# my rb layed eggs



## tyourkie66

i have four red bellies and a 7 inch oscar all in a 45 gal.... my rbs are from 4-6inches. yesterday i did a water change. iws out late last night and came home and went right to bed. when i woke up i checked my fish and i noticed little red balls on the bottom of the tank. im so excited. please tell me what to do to keep these things alive. i have a spair ten gal. tank that is up and running with a sponge filter in it.

PLEASE HELP ME.

-tom


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> i have four red bellies and a 7 inch oscar all in a 45 gal.... my rbs are from 4-6inches.  yesterday i did a water change. iws out late last night and came home and went right to bed. when i woke up i checked my fish and i noticed little red balls on the bottom of the tank. im so excited. please tell me what to do to keep these things alive. i have a spair ten gal. tank that is up and running with a sponge filter in it.
> 
> PLEASE HELP ME.
> 
> -tom


first of all congrats









if your ten gallon is up and running what was in there? i would suggest that you clean it right out remove all gravel and refill and place a little bit of gravel a hand full from the breeding tank. use freash water!!

i am glad to hear you are willing to use a 10 gallon for the fry. first of all i don't think you have enough time to prepare the 10 gal tank for the first batch to hatch in it. but what you can do is transfer them after hatching i don't use this method unless it is neccssary. you will if you did not already start, need a sponge filter with a small air pump. and roughly 12 ft. off air line tube which can be used for many purposes later. and a 100watt heater. a canopy lid or a pc of acrylic plexy glass to maintain a steady temp. and some snails 5-10 should work at first but don't worry if they reproduce that is fine, better to have more than not enough as these things will help you with the tank maintenance.

1) first thing is fill the 10 gal with water and set temp at 80deg.

2) once you get a sponge filter you can soak it in some of the water from the breeding tank, take out a pail full and place it in the water. you will have to squish the sponge several times as it will not want to sink at first but it will after it saturates.

3) you can place a little bit of gravel in the bottom not lots just a hand full. this will create shelter and keep the snails occupied till they feed on brine shrimp and help you later for pictures for focus.

4) you will need to pic up food HIKARI first bites & brine shrimp these can both be purchased at your lfs for a resonable price.

5) you will need a 5gal pail and a couple smaller pails to help you with transfering fry. the hose from your vacume gravel cleaning should work fine just take it off from the plastic tube part.

if you manage to have all this stuff ready before you see little tails sticking out of the eggs or see them spinning, than you can try to hatch in the 10gal tank. BUT you must unplug heater on the ten gal first and remove half 5 gal water from tank and add 5 gal of water with the eggs from the breeding tank first. you will want to stick a small nail or pin threw the end of the hose before you start to syphon as this will stop larger rocks from pLugging your hose and delaying the syphoning process. make sure you put a gallon of water in the syphoning pail first before you start with the eggs this will eliminate them from smashing on the bottom. they will be sticking to the rocks a little. once in the fry tank you can put some egg guard over top the eggs read label for instructions DO NOT EVER PUT THIS ON EGGS WITH ADULTS PIRANHAS AS IT COULD BE FATAL pick of egg guard on next post.

i will post a couple pics below to show you the food you are about to purchase.

when you got a chance get back to piranha - fury and let us no about your whole set-up and progress pics will help







BE CAREFULL MALE/FEMALE P'S WILL NOT BE THRILLED!!!!
GOOD-LUCK


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## NIKE

brine shrimp


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## NIKE

egg guard (and 4 rbp's and a 7'' oscar in a 45 gal







j/k )


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## Croz

nike that was some good advise i hope i need to go back and read this sometime soon. man i would love to have mine breed.


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## NIKE

thanks







i wish you luck buddy







but stop beating up bouncers because you will need two hands.


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## mantis

great advice as usual nike.









I recommend frozen *baby* brine shrimp if you can find it. most lfs carry it. that way you dont have to mess with hatching the freeze dried stuff

do you have a parent P gaurding the nest? keep an eye on the oscar the may try to eat your eggs

keep us posted


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## Croz

hahaha yea i know the hand is doing good i got the cast off but i am sure the boncer is still feeling me putting him out cold.


