Trying to breed apistogramma cacatuoides

[Supered]

Hi all, I’m new here and I have a pair of cacatudies and a harem of agazzi.
I have my pair of cacas, in a 50l aquarium that has floating plants, drift wood that has many hid hole/caves and many almond leaves, for them to breed. I was wondering if there is anymore information I could get to get them to spawn. The pair are both very nice together and to each other. I feed them frozen food like blood worms and I mixer of other foods aswell. I would really love for them to breed but am having a little trouble as they haven’t showed any spawning action yet. Is there anything else I can do to achieve spawning?
Cheers James

 

[Bart Hazes]

How long have you had them? Sometimes they are ready to breed right of the bat but other times they need a little time to settle down, bulk up on some food and get to know each other. In general you seem to be on the right track based on your description. If you can get some live food that can help but frozen should be ok.

 

[Supered]

Thank you for that I have had them About 2 weeks now, originally I had split the male and female up because the female was just getting bullied by the male. I put some very young guppies in their and they seem to be more alert and are constantly trying to catch them. The duckweed in the tank is now dying is their anyway i can prevent this further to create more cover. It’s quite hard to find live food here in New Zealand. Any suggestions?

 

[Bart Hazes]

Many floating plants don't like currents so if you have a pump stirring the water surface you can try to aim it lower or reduce the strength. Most of my apisto tanks have no pump (or filter) and just rely on lots of floating plant for filtration.
If you can get a starter culture for white worms those are easy to keep. Grindal worms as well but a bit small for adults but great for fry after they are a few weeks old. Red wriggler worms are good to but you have to cut them up to be bite size for apistos.

 

[Supered]

So just checked my pair and WE HAVE EGGS!!! No that we have gotten this far can you fill me in on where to go now? Like water chnages and that sorta thing

 

[Ade205]

Hi Supered. Congratulations on your Cacs laying eggs... just wait untill you see mum bring babies out for the first time! It's truly an awesome sight and a privilege to see.
Most important thing is firstly get food ready. Do you have access to brine shrimp nauplii? If so then try to aim for a fresh hatch around day 6 or 7 from eggs being laid.Try to rotate two batches so you've always got a fresh batch each day. Apistos are fussy eaters at best of times and their fry seem to be stimulated into eating by the wiggle factor! Also fry grow much quicker if left with mum, she will actually lead them to areas to graze. To feed I use a pipette and squirt the brine shrimp gently into the middle of the pack of babies. I've had virtually no luck with dry foods and other than microorganisms in tank there's not much else to try, micro worms being best other options. I've managed to get them on froozen cyclops pretty early but they are too small initially.
Other main thing is watch the male... Firstly that he's not getting beaten up by the female and secondly that he's not snacking on fry. I've only ever had one male show active brood protection, the others have all eaten fry given chance and I find best to remove the male, especially in smaller tanks.
Re water changes, I usually continue as normal but siphon as far away from the fry as possible and return water to tank as gently as possible. I use a smaller tubing than usual for this to siphon back into tank though it takes a lot longer. I would imagine won't harm to miss a few changes if easier for you, just keep an eye on you water parameters.

Ade.

 

[ButtNekkid]

Hi,

Have you considered making infusoria for your fry? Should be quite straightforward.
My Cacatuoides male likes to also snack on the fry so keep an eye on him.