Seeking opinions on keeping/breeding apistos

[likmuk]

Hi, I'd just like to seek some opinions on certain aspects of breeding apistos and raising the fries
1. I keep/breed my apistos in pairs in planted tank. But i am seriously considering revamping my tanks into specialised breeding tanks. Reason is with heavy feeding and the bioload with fries around, it is quite difficult to keep the elements in the tank at an optimal level, end result being excessive nitrates etc leading to algae boom. I am thinking of setting up breeding tanks with driftwoods, caves and minimal plants such as ferns and crypts, and aerate the tanks with air pumps instead of injected CO2 which i am using in my planted tanks now. Any suggestions or recommendations? I am worried that i might still end up with algae on the driftwoods and plants..

2. Next qn is lighting of breeding tanks, shall i keep the lighting on all the time? I got varied opinions from fellow hobbyists..some keep their lighting on 24/7 while some don't even turn on their lighting at all after their apistos have spawned. I am currently lighting my tanks about 8 hours a day...but i read somewhere that the sudden on/off of light may frighten the apistos..

3. Is there any harm in removing the male fish after the pair had spawned and the fries had become free swimming?

4. I am changing 10-20% of water every 2 days when raising fries, any recommended practice in this aspect?

Thanks in advance for any response, cheers!

 

[eicello]

Hi,

You might want to try potted plants and a bare bottom tank. While these are not the most nice looking kind of tanks, they a really easy to clean. You can syphon off all the waste and uneaten food during your water changes.(I think your schedule is fine, with a bare bottom tank you might want to switch to 10% everyday sucking up all the waste at the bottom of the tank.) Gravel might cause trouble for you because baby brine are really small and get lost easily.

I don't have any input as far as lighting, I've heard the points you made also and I can't make up my mind.

You can definitly remove the male, just be careful not to stress the female too much.

Check out Z Man's page he is moderator on this forum and has been a great help to me http://hometown.aol.com/WnyZman/

 

[cootwarm]

I use a quartz sand in my tanks. It's a natural color of different shades of Tan. Many of the apistos like to sift and move a little sand, they enjoy sand to gravel. They don't dig pits like other cichlids, a small depression perhaps. They make a good little pile outside the entrance to the coconut shell caves.

Anyhow, I use 1 part #0 grit to 2 parts #1 grit. This mixture looks very natural with they variation of size, but isn't TOO fine. I find that debris collects in pockets more so than coarser gravel, making it easier to siphon up.

Myself, I haven't experienced any adverse effects of overfeeding BBS, except for hydra outbreaks. So when the hydra appear, I begin supplementing the BBS with powdered vitamin enriched flake food. this seems to keep the hydra from getting out of hand. Very little BBS rots in the tank because the apisto parents gobble up any left overs.

As for the light, I usually keep like a 4 watt night light near most of my tanks. This is mostly to for when there are fry in tanks that have predators (tetras), but I've gotten in the habit of doing it with most of my tanks regardless.

I've noticed they freak out when the light comes on suddenly, so I always make it a point to turn on a room light first (my lights aren't timed). I also make sure it's not a light directly behind me because a shadow suddenly moving across the tank has the same effect as the sudden light.

I like to keep the family together because I enjoy their behavior more. I find most males help out. However, mother maulbruter doesn't allow dad anywheres near the fry and she can be brutal from time to time!

Michael