## Markus_m (Jan 31, 2006)

haha i find that quite funny actually, hey dawgz what are the dimensions of your 50 gallon tank. just curious?


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## Dawgz (Aug 18, 2005)

haha whys that funny?
anyway the dimensions are 36 x 18 x 18


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