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## tyourkie66

in my ten gal tank i had mollys and plattys i used to try to breed them. now in my tank there is a sponge filter(dirt magnet) and enough gravel to just cover the glass on the bottom, my tanks are both set at 82 degres riight now, i have a heater, and canopy. and my ten gal is right nex t to my breeding tank so can i just sphyn the fry from one tank to the other without using pails?

i have frozen brine shrimp right now, but you say i need baby brine shrimp right? that is something i will ned to buy. along with the two other products.

tell me anything im missing.

thank you


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## tyourkie66

also i cant give any picturtes because i dont have a camera.

and is it common to have p's breed in a 45gal.?????

i thought it was more in tanks such as 125gal.

im so haoppy


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## Croz

wouldn't say it happens all the time but i wouldn't say it totaly off the wall


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> also i cant give any picturtes because i dont have a camera.
> 
> and is it common to have p's breed in a 45gal.?????
> 
> i thought it was more in tanks such as 125gal.
> 
> im so haoppy


get some snails along with the other products becuase they will do your cleaning for the first little while. you will have to grow some brine shrimp but you will not need this for 3-4 days as they feed of thier sacks for a couple days. but i would recommend buying it fast and practice making it as it takes a little practice.and 18-24 hours to make i will show another pic of the hatchery that must be used. but the first bites is really good, make sure you can track some down. only petland out here has some so i hope you have luck.

once you have syphoned the eggs wait a little while 2 hours and do a nitrite check if you have any signs of nitrite add freash water but poor very slow back in keep the eggs bunched. and you could add a little aquarium salt also a quarter teaspoon for every 2.5 gallons. and i forgot to mention if you could place a small air stone by the eggs this will also help debris from settling on top of the eggs.

and bring the tempiture down to 80 deg till all eggs hatch then you can raise it back up a deg or two after a day or two.

and yes breeding in a 45 gal with 5 fish is quite wild.







i have herd of placing mateing pairs alone in a smaller tank to breed but having that amount of fish in that size is something new. i no that that hatching them in there would definatly cause a battle royal between the oscar and the male/female.

the pic below is showing a hatchery that you can buy to hatch brine shrimp it comes with three small packs of brine shrimp eggs but you can buy replacement eggs like above for future hatching. the kit cost roughly 20.00 bucks (canadian) it's called SANFRINCISCO BAY BRAND


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## NIKE

the hatchery box what to look for.


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## Croz

i would like to get one but they don't have them around here.


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## NIKE

Croz said:


> i would like to get one but they don't have them around here.


 what don't they have? hatchery box.....


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## Death in #'s

nike i dont think u gave enough info







jk
thanks dude and say hello to your son







jk


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## NIKE

Death in # said:


> nike i dont think u gave enough info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> jk
> thanks dude and say hello to your sun
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> jk


 first of all i need to find his mother


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## tyourkie66

alrite im going to the store tomorrow. ill see what i can round up. tonite im working on getting my ten gal. ready......thank you very much. for all the info.


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## Judazzz

tyourkie66 said:


> also i cant give any picturtes because i dont have a camera.
> 
> and is it common to have p's breed in a 45gal.?????
> 
> i thought it was more in tanks such as 125gal.


 I've heard of reds spawning in a 55g before, but this is a new record, as far as I'm aware








Good luck raising your babies, man!

btw: even though you don't have a digicam, you can help other piranha keepers out: just keep a log, and write down your experiences/observations/recommendations/do's and don't, on a day-to-day basis. We have some plans for PFury concerning breeding reports, so you might get famous...








I'm sure it will help out many future piranha breeders


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## tyourkie66

well about half of the eggs have a tails sticking out of them now. they are wiggling aorund.


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## Death in #'s

tyourkie66 said:


> well about half of the eggs have a tails sticking out of them now. they are wiggling aorund.










congrats dude 
now take some pics and keep us updated


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## mantis

are they still in the spawning tank?


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## NIKE

mantis said:


> are they still in the spawning tank?


 good point mantis







if they are still in the spawning tank then i would leave them there. it is to late to transfer as they are in the hatching stage. if they are in the fry tank then congrats. not much to do now just keep a eye on the temp. have air stone on if possible, make sure you have water surface movement to create lots of air circulation for the fry as they will not be surfacing for a bit. and do you have the SNAILS...........

keep us updated!!!


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## tyourkie66

yes i have the snails. and yes i managed to get the eggs into the small tank before the tails appeared. i have to still buy an air stone.........you said small one right, or does it matter. there is about 200 eggs. how many do you think will live.......maybe 30 or so? also do you think i should purchase a 30 gal. tank for more babys. and one more question for now.....how often do they spawn?


