# Mac Pre-Spawn Activity



## BRUNER247

Over last few weeks I've noticed males picking spots on gravel as their own. Tanks are all but bare. Last couple days as thunderstorms have been rolling through I've noticed not only have a couple males picked spots but are trying to herd females into them. A couple females have gotten noticeably plump over the past few weeks. These fish are about a year n half old so they should be very close if not ready to spawn. If nothing becomes of this over the weekend I'm gonna start increasing the waterchanges. I'm gonna play with smaller daily waterchanges then progress to bigger daily waterchanges & playing with temp,maybe add lots of plants, & possibly even switching some fish from group to group.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> Over last few weeks I've noticed males picking spots on gravel as their own. Tanks are all but bare. Last couple days as thunderstorms have been rolling through I've noticed not only have a couple males picked spots but are trying to herd females into them. A couple females have gotten noticeably plump over the past few weeks. These fish are about a year n half old so they should be very close if not ready to spawn. If nothing becomes of this over the weekend I'm gonna start increasing the waterchanges. I'm gonna play with smaller daily waterchanges then progress to bigger daily waterchanges & playing with temp,maybe add lots of plants, & possibly even switching some fish from group to group.


Pressure drops are not recognized as indicators for breeding. But I disagree based on John Smith and others reports. Good luck. Hope you get something out of it.


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## primetime3wise

Sounds like they are getting close. Higher temps worked for me, but the guy i sold my breeders to CLAIMS they eventually did breed for him with just increased water changes. So, depending on the macs you have, it may just be a matter of time once they settle in for a while...and don't kill each other off :/


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## BRUNER247

I had some serious fighting going on last week. I had a bme in with em for a day, but other than that they get along surprisingly well. Female a lil scraped up from male T-boning her in the belly area herding her to his side of the tank. Same scrapes rbp get from time to time spawning. Actually see a couple females ribs. Just like rbp before they spawn, so next week might try few things if they don't spawn over the weekend
. Maybe add a heater like you've suggested.


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## primetime3wise

i hear you. keeping serras together is always "interesting"...sometimes i feel like holding my breath when my geryi go at it.

i look forward to seeing some fry!









that's where you will see a difference... between rbp and mac fry. there will be some serious cannibalism...and i'm not sure there is much you can do about it. it was freaking brutal.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> I had some serious fighting going on last week. I had a bme in with em for a day, but other than that they get along surprisingly well. Female a lil scraped up from male T-boning her in the belly area herding her to his side of the tank. Same scrapes rbp get from time to time spawning. Actually see a couple females ribs. Just like rbp before they spawn, so next week might try few things if they don't spawn over the weekend
> . Maybe add a heater like you've suggested.


Add the heater is advisable.


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## BRUNER247

Idk. My tanks are sitn on 83-84 right now.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> Idk. My tanks are sitn on 83-84 right now.


That's a good temperature if its stable.


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## primetime3wise

*if your observations are correct about them being close, i would just try a large water change with cooler water, let it go down to like 76, then back up. you could even go up to like 86 to try something else...for a day or two.


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## shaneb

Good luck Bruner. If it does happen you already know I want some..LOL


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## hastatus

primetime3wise said:


> *if your observations are correct about them being close, *i would just try a large water change with cooler water*, let it go down to like 76, then back up. you could even go up to like 86 to try something else...for a day or two.


Great idea. That'll spike them.


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## BRUNER247

Well aggression is off the charts right now & I'm down one gold as of yesterday afternoon.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> Well aggression is off the charts right now & I'm down one gold as of yesterday afternoon.


Nature of the beast. Watch for larger sized those are usually female maculatus.


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## BRUNER247

I've been away for the last week so I'm not sure what happened. Ill find out if it was male or female when I get home n do a head count. I had my gf split em up till I get back so there isn't anymore casualties.


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## Piranha-Freak101

tht sucks bruner ! keep pushing forward though


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## BRUNER247

Oh I'm not giving up. When I get back ill consolidate em again. I just had my girl split em so she won't have anymore problems. Although one group is still together. Who knows what happened, it might of got killed during spawning, idk as I wasn't & still aren't there. Hopefully it wasn't one of the swollen females. She fed them during morning n by afternoon when she fed cariba groups she noticed the dead gold so it definitely wasn't hunger. Which imo it never is anyhow.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> Oh I'm not giving up. When I get back ill consolidate em again. I just had my girl split em so she won't have anymore problems. Although one group is still together. Who knows what happened, it might of got killed during spawning, idk as I wasn't & still aren't there. Hopefully it wasn't one of the swollen females. She fed them during morning n by afternoon when she fed cariba groups she noticed the dead gold so it definitely wasn't hunger. Which imo it never is anyhow.


 It happens. Cut open belly see if eggs are present.


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## BRUNER247

I'm six hours away Frank n it happened yesterday & I'm not sure what she did with it. she said it was ate up so it might of just been a head anyhow.


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## hastatus

BRUNER247 said:


> I'm six hours away Frank n it happened yesterday & I'm not sure what she did with it. she said it was ate up so it might of just been a head anyhow.


OK.


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## banshee42096

good luck bruner and sorry for your loss.


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## BRUNER247

Thanks Fred. I'm heading home either tonight or tomarrow night. I might switch a few fish around depending on what was murdered n I'm gonna hit em hard with daily waterchanges n couple other things n see if I can't get something out of em.


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## primetime3wise

bruner, i'm just curious if you know if the macs are from brazil or argentina?


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## BRUNER247

They're from neither, they're captive bred.they came from your old fish. Lmao. Seriously though I was told Brazilian. I'm still almost certain they are from your old breeders primetime.


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## primetime3wise

ah, cool. i think you have a REALLY, REALLY good shot at it then. it's just a matter of time. Robert, to whom i sold my breeders, got them going with larger, more frequent water changes...so that may be worth looking into.
like i've said, for me it seemed to be a bump in temp.


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## Briaan

anything happen?


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## BRUNER247

Negative. I haven't been tryn neither. They're probably a tad young yet, & I have nothing but time


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## Briaan

looking forward to it


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## Red Sox Fanatic

Good luck brunner !!!


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## A-ron

I actually own the Macs now that you sold to Robert, and all I have to do is just feed them heavly for a couple days then do about half a tank water change. Theres 6 of them in a 180 gallon tank.


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## BRUNER247

A-ron said:


> I actually own the Macs now that you sold to Robert, and all I have to do is just feed them heavly for a couple days then do about half a tank water change. Theres 6 of them in a 180 gallon tank.


You mean the macs primetime sold to Robert. I still have my macs.


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