Red Belly Eggs-- What to do??? Help please!

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IrishGuy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 19, 2009
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New Jersey
I have a 45gal tank, 6 Red Belly Piranhas (4-5" in length), a blue crayfish, and a red tailed rainbow shark.

Recently two of my piranhas mated and now the female has laid eggs and is very territorial of the area. I want to hatch and grow these juveniles successfully as I plan on moving up to a 75-100gal tank in a month and I also have a friend I want to supply with piranhas in this tank when I make the move.

How should I care for these eggs/juveniles??
Do I let the eggs hatch and then separate them into a breeding net? Or can I just carefully remove some of the rocks with the eggs on them and place them into the net to hatch?

Lastly, how many juveniles can I keep within a certain hatching area (this small are would only be for a month max)?


PS when I move my 6 to a larger tank... I'd like to add 1-2 more red bellys.... is it possible to add to an already established school? If so how large should my juveniles get before I let them swim into the group?


Thank you for any help!
 
if you aren't already set up for fry, then don't even bother messing with the eggs that are in there, just let them be and maybe you'll get lucky and have a couple survive til they reach a size where you can net em out (not likely tho)

if you wanna try your hand at raising fry in the future, start getting things set up now so that you are ready next time they spawn.
 
wait a minute.... your natts spawned at 4-5"???
 
Mine did in 45g at about 6-7" few years back, maybe he got the size wrong?
 
i'd like to see pics, i have never seen 4-5 inch natts that would be considered sexually mature... that would only make them about 4-6 months old.
 
I'm terrible at judging size... maybe closer to 6-7" they are about a year old... I'll take pics. But they are nothing close to the "large" red bellies i see often in youtube tanks
 
I say just leave the eggs in the main tank unless you have something setup already or can set something up very quickly.
mine breed in 45g and I didn't even know (was in school so only home once a week)until I was doing water change then I saw fry. just suck them out and put them in 10g or whatever size you have. use a sponge filter or cover the inlet of whatever filter you will be using with some foam or sponge. first few days they will live off their yolk sack and as they get bigger you can try crushed flake or brine shrimp. I remember mine wasn't that crazy about crushed flake but they go crazy with brine shrimp even tho they are about the same size...you can also try bloodworms, maybe blackworms too.
best of luck
 
I'm having the same issue. I have a 55gal with 4 adult RB's So far I believe there are 2 females. Last week I had eggs in a nest the female was protecting I fed them and had to do a water change and when I put the water back in the tank I stirred up the eggs and lost them all. Now it looks like a different 1 has done the same thing. She looks a little darker than the last 1 that's why I think I have 2. Anyway should I leave them to hatch, feed the adults, hope that the water doesn't get too nasty and leave the fry to grow a little?
 
This thread seems to have all the advice you might need, not to sound cold but did you even read this thread before posting your question?

let me recap...
leave them in unless you have a tank already set up
if you wish to raise in the future start setting up a tank for your fry
once you have a tank see jp's post as he gives you some great pointers


on a side note, I would love to get my reds to lay eggs and I'm very jealous of you both :(
 
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