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> yes i have the snails. and yes i managed to get the eggs into the small tank before the tails appeared. i have to still buy an air stone.........you said small one right, or does it matter. there is about 200 eggs. how many do you think will live.......maybe 30 or so? also do you think i should purchase a 30 gal. tank for more babys. and one more question for now.....how often do they spawn?


 yes the little one inch airstone will be fine







you can use a splitter from the sponge filter airline to run the airstone, if you dont have another pump handy providing it is powerful enough.

200 eggs is not very much







i usually get 1000 plus i asume you left lots behind thats fine. plus being their first crack at it they will have more time to practice







i would hold off on the 30gal for a bit to see if they keep spawning regularly. which more than likely is about to happen.

it is important to keep the water change/ gravel cleaning on the same day now to have them spawn weekly. this is the only way to have you and your p's to work together. as they will time the breeding with the cleaning. they could not tell time, but they can remember if the only time you are in the tank is for a short time once a week to do a fast water change and gravel clean. they no that once this is done they have time do breed again.

you can check your water perameters in the main tank, mostly for nitrite as well .

i have noticed that having some signs of amonia in the tank will not seem to bother my p's to breed. but signs of nitrite they will put it off till later.

now with having the snails in the tank you will not have do do any tank maintenance for the first week. but you will now have to start giving them some freash water.

you will have to do this i find this works the best, i had lost thousands of fry i'm sure by not following this procedure.

i said you will need alot of airline tubing atleast 10-12ft. what you will have to do is get a pail big enough to hold 2.5gal of water. fill this pail up almost to the top with water "freash" and add 1/4 teaspoon of aquarium salt and chlorine remover just a bit. and try and match the temp to 79-80 deg. then take from the breeding tank out a 8oz glass of water and pour this into the freash water pail. this will give a mixture of breeding tank water plus the freash water they will need. you can do this every water change for the first week.

now it doesn't matter how fast you take out the water from the fry tank







but to refill with this new freash water you must do it this way.

place the pail higher than the fry tank and stick the airline tube in the pail and syphon this water back in using this airline. the fry are very fragile to water changes so it is important to be as accurate as you can to matching the temp when syphoning is started place the airline tubing against the side on the glass. this helps to spread out the stream (not to critical) this will take roughly 15 min to complete but by far for me is the best method. if for some reason you choose a different way . please poor it "very slowly" water changes should be done in the morning and before bed. 5 gallons a day they need freash water to grow.

if you have a mini ac like i have up in the fry tank pic you can use it with out any filteration once the fry are two weeks old this help circulate the water and makes the fry grow stronger. as they swim in the current. don't be suprized to see it slowly fill with snails as it will collect debris and shrimp inside it and they go and feed on it. and you might see a fry in there also







but they can swim out









good luck and keep us posted. and do like judazzz said keep a log on this for p-fury


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## mantis

keep us posted

things will only get better









this forum kicks A$$


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## tyourkie66

nike, i called 16 fish and pet stores in my area and some even not in my area. none of them carry "first bites" most of them have never heard of it. i bought some frozen baby brine shrimp. is it going to be ok to feeed these guys frozen baby brine shrimp? the eggs have devoloped into a tail and sort of a head looking thing and there is the sac or egg part underneathe. some of them wiggle up into the water but fall right back down due to lack of strengh. for the most part they look healthy. except there is a few that have tunred white and have a cotton ball appearance. i hope this doesnt harm the others......and are you sure that the snails wont eat my eggs,. im worried.

tahnks


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> nike, i called 16 fish and pet stores in my area and some even not in my area. none of them carry "first bites" most of them have never heard of it. i bought some frozen baby brine shrimp. is it going to be ok to feeed these guys frozen baby brine shrimp? the eggs have devoloped into a tail and sort of a head looking thing and there is the sac or egg part underneathe. some of them wiggle up into the water but fall right back down due to lack of strengh. for the most part they look healthy. except there is a few that have tunred white and have a cotton ball appearance. i hope this doesnt harm the others......and are you sure that the snails wont eat my eggs,. im worried.
> 
> tahnks










no "first bites"







thats going to suck because that stuff to me is just as good as freashly hatched brine shrimp if not better, because they love them and they don't have to chase them around. they have poor swimming skills at first. if you have some flake food you can try squishing it up with your fingers, keep doing this till it gets really fine, i mean really fine!!

but wait till you see them surface, like i said they will feed of their sack for two or three days you could sprinkle a little on the sponge filter and it will absorb on to it as they will find it later.

they will look a little white for the first week and have a bent body that is fine. but you will see some that will be really white and not moving and will look as if they are fluffy then the are dead







this is normal don't worry they are not all supposed to make it







it is to bad but you can't do anything... you can remove the dead ones with a airline tube or use a turkey bayster i will show a pic down below. of the tools. the more you have dead in the tank the more water conditions will change amonia/nitrite.

they snails will boot around the eggs, i tracked one for a hour or so and watch him to at first i thought they were eating the eggs but they were just moving them around. i had no problems. my snails are not very big, they lay eggs everywhere so i syphon out the ones that start to get big and keep all the little ones.

how big of snails did you get?

do you guys have a petland out in your area?

did you purchase a brine shrimp hatchery?


