Newbie with cacatuoides....

[JimH]

Hi All,
Just got a pair of cacs yesterday and placed them in a 10 gal along with some dither guppies. I've placed a 4" long 2" dia. piece of PVC pipe for a cave and I also have some watersprite at the surface with some java moss covering about 1/3 of the tank at the bottom. What I want to know is, do the cacs want more plants or more caves? Not quite sure how to decorate the tank to suit them for breeding.
Best....
Jim

 

[DH247]

Apistos are cave breeders, and do require a fair amount of hiding spots, especially for a smaller tank. That way the female can get a bit of a break from harassment and vice versa when there's fry around. I personally like the look of heavily planted tanks so use quite a bit of plants that can do well in soft and slightly acidic water (like anubias, java ferns and mosses) with lots of driftwood and cave spots. Alternatively, like their biotope, you can provide a lot of leaf litter and rootlike structures for hiding spots. If you really want to get more into it there are a few good books on apistos as well (just do a quick search on the forum and it should turn up a more than a few names to chase down!) that provide excellent descriptions of biotopes.

Good luck with your cac's!

 

[Mike Wise]

Additionally, the females prefer caves that the male can't enter. Try a half dozen pieses of ½ - ¾" diameter x 3" pipe.

 

[JimH]

I did as you folks suggested and both fish grabbed their own cave and started to set up residence. After a while they came out and checked each others caves and seemed to act "more relaxed". These guys sure are a treat!
Best...
Jim

 

[JimH]

Well, I have about 50-60 fry right now. They just became free swimming today. Got the brine shrimp hatching, life is good.
Best...
Jim

 

[RHS788]

Congratulations.

I am trying the same without much luck. Did you remove the parents or leave them in there? Did they spawn in the caves you mentioned below? What are you feeding the adults and fry? What are you doing for water (ie, RO/soft/etc.) and how often are you changing water? How often are you cleaning the tank, and what do you use for filters? I appreciate all the success story you can share, because my luck has produced zippo thus far.

Thanks,

Randy

 

[madfish]

Hey thats great to hear Jim. Best of luck on growing them. Right now I have a batch in my grow out tank. The bad part is my male went to the big pond in the sky today. So I need to get a new one soon because I have a few other females that are looking for him.

 

[JimH]

I believe most of my good luck is just that...luck. First, my LFS had a few pairs of triple reds and one pair of wild caughts from Peru. I preferred the wild caughts as I was hoping to get them to breed to get some F1's. The only tank I had available that had been aged for months was a java moss choked 5 gal. So I took the chance and placed the pair in it. After two 3/4 water changes at one week intervals, the pair spawned. I use just regular tap water that has been treated, and knew that cacs can take the hardness a little better than most. Besides, my water naturally goes down to a pH of about 5-6 after a few days after a water change. Unfortunately, after the babies hatched the female killed the male so a 5 gal isn't the wisest choice. However, I'm seeing the little buggers turn pink when they eat the shrimp. Mom is in with them, and is very attentive. I change about 1/2 the water every 3 days. My filter is a small outside filter that I've placed a piece of handkerchief over the intake.Once they grow a bit, I'll place them and their mom into a 20gal long that I just set-up to cycle now. I'm sure if this were another species of Apistos, I would've had a failure, so right now I'm just getting some practice with these guys. Maybe after a few batches of cacs, I'll try a more challenging species, but I'm really enjoying these and may just stay with them for a long while.
Best....
Jim

 

[RHS788]

Thanks for the insight. I really appreciate the information. Sometimes I try to make things perfectly sterile, when I might be better off with a seasoned tank.

Thanks,

Randy

 

[JimH]

Happy Holidays,
I just wanted to keep some of you abreast as to my baby cacs. They are now at 3 1/2 weeks old and are chowing live and f/t bbs. A couple even tried to tackle some f/t bloodworms that I feed their mama, but spit them out since they were a little too large. There are about 30 that have survived this far and I can start to see some body striping coming in. Even saw some little high dorsal rays evident in a few! Having a ball raising these.
Best...
Jim