Apistogramma cacatuoides bred. :)

[Cameron]

So yeah. Decided to have a squizz at the female as she was out the frotn of her cave nosing around in the gravel..

Squinted my eyes as she had kicked up some debris.... WAIT THAT'S NOT DEBRIS! IT'S BAY-BAYS!

Turns out they decided to breed. And this is probably the most unmaintained tank i've ever kept. All i do is feed them and water change about every 4 weeks. (Yeah have a dig at it, I know someone will be itching for it) No idea on water parameters.

I've kept them before in a planted 3ft tank. Tried my hardest to breed that pair and nothing... I buy this pair, chuck them in on their own besides tiny snails that came on the plants *shrug* and barely look after the tank and hey presto! they breed.

Weird how it works like that. So we'll see how i go at raising the babies. I don't really have another tank (besides a 30cm cube i could set up) BUT in saying that... I don't have space for the 30cm cube anywhere. (I rent a tiny room. fail but hey gotta make do on apprentice wages. Rip off government and employers. It's murder. *spits on ground* )

Would any of the fry have a chance of growing to a sellable size in a tank this size? Or do the parents start picking them off after a couple weeks? ATM they are roughly 2-3mm. That'd only be a week or so old yeah?

I'd get a picture of my male. (he's a stunner!) but i only have my crappy phone camera.. But hey i'll try and hopefully you'll get the jist of his colour, and also a shot of the tank.

Cameron.

Tank - Aqua vital 620 or something.

Dad.

Mum & Dad.

Mum & bubs.

He looks just like this guy. Except the flame colour goes right to the front of his top fin, and the first 2 rays are pitch black. Also his anal fin has the beginings of the flame colour.

Wish i had a decent camera. I reckon he's a stunner.

 

[dw1305]

Hi Cameron,
Well done, I think that the fact the tank has had time to stabilize and get a reasonable biofilm, and some mulm, algae etc. is almost certainly the reason that they have bred, with a low bioload, lots of plants and biofilm the water changes aren't a problem, because the tank is in a fairly balanced state, and the biofilm, and filter bacteria, will deal with the ammonia/nitrite parts of nitrogen cycle and the algae and plants will keep nitrate levels acceptably low.
Evaporation over time wiill lead to increased conductivity, but A. cacatuoides is tolerant of harder water anyway.

I think you might be able to raise some of the fry to saleable size, it will depend on the amount of cover, and you will need change more water to compensate for the greater bioload. Feeding then may be a problem whilst they are small, you may well need to feed vinegar eels, microworms or BBS to supplement what they can find in the tank, and crushed flake. I'd also try squeezing a filter sponge out and then pipetting the "dirty" water to the fry.

Grindal worms are good for bigger fry and adults because they are spread around the tank, and can be picked of the substrate by the fry.

cheers Darrel

 

[Cameron]

I think i'm going to set up the 30cm cube. Not sure where... but i'll figure it out tomorrow. Running out of power points. haha.

Unfortunately i have no cycled filter to put on it... So. Can i rip a bit of the filterwool out of the established tank and chuck it into the cube WITH a sponge filter (maybe tie the wool around the sponge filter for awhile) & fill the tank w/ water from the established tank?

Will this help get it ready to handle the bioload?

What substrate should I use. Will bare bottom be okay? Or maybe a tiny layer of sand?

Do fry like stuff to hide in? I have spare coconut shell halves. Just chuck one in so they feel more comfortable?

Also. What size should i look to remove the fry? I will probably trying syphon them out with a hose. So i'm guessing maybe within another week?

 

[dw1305]

Cameron, don't do this

Hi all,
Cameron,
I would strongly warn against doing this, even though A. cacatuoides is quite forgiving, this is a recipe for disaster as even with the filter wool your tank will not be cycled, won't have any biofilm etc. It's a small volume of water, making nitrogen cycling and stability much more difficult to achieve anyway.

I would set up the cube with substrate, wood and plants, but no fish, and put another sponge filter in your main tank. (I think a substrate layer is important, either sand or dead oak leaves). I would then leave the new filter in the main tank for at least 4 weeks, before moving it over to the cube, and only then putting any fish into the cube.

Have a look at the "Skeptical Aquarist" pages:
<http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/nutrient/nitcyc.shtml>

cheers Darrel

My suggestion

".......I think i'm going to set up the 30cm cube. Not sure where... but i'll figure it out tomorrow. Running out of power points. haha.

Unfortunately i have no cycled filter to put on it... So. Can i rip a bit of the filterwool out of the established tank and chuck it into the cube WITH a sponge filter (maybe tie the wool around the sponge filter for awhile) & fill the tank w/ water from the established tank ......?

 

[Cameron]

Mmm Yeah true.

Suppose i'll just leave this batch and see how many make it.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

[Mike Wise]

If I was in your situation, I would use the 30cm cube to house the male cacatuoides for a while. Females that don't have a male with them often will keep their young for a much longer time. Sometimes they will live with their young and even breed with one of the young males when it becomes sexually mature.

 

[Phyrex]

Not to hijack the thread but what are the thoughts/articles on inbreeding with cacas? I've read on several occasions (besides Mike's post) that leaving the fry with the female might result in her spawning with a juvenile male of the fry. Will this result in colour changes or bad fry or something else weird I should look out for?

 

[Gillie]

Inbreeding or linebreeding is a common when developing and stabilizing color forms such as triple red or orange flash. Although you do get some funky fish here and there, cichlids are pretty resiliant when it comes to linebreeding