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## tyourkie66

there is not a petland in my area. the slosest one is about 40 miles away, and i called them and asked about first bites and they said they dont have any and have never heard of it.

and none of the stores i traveled to had to hatchery kit, jjust the tube of eggs. im not sure what im supposedto do with just the eggs. could you help me?


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> there is not a petland in my area. the slosest one is about 40 miles away, and i called them and asked about first bites and they said they dont have any and have never heard of it.
> 
> and none of the stores i traveled to had to hatchery kit, jjust the tube of eggs. im not sure what im supposedto do with just the eggs. could you help me?










well it looks like you will have to make your own out of a plastic bottle i have not yet made one yet my self but i will try one also to see what kind of luck i get.......

hang in there we will get this









i have a link down below in my signiture check it out for an idea. it is this one.

http://home.earthlink.net/~photofish/BrineShrmp.html

make sure you use the flakes crushed to powder.








wow you are only 15 years old just wait till marco gets a load of this.....


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## tyourkie66

yes im only 15 years old. but i still would like you to help me through this process.

i read something on the link you gave me that i can use table salt as long as its not iodized to hatch my shrimp......this is good because i dont have any aquarium salt becuase ive never used it.

this morning i noticed that my fry had eye spots. i think they are very healthy...

you said that u usally get 1000-2000 eggs......out of that how many do you grow out to be dime sized?


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> yes im only 15 years old. but i still would like you to help me through this process.
> 
> i read something on the link you gave me that i can use table salt as long as its not iodized to hatch my shrimp......this is good because i dont have any aquarium salt becuase ive never used it.
> 
> this morning i noticed that my fry had eye spots. i think they are very healthy...
> 
> you said that u usally get 1000-2000 eggs......out of that how many do you grow out to be dime sized?


it does not matter how old you are







i am willing to help anybody that is a p- fury member i don't care if you are 13 years old or 65 years old i am hear to help.

but i just want to run over a few things with you first so you can realize what you are getting involved in.

to raise the fry from eggs it requires lots of time checking water levels and purchasing supplies that will make your fry grow.

i spend roughly $10.00 bucks on each fry tank a week to feed them what they require. as they get bigger the eat other foods that cost more money. i don't no what your money situation is but, i just thought that you should no alot of your summer vaction money is gona go on lots of food and supplies.

i also want to tell you that fry will not be dime size for 5-6 weeks. you could have ten or twenty or maybe even fifty that make it, this could vary always. and they have to be looked after everyday. if you are planning a vacation do you have someone who is willing to watch the fry? or if you want to go camping etc.

as the fry pass 3 weeks old they are alot easier to take care of but the food starts to cost more money. but if you are going to start another batch the work will never go away!! a light must be on for brine shrimp to hatch 24/7 s wich can add up on electricity$$$$

i will stop with the lecture as you can think this threw. i just wanted to share some important info on what is all required.

i am not going anywhere so don't worry, i will be hear to help you as the best i can


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## tyourkie66

im prepared to raise these fry. im not going on any vacations or anything so i will be able to care for them. the money situation is fine. i have a job and am working near 50hrs a week.

well the sca on the fry is getting smaller. and the fry are moving around more. i need to know when to feed these guys. i still havent found the first bites. should i try to hatch my own brine shrimp eggs?? or should i try to feed them the frozen baby brine shrimp that i purchased. or should i try to feed them the powdred up flakes???

thank you


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## NIKE

yes yes yes try and hatch your own brine shrimp start making it right away you will have to rig up a little something. you could ask in the tutoral section if any body has made their own hatchery for brine shrimp the one that was in that link was a bit big you just need to make a small version. but i suggest you make two small versions so you will have some always. this stuff is what puts some meat on their bones. they will eat this like crazy once they start.

you have to crush some flake food also or find another brand of small flake food this is very handy to have as brine shrimp does not hatch properly everytime







so you need a back up food!!

i am trying to make something up hear also i need some time but you must find a hatchery or make something quick!!

i don't think they will eat that frozen shrimp just yet i fed that to fry at 3 weeks old not before they don't have their teeth in yet.

start putting a little bit of powderd flake food in first you could put a very small pc of frozen shrimp in but don't be suprized if only the snails eat it........

but good-luck and keep us all posted and if you can come across a camera sometime soon we all would love to see more pics of fry......................


