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

[d3r]

This is my first go around with Red Belly Piranha Fry so i want to document it and give those unfamiliar with RBPs a closer look. 100% open to comments,questions or tips and advice as I'm a noobie at this stuff!

First off, The parents. (Below)


Eggs! - 10gallon w/meth blue. (Below)


Week 1 - wigglers. (Below)


Week 2 - swimmers. (Below)


Week 3 - starting to look like fish! (Below)


Here's a vid nearing week 4... near the end i pan up to get a shot of the big guys (huge glare) and you can spot 2 more, one on each side of the tank guarding nests they've made lastnight! I dont want any more eggs! Haha. (& my biggest P "Nom Nom" being a camera hog right up front..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS3X7XB-GUE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
(Ew youtube jacked up the picture quality)

Its strange that some fry are so developed and massive compared to some that still look like they're 2weeks old....anyone know why that is?

 

[harleyboy]

Great job good luck with them


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[d3r]

Thanks! I know I'm gonna need it when they start chompin eachother! i caught a bigger one "gumming" a little one already ..had him swallowed whole all the way up to the neck but had to spit him out.... then the little guy swims off like nothing happened hahah

 

[Fishysweet]

Very cool it's gonna be awesome to see them grow up. Does the meth blue keep the eggs healthy?

 

[kevbc03]

so how did you do it? did you start with a shoal then isolate the two separately? how large was the tank? did you witness the breeding ritual?

 

[d3r]

Very cool it's gonna be awesome to see them grow up. Does the meth blue keep the eggs healthy?

Thanks! I'm excited to see them grow too.. and yes, the methylene blue greatly reduces the growth of fungus on the eggs...i pulled eggs out once before without meth blue and there was no stopping the spread of fungus and it was a total loss.

so how did you do it? did you start with a shoal then isolate the two separately? how large was the tank? did you witness the breeding ritual?

Completely accidental. Bought a shoal of 8 rbp bout 4-5" in a 55gallon..they quickly grew so i up'd to a 120gallon..

it was about 6months later i was gravel vaccing the tank and noticed thousands of eggs..it was a COMPLETE surprise... but after that the pair would "do it" probably once a month.
(Ill see if i can get it on camera without disturbing them next time)

&yup, watched the whole thing...i work midnights so i was relaxing watching tv and them do the "dry run" and told my gf "there's gonna be eggs tomorrow!" left for work at 10pm and got back at 8am to find bout 1500 eggs.

I pulled about half (700-750) and left the other half in (which eventually got eaten) bout 250 ended up hatching in the 10gallon.

 

[Fishysweet]

Well that's good to know those baby's are so cute!

 

[scarface_what]

Is the breeding pair separate from the rest? I recently picked up 14 red belly piranha for a steal of a deal, I'm thinking of splitting them up into 3 tanks to try to find breeding pairs. From what I've read they will breed with others around as they claim territory but keeping them in groups of 5 or under is best to keep down aggression (the breeding pair would only have to fend off 3 other piranha). I'm pretty excited for the possibility of breeding these buggers.

 

[d3r]

Theyre all together as I'm not interested in raising batch after batch of fry. I'm only doing this batch for the learning experience and to simply say "i did it"

But yea I've read that too.. most say have an odd number.. 5 or 7 for best chances of pairs. i have 8 in a relatively "small" tank (120gallon) and they breed about once a month. but my shoal is very close knit. been together since babies..grew up in a 55gallon. now 120gallon. haven't had any major injuries or deaths. aggression towards eachother is pretty low.

So i won't be much help because i have the opposite of everything they tell you to do to get Ps to breed..mine just do it hahah but good luck!

 

[scarface_what]

I don't want to do batch after batch either. Selling some fry to a petshop for a few hundred in credit to go towards an overpriced aquarium would be nice though.

My 14 have been together for a long time too, not since birth but you can just tell there's no outsiders in the group. They all cower together and they all eat together. From many groups of piranha I've seen mine are in very good shape, some fins are damaged but I go to peoples homes that have piranha for one reason or another and they're just absolutely mangled. I kind of don't want to split up the group but I might do 5 per 70-80gal tank to try to breed them.