Red Belly Piranhas UNEXPECTED breeding! HELP!!!

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d3r

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2013
159
0
16
Detroit, MI (motor city)
MY name is Kyle. im 24yrs old, i have a 120 Gallon Tank with 6 Red Belly piranhas.

i am a ROOKIE fish keeper to say the least.
very inexperienced.
I have done much research online to get me through the begining stages/tank set-up and all that, up to this point my method of learning has been mostly "trial and error" and fortunately ive come out with relatively good results.

BUT. now im faced with est. 500 piranha eggs and i have NO CLUE what to do about it.
after doing some research i learned they hatch in a few days so i need help fast!

last night my girlfriend pointed out 2 of my fish were acting weird..rubbing up against eachother and what not...i chalked it up as a form of confrontation(?) while she thought they were going to lay eggs.

needless to say, she was right. i was wrong.
this morning i was cleaning out the poop from the substrate in my tank. not paying too much attention until i noticed tiny orange balls getting sucked up. i immediately stopped and took a closer look.
sure enough i got eggs. 100% surprise.

i dont particularly WANT baby piranhas but i also dont want them to go to waste and "dispose of them". if at all possible id like to hatch them and raise them until i can re-home them or sell them. no sense in wasting life.
i need YOUR help though. can anyone give me advice? What to do next? a quick FAQ on piranha breeding.

Quick Facts:
My tank is 120gallons, 6 red bellys, kept between 74 & 80 degrees. Fluval G6 filter w/ Gnodes & Carbon as insert media.
2 air stones & 2 heaters (one on each end of tank)

also, im unsure of the age and sex of fish. like i said im very new to this and very inexperienced.

Thanks.
 
Just let them hatch and your ps will have lots of free food swimming around


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i think i will take half out and leave half in... i want to learn from this just in case i want to get into the breeding game. i figure if 10 or 20 survive they will be pretty easy to unload on somebody and then ill have this breeding experience under my belt.
 
how do you recommend taking them out? with the aqua Vac siphon that i use to clean the bottom of the tank? i wasnt sure if that would be too rough on them or not.

Yep use a siphon without the head ( or big plastic bit at the top) and pour the water into a bucket, once u have about an inch of water start sucking up the eggs. As long as you hav the end in the water in the bucket the eggs should be fine


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You could send them this way, lol jk let the babies hatch and then siphon them out slowly into another tank, like a 40 breeder or whatever you have. Good luck bro
 
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