How to breed red bellies?

[bigfish06]

Hi mfk family I wanted to start breeding my Rbp I have 12 of them and my tank size is 300 gal 8 feet x 2 feet x 3 feet tall. They are in a 150 gal right I'm waiting on parts for my 300 gal just wanted to get some ideas on current Temps and ph if possible thanks in advance.

 

[duanes]

• Stop feeding the breeding fish a day or two prior to inducing spawning, via pituitary extract injection.

• Inject the female pacu with carp pituitary extract at the dose of a half teaspoon per every 2.2 pounds of fish weight. Inject into the heavy muscle mass on the shoulder area of the fish. Pituitary extract can be obtained from an aquatic research facility.

• Inject a second dose of pituitary extract into the same female, between four and a half and five hours after the initial dose. Inject a dose of two and a half teaspoons per every 2.2 pounds at this time.

• Inject the male immediately after you have given the female fish her second injection. Inject the male fish with a dose of a half teaspoon per every 2.2 pounds.

• Observe the female pacu from above, five to six hours after the second injection. A gravid female will visibly show that she is heavy with eggs.

• Remove the gravid female from the water and place her on a wet towel. Request an assistant to hold the fish if required. The assistant should wet his hands prior to restraining the fish.

• Insert the soft canule tube that is attached to a syringe into the vent of the pacu and pull very gently on the syringe plunger, to remove eggs from the fish.

• Place these eggs into a Petri dish and add dechlorinated water to the dish. This amount need not be more than one third the volume of the egg mass in the dish.

• Remove the male fish and lay him onto a wet towel. Request an assistant to hold the fish if required. The assistant should wet his hands prior to restraining the fish. Gently squeeze the abdomen of the fish, but apply sufficient pressure to strip sperm from the vent.

• Place a Petri dish against the fish’s body to catch the sperm or milt.

• Draw up the milt with a clean pipette.

• Squeeze up to 10 drops of milt over every 150 cc of egg mass.

• Use a clean feather to mix the milt and eggs.

• Pour an additional small volume of water into the dish after 15 to 20 seconds and gently shake the dish once again.

• Pour the fertilized eggs into small glass jars, filled with water from the adult fish’s tanks.

• Observe hatching in approximately 48 hours.

• Feed the hatchlings from the third day after hatching on zooplankton, which is available from an aquatic research facility.

• Transfer the fry into rearing aquariums eight to ten days after hatching.

• Introduce a powder fish food at this time. Feed three times daily, but only the amount that the fry can consume in 10 to 15 minutes.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8549268_breed-pacu-fish.html

 

[ichthyogeek]

Maybe start simulating the rainy season? April and May in Columbia is usually the rainy season, so if they don't breed right away, give them a month of "worse" water before April or May, then start to simulate the rainy season maybe?
Simulation:
Lots of water changes. It's called the rainy season because it rains. This brings cool, oxygenated water into the fish' vicinity.
Food! Try feeding South American nuts, fruits, and other very fresh foods to the pacu, as when the rainy season happens, lots of fruit drops, as well as insects. I don't know what you would feed a pacu, but maybe try live crickets, and add in some red wriggler worms and squid to help the females build up eggs?
Air pressure: Do a water change before or during a rain storm to simulate the start of the rainy season. When doing water changes, try to "sprinkle" or "shower" the water onto the tank to simulate rain hitting the water's surface.

Temperature(F): drop it by a few degrees. If you're keeping them at 80, give them 76. If you're keeping them at 72, don't bother, it's probably chilly for them already.
pH: rising waters means rotting vegetation. Maybe try lowering the pH to around 6.0 or so? It might depend on where the fish come from: basic or acidic water depending on collection location.

Oh, and if this doesn't work, just stick'em full of hormones. I don't think I'd want to use them on a fish if there was ever another option, but if you really want to, then go for it. However, I don't think mixing with a feather would be the best idea to mix fish eggs and milt. Personally, I'd try to swirl them and add milt in.

Pacu are very large tetras. If you've ever bred deep bodied tetras, then maybe try scaling that up...by a lot?