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## tyourkie66

i am in the process of making a hatchry im not sure wha tthe heck im doing, but it just has to be a cone right?......i hope this works.


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## mantis

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## tyourkie66

hey that looks familiar


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## tyourkie66

welll more and more of the fry are up and swimming. they only swim for short amounts of time. i put some frozen baby brine shrimp in the tank and it was too tough to tell if any got eaten.


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## allen smith

congrates o ur fish. just wanted to say u can try a walmart if u have 1 in ur area. they have frist bites there cause i get mine from there. when i was breeding my 16" oscars all the time.
so good luck.


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## NIKE

allen smith said:


> congrates o ur fish. just wanted to say u can try a walmart if u have 1 in ur area. they have frist bites there cause i get mine from there. when i was breeding my 16" oscars all the time.
> so good luck.


 did you here this tyourkie66 try a walmart or phone at least. you should really find some first bites, it is very good stuff. because it is slow sinking flakes and it's easy for them to bite...........


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## tyourkie66

i went to two walmarts in my area and neither of them had it. im thinkin maybe i can order some from bigalsonline. all of the fry are no free swimming. ive been feeding them babby brine shrimp. i tried powdred up flakes but i dont theink they ate them.

i found this product called "first flakes" is it the same thing?

also how long was it before your reds layed eggs for the seccond time. i want to have an idea of how long it will be so i will be more prepared.

im thinkin i will buy two more tanks. i saw them in the paprer today, one is a 55g the other is 40g they come with every thing including stands, all for 150 dollarrs. great deal.


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> i went to two walmarts in my area and neither of them had it. im thinkin maybe i can order some from bigalsonline. all of the fry are no free swimming. ive been feeding them babby brine shrimp. i tried powdred up flakes but i dont theink they ate them.
> 
> i found this product called "first flakes" is it the same thing?
> 
> also how long was it before your reds layed eggs for the seccond time. i want to have an idea of how long it will be so i will be more prepared.
> 
> im thinkin i will buy two more tanks. i saw them in the paprer today, one is a 55g the other is 40g they come with every thing including stands, all for 150 dollarrs. great deal.


i checked at my walmart also and they don't have it either







but definatley think of ordering if you can't find any.

you will have another batch within two/three weeks most likely. if you no which one the female is, you will notice that she will look alot fatter at times this is when she is most likely ready too drop more eggs. but she will look pretty fat alot as you will notice that she will eat alot more. keep her well fed i would recommend feeding them 2-3 times a day very small portions or they will hide leftovers and it will screw up your water paremeters.

keep up weekly water changes and they could very well give you a weekly batch of eggs


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## tyourkie66

how often do you feed your fry????????


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> how often do you feed your fry????????


 i feed the fry every time i have a batch of brine shrimp ready this is usually every four hours. i will inbetween feed them with first bites. when i go to work if for some reason the shrimp was not ready to feed them before i left, i will come home at lunch time and feed them. the same works for bedtime if i was not happy with the feeding before bedtime then i will get up early to feed.

but remember the more fry you have the more you should feed as the small ones hidding at the bottom will never get a chance to eat if the big ones at the top eat it all.


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## tyourkie66

well today i came home from work and i notcied that the two were paired off in the same spot. i sat down and watched them for a while. it appears they have started another nesting area. they cleared out some gravel and made a hole/ crater sort of thing. hopefully when they lay the eggs i will be able to put them in my ten gallon where the other fry are currently in.

in about 3 weeks i will have a 55g and a 40g up and running to put the fry into.


