A. cacatuoides - pair or harem?

[Sula]

Hello - I have a question. I have read several places the recommendation to have multiple females to one male cacatuoides. Would people here agree with that recommendation? I started with a trio but lost one of the females so now have a pair. They have not spawned yet but I am trying to encourage that if I can
All opinions are welcome - Thank you!
Sue

 

[Mike Wise]

A. cacatuoides is a polygamous species. Males are breeding machines, always looking for a female in breeding condition. Males harass and try to drive females out of their breeding territory that aren't ready to breed. Females are more aggressive toward other females than males. My guess is that your dominant female killed the other because the tank was not large enough for both. Tank size is only part of the solution. Aquascaping is just as important. A smaller, properly aquascaped tank can accommodate multiple females better than a larger, more open tank. That being said, it is possible to keep A. cacatuoides as pairs if in a properly aquascaped tank so that there are many hiding places where the fish aren't always visible to each other.

 

[Sula]

Mike: thanks, that is enlightening.

Let me tell you more about my tank - it is a 45g, the footprint is 36x12. It is aquascaped with some rocks and driftwood, and has a fair number of plants although I would not consider it heavily planted.

I commonly see my male all over the tank, whereas the female tends to stay near one of the sides.

How many cacatuoides would you estimate this tank could keep together? I was hoping I would be able to add a couple females, your post is making me re-think that idea.....

 

[Mike Wise]

As I said before, it really depends on how the tank is aquascaped. Ideally there should be territories with clearly defined boundaries. The fish shouldn't be able to see across the length of the tank either. If one female can see the other, then it's in its territory. If properly set up a 36x12"/90x30cm tank should be able to handle 2 or 3 female brood territories.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I've found that 2 females can lead to trouble, but 3 or more is much better.
I think you can definitely keep 3 females, particularly if you do have a lot of structure in the tank. I use heavy planting with lots of Amazon Frogbit, Java moss, planted wood, leaves, clay pots, plastic pipe and coconut shells. I also keep 2 pieces of pipe up near the water surface, in opposite corners one end blanked off. These provide a safe refuge for any very harassed fish.

I also think small live food helps, mosquito larvae, Daphnia or Grindal worms as they disperse very fully through tank, allowing all the fish to get some, rather than a static food source where the dominant fish get much more than their share. I usually trickle feed some live food every day, but the other advantage of Daphnia, Cyclops, Ostracods and mosquito larvae (including live Ghost/Bloodworms) is that you can "over feed" without worries about water quality.

cheers Darrel

 

[irja]

Hello - I have a question. I have read several places the recommendation to have multiple females to one male cacatuoides. Would people here agree with that recommendation? I started with a trio but lost one of the females so now have a pair. They have not spawned yet but I am trying to encourage that if I can
All opinions are welcome - Thank you!
Sue

Cacadoides are verry beautiful I will breeding them / Irja