Breeding Apistogramma sp WILHELMI

[characidae]

Hi, Im looking into breeding apistogramma as ill be keeping some macmasteri gold in my 240L alongside other south american fish and id love to breed some sp wilhelmi on the side. Ive got a rodi system on hand as i know these guys need a low ph to breed. Ill be keeping the tank at around 25c as i want an even split of males and females. It will have the footprint of a "20 long" aquarium with the dimensions being 80x30x30cm, Is this enough for breeding them? Ill be able to purchase another one of the 80x30 tanks if needed for raising the fry if that is big enough of course.
Thanks!

 

[Apistoguy52]

Seems like a solid plan. pH 6.0 or lower, ppm tds below 100 and you should be good to go. No need to go extreme with the water, they’re fairly flexible for a “blackwater” species.

 

[MacZ]

Is this enough for breeding them? Ill be able to purchase another one of the 80x30 tanks if needed for raising the fry if that is big enough of course.

I'd have at least 2 other tanks on hand. One to separate the breeders (60cm/55 Liters is plenty). Because once they start, many species of Apistogramma will keep spawning roughly every three weeks until one of them is burned out. By separating them for some periods both get the chance to recover. Fish that spawn non-stop usually don't even reach 2 years of age.
A growout should be bigger, depending on the number of fry you actually get. Simply because a bigger tank will need less waterchanges and during growout those will have to be intensified.

Ill be keeping the tank at around 25c as i want an even split of males and females.

This will not be a guarantee. The temperatures at which the ratio is roughly 1:1 vary slightly from species to species. I don't know if anyone has ever tried to find the sweet spot for A. sp. abacaxis. So that might need some more research.

I take it you don't plan for any non-cichlid tankmates? If so, rethink that. I'd probably add some Nannostomus and Tetras to the backup tank for separation and also to the growout so both tanks can stay without Apistos for a while.

And true, the pH doesn't have to be that low, 5.5 - 6 is achievable without much work, the conductivity is much more important, you might want to try and go for 50-100 µS/cm.

 

[characidae]

I'd have at least 2 other tanks on hand. One to separate the breeders (60cm/55 Liters is plenty). Because once they start, many species of Apistogramma will keep spawning roughly every three weeks until one of them is burned out. By separating them for some periods both get the chance to recover. Fish that spawn non-stop usually don't even reach 2 years of age.
A growout should be bigger, depending on the number of fry you actually get. Simply because a bigger tank will need less waterchanges and during growout those will have to be intensified.

Alright, what would you reccomend for the growout? Ill be ordering nannostomus beckfordi for my 240L so i can get them for the tanks too. For the tank that the breeders will go in, ill try and have it around 80x30cm. Im going to focus on the macmasteri gold first, to ensure there fry will have a tank to grow in before i sell them.

 

[MacZ]

what would you reccomend for the growout?

Generally nothing under 80 Liter, rather the 100-150 Liter range, dimensions as per usual rather long and wide than high. You can stick to the low end, A. sp. abacaxis don't have the biggest clutches.

Just as per usual when I hear someone wants to breed: You have someone who takes them from you? If you have not, get that sorted before getting the fish. I would never start breeding again without that.

 

[nannostomuseques]

For me sp. Wilhelmi (I prefer the name sp. Abacaxis) bred in a 90 cm tank at TDS 20 and pH 5 as a pair.
The parents got along well during broods but the tank is heavily structured and the apistos like to use big nut pods and the underside of woods to breed. 25 degrees is also what I get on average, a bit higher in summertime.

Cheers
Anna

 

[nannostomuseques]

Generally nothing under 80 Liter, rather the 100-150 Liter range, dimensions as per usual rather long and wide than high. You can stick to the low end, A. sp. abacaxis don't have the biggest clutches.

Just as per usual when I hear someone wants to breed: You have someone who takes them from you? If you have not, get that sorted before getting the fish. I would never start breeding again without that.

Also a very important point about having somewhere to bring the offsprings.
And indeed they do not have too many young at once i m e

 

[characidae]

Generally nothing under 80 Liter, rather the 100-150 Liter range, dimensions as per usual rather long and wide than high. You can stick to the low end, A. sp. abacaxis don't have the biggest clutches.

Alright, ive been looking at getting a tank custom made for a while now, think it was around 95 x 50 x 30cm (L x W x H) which is about 140L as ill be getting a shelf to have the tanks on thats able to support them

Just as per usual when I hear someone wants to breed: You have someone who takes them from you? If you have not, get that sorted before getting the fish. I would never start breeding again without that.

Ive got a fish shop lined up who tend to sell there fish at a high price so ill email them first and ask them if they will buy them, if not ive found a wholesaler who'll take fish if they are of good quality

 

[MacZ]

Ive got a fish shop lined up who tend to sell there fish at a high price so ill email them first and ask them if they will buy them, if not ive found a wholesaler who'll take fish if they are of good quality

Make sure to check with the wholesaler if he is fine with small numbers. I've had the case that they wouldn't take less than 80 or even 100 fish in sale size (usually roughly 4cm). You had 50 - no thanks.

 

[anewbie]

Hum. If only my pets could take care of their kids by themselves.... playing nurse-maid to a bunch of squeeling youngsters can get a bit old at times.