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> well today i came home from work and i notcied that the two were paired off in the same spot. i sat down and watched them for a while. it appears they have started another nesting area. they cleared out some gravel and made a hole/ crater sort of thing. hopefully when they lay the eggs i will be able to put them in my ten gallon where the other fry are currently in.
> 
> in about 3 weeks i will have a 55g and a 40g up and running to put the fry into.


you said you are going to put them in the same tank as the other fry







i don't no if thats a good idea!!

i have never tried this but i don't like the sounds of it. are you planning on using a divider. remember what type of fry these are they can and will kill the smaller ones.

i have left many batches to hatch in the breeding tank due to not having any room for eggs. nothing is wrong with doing this, they will hatch and slowly surface but will slowly dissapear. i found by doing this every so often it's doesn't change or delay them from still breeding.

you will however end up syphoning small fry out when you do your water change/ gravel cleaning.

you can save them if you had a place to put them. it doesn't matter if the fry get syphoned out with all the dirt and debris in a pail. just let the pail settle for ten minutes or so. all the black crap will sink and the fry will surface. if you take some plastic leafs and let them float at the top of the pail the fry will collect around the leaf. you take another pail and put in some water (not much) couple glasses from the breeding tank from the top cleaner water. and with a turkey bayster you can syphon the fry into this bucket. then you slowly add water from the tank they are going into.

i would put a bayster full every two minutes till you match the same amount you had in there. then you can bayster them back into the fry tank. you will see them just drop like they are dead and sink straight down but they will snap out of it most of the time. but i found they die alot will die also this way.

it's just another way to save as much of them as you can









i added another link in my sign. for a DIY hatchery set-up looks pretty straight forward check it out.


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## tyourkie66

well they layed the eggs again. i think i will put them into the same tank as my other fry. i might as well try it. i mean if im going to have another batch next week then theres no reason not to try this method.

plus i should have my other tanks set up in a few weeks.

wish me much of luck.


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## tyourkie66

do you think it will be ok to add a powerhead while they are in this spawning phase?


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> do you think it will be ok to add a powerhead while they are in this spawning phase?


good luck!!









i wouldn't add a powerehead right now







the reason they are spawning is because they are happy with the original set-up. a powerhead could make them want to change the nest location and this could cause a territory issue. among your p's and oscar.








if you do decide to put one in make sure you angle the flow control up so the water moves at the surface not down at the p's this will circulate the water and not cause them to switch locations (hopefully)

good-luck

remember to keep what works and what doesn't written down.

and why now is my avatar changed







is there some kind of time delay before the switch?


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## tyourkie66

i took yopur advice and left the eggs in the spawning tank. they have the tails devolpoing now and they got scattered from the ps whipping around. some of them got sucked up in my filter. some are still in the rocks.


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## tyourkie66

well they started hatching. my first batch is doing exellent. the only question i have for you nike is.....why are my tank sides full of algae? i dont think my snails are doing their jobs. there are alot of snails in my tank.....tooo many to count.......i do one 25% water change every day.. what else wwill help???


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## NIKE

i was doing 2-25% water changes every day and have had lots of snails from day one. are you leaving a lite on for long periods of time, this will make algea grow faster. i mostly just leave the kitchen light on for the fry and don't put the canopy lights on. have your snails laid eggs on the sides of the glass at all?


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## tyourkie66

my snails have layed eggs. i leave the canopy lightsw on from 6am til 10 pm..........i think i will stop leaving those lights on and just leave a lite on in the room. thank you for all the help.


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## caribes?

what kind of snails are needed?


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## NIKE

to tell you the truth i don't no what kind they are or the name. i never purchased snails the snails hitched a ride with some plants i bought







at the time i was pissed that i started to have snails in my tank. i had just removed a couple to the fry tank and boom they multiplied like crazy.

check in the non piranha section there was a couple threads a little while back about snails. innes pulled out some good info which tells you the proper names. just buy them small and they will breed like crazy......

i will try to find this thread for you









http://www.applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php

Mating Lymnea looks like the ones


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## caribes?

they are just starting to wiggle...when do i do my first water change?


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## NIKE

caribes? said:


> they are just starting to wiggle...when do i do my first water change?


 first of all lets get out of tyourkie66 thread or i'm going to go nuts j/k







i will answer your question in the thread you started


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## tyourkie66

:rasp: hey guess what. last night i saw the two reds making a nest again. and this morning i woke up and there was eggs once again.

this time there are alot. im going to syphion them into my ten gallon tank. i must have some really horny ps.


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## caribes?

I know what your talking about...I had my first two spawns in less than one week.


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## tyourkie66

its out rageous. im working on setting up a 40 gal for them to grow in. how much would everyone recemend selling them for? im thinking $3 to the lfs. and $4 to friends. baby reds go for 5-15 bucks where im at.


