Pygocentrus cariba live breeding

www.piranhalar.com
Translation: Barış Uzmay and Dorukan Türkmen
Great Honor by breeding caribas: Yener Alkay

Important Note:
The following article is the translation of the cariba breeding process achieved by Yener Alkay (member of http://www.piranhalar.com) with his own words. The original message can be reached from the following link. http://piranhalar.co...hp?f=17&t=18111 Also, you can write your comments on the following links: http://piranhalar.co...hp?f=17&t=18232 and http://piranhalar.co...hp?f=17&t=17651

Pygocentrus cariba Breeding Process

I have done different kinds of fish breeding especially Pygocentrus nattereri species many times up until now. I have been thinking about using the methods that i used breeding nattereri, and try to breed other piranha species that haven't been bred yet. I bought 6 Pygocentrus cariba that are around one and a half years old from Ömer Faruk Kanbak who is a member of Turkey's Piranha Forum (http://www.piranhalar.com). I started breeding trials at 01/November/2010. At first, I separated 2 of them thinking that the tank is overcrowded for a successful breeding and I did go on with 4 caribes. After a week ( November 8 ) I had two engaged pairs as you can see in the first video, one pair holding place at right and the other at left. They were not allowing each other into their territory.

I observed that their colors started to be reformed and they began to get into action.

Videos (October 8,2010)

Size: 220*70*70 (cm)
Water temp: 30-31 (degree celcius)
pH: 5.5-6.0
Light: Metal Halide
Gravel: Cracked Lava pieces
Decor: Mangrove Wood

Yener's Comments:

This fish (P. cariba) loves the flow. The light from the metal halide lamp used for this tank’s lightning is not given to the tank directly. Instead, I have used fabric to cover the top of the steam glass on top of the tank which reduces the light.

Daily water changes are absolutely necessary for cariba. Although I haven’t done this on purpose, I observed and figured out the positive effects of daily water changes while I was transferring water from main tank to my P. nattereri fry tank. I was using fresh water to cover the descending water from the main tank.

pH is very important and it affects the survival of the eggs directly. The eggs are not as strong as nattereri eggs, thus they don't survive if the ph is not right. The fungal disease for some of the fries has been observed. cariba eggs are not as durable as P. nattereri, so pH plays one of the most important roles for a successful hatching. The methods for cariba are similar to that are used in Discus (genus Symphysodon) breeding; Daily fresh water!

cariba are fed every day. Maybe it is not rational, since there is a huge protein boost. However, if the fish is well fed, it will pay back with a present.

I mainly use CO2 for stabling the pH level. Sump and using high quality filter media in the sump is another important necessity. Sump filtration should be biological rather than mechanical. Peat pellets (Torf peat) is a must in the sump. This is very important.

Other pictures:

As a matter of fact, pH and wet/dry season simulation are the key points. pH is always under control varying between 5.4 and 5.6 . pH is increasing with water changes, however I am regulating it with chemical substance usage. I also use peat for reinforcing. Accordingly, the filtration system can be considered as the best. I mainly focus on biological filtration rather than mechanical. Kh is already in direct proportion with pH. Nitrate is very close to zero. Zero level is already impossible to reach practically. I think there is no need to tell how to make it zero. I did not apply stimulation directly, but instead apply indirectly. Let me tell how. I already mentioned this in one of foreign forums but let me tell you again. I take out 4-5 buckets of water from the tank and exchange it wit tap water directly on a daily basis. Yes, from the cold tap water we know. 5-10 minutes after adding the tap water, i feed the fish. It is also the same case in their wild life, isn't it. Dry season starts, water draws back, they cannot take their usual food. Then rains start, water starts to cool and fishmeal abundance starts. I do liken this daily water refreshment to dry season simulation. In any case, fish will believe that he lives in a wet/dry season in one of these time intervals.

According to my sources in Venezuela, P. cariba migrates upper cleaner waters. So it seems plausible that pH would be a factor in terms of water chemistry and quality.

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