# i got a question...



## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

i have 4 p's in a 75 gallon tank. ive had them for like 2 years already. sizes are bout 7-9". sometimes they change color to black. but they never layed eggs... do you think they're all male or all female??? should i buy more p's so i could start breeding them? and howcome they're so skittish? i dont know what to do with them anymore??? i really want to breed them.... any advices???


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## SUS (Mar 10, 2007)

I don't know much about breeding, but I do know a larger tank would promote breeding


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

I know that them turning black are the first sign of them being ready to breed. They certainly are old enough to be ready to breed. If you'd really like to have them breed, I would upgrade to a bigger tank and give your old one to me, lol. jk, but yea I'd upgrade to a bigger tank first. Have they been in the 75 all their lives? Also, what kind of substrate do you have in your tank? If you have gravel, what kind of gravel do you have? Have you noticed any new (breeding) behavior with your fish? Have they dug any nests or are they starting to do so? You should look up some videos on breeding behavior on youtube to familiarize yourself with the behaviors.


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

here are the pics of my p's! its a bit blurry. coz i only used a camera fon... any comments???


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

thats not breeding black

my ps change colour because of substrate, time of day and other water conditions but they dont go as dark as if there actually breeding (which they turn pitch black)


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

its not??? darn... but at times they do look darker than the ones on the picture. anyways so how do i get them to breed???


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

You don't get them to breed, they'll breed when they are ready. You can influence different factors to maybe help them get in the breeding mode, but that's really all you can do. Make sure they're not disturbed a lot of the time. Raise the temps to around 83f. Also, I myself would add some decorations that makes about a 1 to 1.5ft square in the corner or somewhere where the male could claim and guard the area easily, this has worked for me. It's what has gotten 3 of my pairs to breed consistently, having easily guardable nests. Uhm, just read around the forum, you could do the wet/dry season thing too, but imho it doesn't work. I tried it and nothing, set up little nest areas and then they bred. But then again different things work for different people, so depending on how patient you are, and how bad you really want to have breeders, you could try a bunch of things. Good luck.


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Change your water changes to bi-weekly, make the last 10 gallons you put in downright cold water, add something to your tank be it bottles or plants or even big rocks. Your p's really have nowhere to spawn right now. The need "zones" for territory before you will have a chance at breeding.


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

i had a lot of decorations in there before... i just took em out lately coz i thought maybe it would help em find space for breeding... maybe later ill ty to put some cold water coz the weather here in the philippines is so hot right now... but i think the weather here is similar to the place were piranhas are originaly found right?


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Cold simulates rainfall and you want decor cause it's not space they need for breeding but boundaries.


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

oh ic... so i should just put gallong of cold water huh??? or could i put some ice in there? hehe


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

I think there is a 94 percent chance that you have at least one of each sex with four piranhas. Besides that you should listen to the other people on the forum since I have no experience on the subject.


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

marcurius said:


> oh ic... so i should just put gallong of cold water huh??? or could i put some ice in there? hehe


No no no no. They way I do it is this. Change your water with about a 40% change, the top 10 percent just have cold water from the tap and when you pour it in the tank pour it on both sides of the tank or directly in front of a power head. No ICE lol, you want to simulate cold rain not glaciers caving lol You want colder water than rain as well, when I say cold I mean cold! it will disperse in the tank and as long as you only do a bit you aren't risking anything. Just don't fill your tank with cold water.


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

i see... but the water in the tank is just as cold as our tap water from the faucet.... co we really dont nid heaters for our water here coz its just as hot... im in the philippines by the way... think i should get water from the frige???


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

marcurius said:


> i see... but the water in the tank is just as cold as our tap water from the faucet.... co we really dont nid heaters for our water here coz its just as hot... im in the philippines by the way... think i should get water from the frige???


Yeah, chill some water in the fridge or melt some icecubes in some water before you add it. Only swap out like 10% water with this cold of water though, should be fine.


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## marcurius (Sep 18, 2005)

oh ok... ill try this out first thin in the morning!!! ill keep u updated on this.......


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