red belly piranha

**Jamaica71** · 07-03-2012, 01:08 PM

My friend's Piranha keep having babies and he gave me 5 or 6 on two occasions each time they died within a week. they are in infant stage and are no bigger than a cm. Why do they keep dying, what am i doin wrong . The water is clean the temp. is at 75 to 80 degrees:and they also won"t eat although i don"t try n feed them till 5 days after being in th e tank. Someone help please cause he has more babies!!!

**Aeonflame** · 07-03-2012, 01:23 PM

Characin fry are very delicate at that stage. They require food that is small enough for them to eat. What are you feeding them?

**ScottishFish** · 07-03-2012, 02:55 PM

Never had them myself but I would say you need to feed them soon as they are in the tank. Starving them for 5 days probably isn't a good idea at such a young age.

**Jamaica71** · 07-03-2012, 05:09 PM

i got the baby brim (Qrill)

**Aeonflame** · 07-03-2012, 05:27 PM

This is probably too large for them to eat. Try something like baby brine shrimp or hikari first bites

**Jamaica71** · 07-03-2012, 05:38 PM

thats actually what i have baby brine i think the prob might b lack of oxygen i"m goin to put a bubbler in the tank

**Aeonflame** · 07-03-2012, 05:44 PM

If you do, make sure the bubbles are released close to the surface. The turbulence can easily kill fry.

Is the tank filtered at all? have you tested the water? Water quality and starvation are fast killers of fry

**Indian Woods Angels** · 07-03-2012, 11:27 PM

Piranha fry are tough.

The couple of things that may be going wrong are:

Damage to the fry at it's prone stage from moving or netting. You can burst their stomachs, break their spines etc if you pull them out of the water or net them. Better to remove them using a cup or a siphon hose but don't give them too much of a thrill ride.

Cycle unbalance, they hate ammonia.

Dead or spoiled BBS.

Lack of aeration.

I've raised nearly 10,000 of them. They are not difficult until they learn to fly.