multiple appisto pairs in the 1 tank

[rawdog]

my 5th attempt of breeding aggassizii failed

eggs were gone this morning

they lasted about 6 days (a new record !) @26 degrees they would have been wrigglers too i guess - i couldnt see into her cave but she was nipping at the male and rushing back to them every few minutes

now she is just hanging at the front of the tank begging for food (the male is starting to nip her again)

the good news is the male is fertle i doubt she would nurse rotting eggs for a week

this could go on for years - it feels like years waiting for the next batch (as you all know)

i have a 55 gallon tank, i am thinking of adding a few more sppistos to keep it interesting

maybe cacatuoides (i bred them by accident in a community tank) they would probably be easier

or would it be safer to add more aggassizii

i am not trying to make a million dollars from this breeding project, just love seeing the little fishies !

what do you guys suggest ?

 

[Apistt_ed]

hello rawdog,


May I ask you what your water parameters are? I've had the same problems as you did when I first tried aggies, many years ago. I tried as much as I could with everything from soft water to different set-ups and different partners and so on and never did they get it right. they'd spawn and then the eggs would be gone before I even saw fry. Then I started to question whether I had something to do with it by not trying harder to get the water conditions to match that of their natural habitat. Then I read somewhere that someone successfully got aggies to spawn after a fortunate accident. I read that someone accidentally knocked over a cup of coffee into their tank and somehow that triggered their fish, that had never spawned before, to spawn within a few days of this. I finally tried it by adding a "Cooled-down" cup of java into my tank after conditioning the fish with high protein foods and keeping them in r/o water and they spawned!! **(moral of the story is) The most important of details is that this time, the eggs actually hatched and the female didn't eat the eggs! With that, I realized that its not that the female was a bad mother, but the eggs were fertile, but the water conditions weren't correct for them to develope properly. It has something to do with adding tannins and other scientific mumbo jumbo, but I did eventually get them to spawn and raise fry and nowadays, generations of that pair later, I can't get them to stop spawning.

If you'd like to get another pair of apistos, I'm sure cacatuoides would do fine in the tank also as also a few more aggies, but IMO, if the pair you have has already tried it once before, why add complications? Best wishes. John

 

[rawdog]

thanks for your reply Apistt_ed - why complicate things ? - very good point !

i just wanted to keep it interesting but as you say time is an important factor in a successfull spawn - it reminds me of RiC's post titled "how much patience" - that's where i'm at now

coffee in the tank ? - the fish probably spawn all night high on caffeine - interesting, i will probably try that - thanks for the tip

blackwater extract is probably my next step, then coffee

my tank/water params are:

55 gallon tank @ 26 degrees

ph 6.5 (my tap water is neutral, i add a dash of "aquamaster ph down" to the bucket before topping up the tank) on my 30% weekly change

i dont know the exact hardness but my lfs ensures me our tap water is very soft (anyone from melbourne, australia correct me if i'm wrong)

no ammo/nitrite and 2.5 ppm nitrate

i am due for a water change and a little clean up, it's no display tank but here it is

there is a large air driven sponge filter in there (out of shot)

 

[Roach]

If you are going to try blackwater extract make sure you get the JBL one. It's probably the most concentrated that I've found which means you use less. Around $25-30 I think. The fish will love it. The tea colour doesn't hang around long if you have carbon in the filter though.
Good luck with it.
If it doesn't work give them the old short black treatment. Nescafe or Moccona?:biggrin:

 

[rawdog]

haha thanks roach i'll pick up some JBL tomorrow, my oscars might get some too if they're lucky
i wouldnt dare offer these snobs instant, better pick up an espresso short machiato

i'm not doubting the coffee trick John just having a laugh as you would have too when you heard it

blueblue has just made me realise how lazy i am - how good is that setup

inspirational

 

[Mike Wise]

Using carbon with blackwater conditioners is not a good idea. The blackwater components are absorbed by the carbon & are useless. The carbon is wasted by taking up non-toxic organics.