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## NIKE

if your planning on walking out of the lfs with a bunch of cash







i doubt it will happen they might give you some cash. but most of them will only offer you STORE CREDIT







out here in winnipeg it is store credit, i am getting gift certificates for store credit that you can keep for one year. save them to but something or use them to buy fish food etc.............

what they should offer you which is fare is half of the selling price ........ example $15.00 dollars for a rbp fry = $7.50 store credit.........................................









good-luck


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## LaZy

LFS are cheap stores they just wanna give you a krappy Price then sell your Fishes for so Much i rather keep my Frys if my P's Breed


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## tyourkie66

thats what im going for is half of what they sell them for. i think its fair for both partys. theres only like two locally owned shops around here. one i nkow will buy them sells their reds fry for 5 bucks. so i should be able to get at least 2.50

none of the places like petsmart, petco, petland, pet supplies plus, aquarirum adventure will buy them off of me.







i guess they feel better buying them from big companies.

yes i know that i can only get store credit but, im going to be setting up another new tank so it will work out. they offered me cash but i would only get half cash. ( say if they bought tehm for $2.50 from me they would onyl give me $1.25 in cash. so im happy with store credit


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## tyourkie66

which one is the male? the p that stays on the nest 99% of the time? the one that stays on my nest seems like it owuld not be female because it never gets fat before the eggs appear. the other p that helps building the nest is always fat and i figured that one is the mother. she almost never is on the nest.


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## NIKE

i have had the male guard the eggs the whole time he was only accompanied by the female the one time. i did not like that as i thought they were going to stand guard, but it worked out fine. you most likely have the male then if there is no size differ................... can you tell the female a part from the rest?


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## mantis

tyourkie66 said:


> none of the places like petsmart, petco, petland, pet supplies plus, aquarirum adventure will buy them off of me.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i guess they feel better buying them from big companies.


once your p's are big enough ask them again, let them know your serious.









the P guarding the nest is the male fo sho


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## tyourkie66

nike.............i can t seem to get my fry to live past two weeks. whats going on??? the problem could be not enough water changes but is there anyhitng else. thats the second batch ive lost after the two week mark.........i have one more batch at one week and i erally want these guys to make it. please help.


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> nike.............i can t seem to get my fry to live past two weeks. whats going on??? the problem could be not enough water changes but is there anyhitng else. thats the second batch ive lost after the two week mark.........i have one more batch at one week and i erally want these guys to make it. please help.


water changes are the most important!!!!! they need lots of fresh water!!!!!! what ever size tank you use you should replace half of that tank water "everyday" with fresh water. the water has to be replaced very slowly with a airline tube works best. did you raise the temp up to 81-82 deg they hatch best at 80deg but survive best i found at 81-82deg. you can feed them small portions 5-10 times a day. thats what is good with having the snails don't be scared to overfeed. are you checking for nitrites? any sign of nitrites is not good repeat water changes as many as it takes to remove nitrites. after the first 5-7 days you should be only using fresh water. make sure you add something to remove chlorine!! and not that much. did you track down any first bites? you can try and add a little more gravel from the spawning tank.......

hang in there little dude i had lost lots of batches to but you will get it just don't quit









WATER CHANGES ARE A MUST


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## tyourkie66

i havent been able to find first bites, no one has heard of it. bigasonline doesnt even carry it. ive been feeding powdered up flakes mostly, and also baby brine shrimp. i hope they breed again soon so i can get some more eggs. im almost thinking of selling all of my reds and getting a brandti or elongatus but that is just a thought. i really want to raise these guys. i want to do something like you did and donate some to the cleveland zoo, and go visit them later on.

there are tiny white worms in the tank, are these baby snails???? or are they harmful???

i moved my sponge filter to a new location, but its not agaisnt the galss, i read the post about not putting it on the glass because they get trappped.

it jsut seems that they get two weeks old and then die.

im going to try alot harder now......

its just hard because i roll out of bed at 530 am and go to work and then come home at 3 and fall alseep and i usaully have time for only one awater change.


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## NIKE

tyourkie66 said:


> i havent been able to find first bites, no one has heard of it. bigasonline doesnt even carry it. ive been feeding powdered up flakes mostly, and also baby brine shrimp. i hope they breed again soon so i can get some more eggs. im almost thinking of selling all of my reds and getting a brandti or elongatus but that is just a thought. i really want to raise these guys. i want to do something like you did and donate some to the cleveland zoo, and go visit them later on.
> 
> there are tiny white worms in the tank, are these baby snails???? or are they harmful???
> 
> i moved my sponge filter to a new location, but its not agaisnt the galss, i read the post about not putting it on the glass because they get trappped.
> 
> it jsut seems that they get two weeks old and then die.
> 
> im going to try alot harder now......
> 
> its just hard because i roll out of bed at 530 am and go to work and then come home at 3 and fall alseep and i usaully have time for only one awater change.


 there are tiny white worms in the tank, are these baby snails???? or are they harmful???

most likely snails your talking about very small at first


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## mantis

if snails, no prob, and the worms are due to overfeeding, have you used any salt? It will help in more ways than one


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## tyourkie66

i believe that they are snails. hey nike, is changing like 65% of the water too much in one day? i know that it would have to be throught out the day (gradually) but i just want these guys to live. i will add salt tomorrow, because i have none.


