Apistogramma cacatuoides growing.

[Phil AquariumDays]

Was not prepared for breeding, have a community tank with rasboras barbs pleco Cory's etc.
Luckily it's heavily planted with lots of hiding places and caves areas.
After the first 3 spawns I was in the process of setting up another tank solely for the pair to breed in.
Before I got the chance I noticed the fry swimming (first picture)
Now I removed the pleco, and most the barbs. (Very hard to catch without uprooting my plants)

Now 5weeks in and I have 5 to possibly 8 survivors which I'm very happy with as this wasn't planned.
They have grown well and in planning on keeping the best looking two, and moving the others on once big enough.

For future breeding I am going to use my 40g long. And the smaller tank for growing out the fry once they big enough to move from the mother.


I have a few questions moving forward:

Would harlequin rasboras be safe in the breeding tank? Or are they likely to eat the fry?

Could I breed angles in the same tank?

Is it a good idea to try a halem?

Is it ok to interbreed the siblings?

Is it ok to interbreed the parents with the grown up fry?

What's the best foods for adults?

How do I persuade my wife I need more tanks? (I'd love to keep blue acara one day)

 

[MacZ]

I have a few questions moving forward:

Would harlequin rasboras be safe in the breeding tank? Or are they likely to eat the fry?

Fry predators, will cut the yield down to 0 - max 10%

Could I breed angles in the same tank?

No, because the tank is too small for Pterophyllum in the first place. Plus interspecies aggression and fry predation in both directions.

Is it a good idea to try a halem?

Is your goal yield or just for the fun of it? In any case I hope you know what to do with the fry. It's easy to overcrowd the local market with Apistogramma and stores are increasingly unwilling to take in fish from customers.

Is it ok to interbreed the siblings?

With recent domestic strain fish from the trade: In my opinion it's not. They are already the result of heavy line- and inbreeding. You find deformities, immune weaknesses, shortened lifespan, reduction of viable eggs, reduction in fertility, animals becoming inept caring for fry, the list goes on... Applies to all domestic breeds of Apistogramma and with every round of inbreding it gets worse...
If you can get your hands on wild or wild type fish, that's a whole different situation. Then you can do this, but should track the line up from WC to at least F5 or further. But this would then usually be just a way of multiplying one sex or the other if you start out with a group containing only one female or male.

Is it ok to interbreed the parents with the grown up fry?

see question above.

What's the best foods for adults?

White and Black mosquito larvae, Artemia, Daphnia, Cyclops... any live or frozen food except red mosquito larvae (bloodworms). Some vitamins given with a portion of frozen food (always thaw and rinse before feeding) are also a good idea. There are preparations for ornamental fish, please research yourself. Any of those will do.

How do I persuade my wife I need more tanks? (I'd love to keep blue acara one day)

Can't help you with that, I have successfully avoided multiple tank syndrome since re-entering the hobby and happily not married living in a long distance relationship.

 

[Phil AquariumDays]

Fry predators, will cut the yield down to 0 - max 10%

No, because the tank is too small for Pterophyllum in the first place. Plus interspecies aggression and fry predation in both directions.

Is your goal yield or just for the fun of it? In any case I hope you know what to do with the fry. It's easy to overcrowd the local market with Apistogramma and stores are increasingly unwilling to take in fish from customers.

With recent domestic strain fish from the trade: In my opinion it's not. They are already the result of heavy line- and inbreeding. You find deformities, immune weaknesses, shortened lifespan, reduction of viable eggs, reduction in fertility, animals becoming inept caring for fry, the list goes on... Applies to all domestic breeds of Apistogramma and with every round of inbreding it gets worse...
If you can get your hands on wild or wild type fish, that's a whole different situation. Then you can do this, but should track the line up from WC to at least F5 or further. But this would then usually be just a way of multiplying one sex or the other if you start out with a group containing only one female or male.

see question above.

White and Black mosquito larvae, Artemia, Daphnia, Cyclops... any live or frozen food except red mosquito larvae (bloodworms). Some vitamins given with a portion of frozen food (always thaw and rinse before feeding) are also a good idea. There are preparations for ornamental fish, please research yourself. Any of those will do.

Can't help you with that, I have successfully avoided multiple tank syndrome since re-entering the hobby and happily not married living in a long distance relationship.

Thanks for taking the time to reply with answers to my questions.

Breeding was more a fun learning purpose. I don't intend to do it for profit.
Though I'd love to turn my leanto into a fish room.
My LFS is interested in any I have to offer them, they have told me they don't see them very often (maybe they aren't as commonly found this part of the country)
I'm relatively new to fish keeping (2years) and I've really enjoyed watching them parent and raise the fry, I've learnt a lot from the internet and forums like this.
I'm thinking of setting up a brine shrimp farm(currently only hatching bbs and feeding to the fry).

Looks like I'll be best using my dad's spare tank if I want angel's then, it's alot taller.

Why should I not feed bloodworms?

 

[MacZ]

My LFS is interested in any I have to offer them, they have told me they don't see them very often (maybe they aren't as commonly found this part of the country)

Still, be prepared for a sudden halt at one point. Been there with other fish. Had to do strict population control at one point.

I'm thinking of setting up a brine shrimp farm(currently only hatching bbs and feeding to the fry).

You can feed baby artemia also to the grown fish. Sometimes bigger males don't see them as food, but the femals love them.

Why should I not feed bloodworms?

Search this forum. Lot of deaths among apistogramma down to those things. Has a lot to do with quality control, contamination and massproduction. Protein poisoning and allergic reactions are also still in the race for the true reason. The phenomenon is there, but nobody knows what actually causes it.