Documentation of My 1st Piranha fry experience! - pics/vids/comments

[d3r]

Well i honestly have no idea if theres any particular thing i do which led to them pairing. But heres how i can help. Ill give you a detailed description of my set up/routine and see if it helps pull the trigger on some pairs and get some successful spawns.

-My tank is kept at 80degrees (79 or 81) at all times.

-I have an alligator skull decor that the pair claim as 'theirs' - always building nests right next to it.

- I Do weekly water changes w/ 5 gallon buckets treated with "tetra aquasafe"
Take 4-5 buckets out and usually need 6 or 7 to fill back up.

-generous amount of gravel on the side they spawn on.

-feed everyother day at night time. (krill, beefheart, bloodworms, hikari carnivore pellets, feeders, tilapia)

-lights (green leds) on only for a couple hours eachday before bed.

-Tank not in a "high traffic" area. Its in my livingroom but on a back wall. So they see people a lot but not close to the tank.

Ummmmmm...can't think of anything else that might induce breeding, encourage a pair or act as a deterrent . I'm open to questions though if something crosses your mind.

how old are they by the way? n yea it'd be a shame to split them up but will probably increase the chances.

 

[scarface_what]

Well when I split them up I can always introduce them again. My friend who had them before me added a couple to the original group and he says his method for introducing piranha to a group is to 1. make sure they're very well fed 2. rearrange their tank so they don't feel comfortable 3. introduce the new fish. I'm not certain of age but the size ranges from 4.5 to just shy of 8 inches I'm pretty sure. Mine will eat anything except for hotdogs (I tried a single hotdog for ****s and giggles as that's what I was feeding my crawfish at the time) they each took a bite of it and left the rest for me to clean up.

I hear the water changes /w colder water is a breeding trigger as it's said to simulate the rainy season when they breed. As is larger areas to deem territory. I currently have them in an unheated tank because I'm returning a DOA heater I got for them.

At least one of the breeder tanks is going to go into my bedroom, maybe even 2 of them I'm only in there to sleep and change so when I'm in there I'm not moving much. The other would go in my office room which I'm in frequently. I also have a fluval LED array which I put on 12hours a day (it's on a timer) I may go for less or just use ambient lighting, they don't seem to be bothered by it at all though there's a couple of slate caves that they went into when I had a brighter light on them and they don't take shelter in there anymore.

Maybe I need a skull. That skull is pretty cool I actually wondered if it was real for a second.

I was thinking of going with some plantable mix or sand in the breeder tank as I want to keep costs down and also put some plants in there I wonder if either would be less suitable to spawning. Do you think the sand or lighter mix might be harder for them to dig/spawn in? I've heard of them spawning in all sorts of tank substrate including barebottom. Apparently these guys spawned in a 80 (/w the 14 of them) with a bare bottom. Guy might just be telling me that so I buy them though, he sold them for a steal of a deal $125 with a piece of drift wood easily worth $50-60.

 

[d3r]

Thats a hell of a deal! Mine was similar..got the 8 Ps, 55gallon tank, Magnum 350, 300w heater and all kinds of accessories for $150 (gave him $160 cuz all i had was 20's haha)

But yea.. i read that about water changes too.. also i just thought: by the end of the week, my water level drops enough for the output nozzle on my filter to be slightly above the water so it makes that 'trickle' noise (?) If that makes sense... even THAT could be a trigger haha I'm just speculating though. I don't know.

The skull i bought at meijer i think (idk if they have meijers where you live.) Haha probably any large stationary object will work though. Makes them feel secluded and safe i imagine.

About the sand.. im sure they will spawn in it just as well as gravel but I'm worried about if you're going to pull the eggs and put them in a hatching tank. Might be tricky with sand..with gravel you can just suck em up..with sand it might be harder to efficiently separate eggs/sand.
You can leave em in the mother tank to hatch but beware the other Ps will eat the eggs given the smallest opportunity. And when they hatch even the parents will munch on the fry so you have to be very aware of the timeline.
I have a thin layer of gravel in 80% of the tank and intentionally have a thicker layer where they hang out to make nests.

But yea... keep me posted on it..I'm interested. And like i said..I answer all questions to help if i can!

 

[scarface_what]

I got these guys maybe 2-3 weeks ago, so I'll let them chill for a couple months before I separate them and try to breed them.

Right now I'm working on getting feeder tanks going so the piranha and cichlid tanks can have all live/frozen food. My piranha will eat flake, pellet, live, frozen, fish fillets, so far everything except for hotdogs.

I'll definitely make a log of my breeding attempt, if they don't want to breed in 6 months time I'll just put them all into a 200+ and give up on the idea. Lol

 

[d3r]

^ for sure man! Good luck!

my babies are.1month old today! ill try to get some pics when i wake up.
still a drastic size difference between all the fry though....there's probably 20-30 BIG guys starting to develop color..shiny scales n all..then there's medium size that look like fish but are see- through and then there's little guys that still look 2weeks old(?) Is this normal?

 

[d3r]

1month old!


This is one of the medium size guys...there's much bigger ones starting to get shiny and colored. But too hard to capture in a pic.


And here's a wide view of the tank so you can get an idea of size and quantity.


Thanks for lookin!

 

[Fishysweet]

Awww growing like weeds

 

[d3r]

This guy sticks out like a sore thumb..atleast 25% bigger than all the rest...even 2x - 3x the size of some!


In comparison with some other fry.

 

[F1 VET]

Nice work D! Seems you got lucky with a good combo of elements! Very interesting you feed them so often as well, I may up my feeding regimen to see if this helps them spawn!

And scarface, rbp need to be at least a year old to be sexually mature in order to spawn! Low nitrates, big water changes with cooler water and a quality diet with space is really all we can provide, the rest is in their control! But be careful how cold the water you add is! I once brought my temp from 78° to 64° during a 60% wc and it shocked them, they were basically floating and not moving, so I poked at them with a stick so they would kind of move and they all lived but I got lucky as ****! Just a word of caution.





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Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763

 

[d3r]

Thanks!

^its worth a shot! How often do you feed yours? i read people all the time feeding once a week..i can't imagine mine going that long without having any casualties .

and I've also shocked mine via cold temp/lack of oxygen due to poor planning and lack of aquaria knowledge when i first bought them xD they all survived though!