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## caribes?

I picked up first bite at PETSMART


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## tyourkie66

mail it to me


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## tyourkie66

does any one have any suggestions about water changes. gthey have become very difficult because there are so many fry in the tank.


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## mantis

I have been useing a fry net it slows down the water flow alittle, and you can never suck up any fry!

I've also been thinking about fasioning two together so I can get to the sh*t at the bottom.

I got some first bites as well, they work good, but the guy a the lfs said ''there has been a movment towards liquid fry food the last 10 years, the powdered stuff is not so popular any more'' they did have some but I never got any, maybe once the first bites run out.

Tyoukie66 you should look into it if your having trouble finding first bites









keep up the good work


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## NIKE

i had tried that liquid fry and they did not seem to bother with it







but that was just me you can check it out for yourself make sure you shake it really good first. it doesn't matter how fast the water comes out, if you get some fry that get syphoned out just bayster them back in righty away it's the same water it wont hurt them. just snip the tip of the bayster so it is a bit bigger and it will work.

a airline to clean the bottom works best you can use a air plastic tube or any object similar and place it over the airline hose so you can aim it to the bottom the only problem with this method is those damn snails will plug your hose every so often


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## tyourkie66

thanks guys


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## mantis

ah, I understand the tube over the airline now, I've been considering the bayster as well ima pick one up today.


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## tyourkie66

most of my fry died again........what am i doing wrong.. this time i made two 25% water changes everyday. im so sad......im thinkin of selling the adult reds if i dont get it right again. there are still about 20 fry in my tank.


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## mantis

Just hang in there buddy, don't sell your reds. I have got 8 out of a batch, 17, 11 the next. Things will only get better, it's trial and error thing, once your fry turn into babies it will be worth it, it's so fun!

do you notice your #'s diminish after water changes? Mine do, big time, but things have been getting better lately, since I began using more fresh water.

Just remember, there are people that would give thier left nut to have a breeding pair of RB's, were are some of the lucky few.


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## tyourkie66

there are about 10 fry left. its a drastic change from about a thousand to only ten. all of them died in a period of two days. ill hang in here. it loooooks like they are ready for a nother batch.


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## mantis

do you add some dissolved salt when you get them in the fry tank?


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## tyourkie66

how much are you supposed to add?


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## mantis

I never really measure, just don't put in a sh*t laod, and dissolve it in water first, it helps them hatch and cuts down on white cottony, plus they won't stink so bad.

aquarium salt, not table salt, you probably already know that

do you have a fry tank ready, for another batch


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## tyourkie66

yes i have a tank ready. u say salt helps with hatching and that, but i never have problems with them hatching. its jsut like they all the sudden die after two weeks since being layed.


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## caribes?

for the new water that your adding, is it conditioned with what ever water treatment you use? Is the temperature the same? PH? Dont give up. I only had 3 that lived from my first batch, but its cool watching them grow up.


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## tyourkie66

i wont give up just yet.....

but now all i need is anotehr batch of eggs. im not so usre they are going to lay more anytime soon.


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## tyourkie66

my reds layed anotehr batch of eggs. im going to leave these ones in the tank and syphon them out when free swimming. i am worried that they did not get fertilized. they do not appear the same color as the ones before.


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## mantis

trying to get them out of the tank after they're free swimming will be tough, and drive your big guys crazy.

good luck.


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## KingFish

are any of you guys selling breeding rbs and shiping them if you are let me know how much do they cost as soon as you can.


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## moxk2

tyourkie66 said:


> i have four red bellies and a 7 inch oscar all in a 45 gal.... my rbs are from 4-6inches. yesterday i did a water change. iws out late last night and came home and went right to bed. when i woke up i checked my fish and i noticed little red balls on the bottom of the tank. im so excited. please tell me what to do to keep these things alive. i have a spair ten gal. tank that is up and running with a sponge filter in it.
> 
> PLEASE HELP ME.
> 
> -tom


 kinda weird....congrats n'way


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