using a 22L 40x25x22cm tank for a male and a female cacutoides double red

[apistolover420]

hello people, i was wondering if i can keep a male and female duo in a tank of this size, surely with a filter, airstone, plants, snails and a cave for the female, can i make it work?

 

[anewbie]

Can it work - sure a coffee cup can work - will it work - unlikely.

 

[MacZ]

if you are breeding for profit, remove the male right after fertilizing the eggs and put the fry in a grow out as soon as the mother stops caring: Ok.

If you want to keep them together longterm in anything under 80x35x40cm it is definitely hard to make it work if you have any interest in the fishes wellbeing and longevity.

 

[apistolover420]

if you are breeding for profit, remove the male right after fertilizing the eggs and put the fry in a grow out as soon as the mother stops caring: Ok.

If you want to keep them together longterm in anything under 80x35x40cm it is definitely hard to make it work if you have any interest in the fishes wellbeing and longevity.

i totally forgot to mention that i will put the male in a separate tank (17L 35X22X24) as soon as fertilization is complete, then i will put him back with the female once the fry stop following their mom, and i will put them in the other 17L tank until they reach sellable size, i will control reproduction by removing the cave.

 

[MacZ]

, and i will put them in the other 17L tank until they reach sellable size

You will need 100 Liters unless you want to do 3-4 80%-waterchanges daily.

i totally forgot to mention that i will put the male in a separate tank (17L 35X22X24)

We're talking dwarf cichlids here, not domestic veilfin Betta. Apistos need a minimum of space and mainly stick to the bottom, so volume is secondary, but a 60x30 footprint is the least a male of these should have.

If you want to breed for yield the optimal setup is:

1x 60 Liter (60x30x30) as the actual breeding tank, your 40x25 is absolute bare minimum and is inconvenient for many reasons.
1x 60+ Liter as a holding tank for the male
1x 80-100 Liter as a growout.

And I would recommend 1-2 extra tanks just in case.

 

[anewbie]

I would think something a bit larger than 80-100 liter if you want to grow out a full set to > 1 inch; also be aware that it can take 9 to 12 months to grow them out. Water quality is rather important for the grow out and the smaller the volume the more polluted that water will become rapidly with decaying food/fish waste. While maybe excessive i have most of the breeding pairs in 55 (48x15) or larger aquariums. I used to use 29 as my standard and still have a couple but eventually they will get upgraded as $$ and space permits. I also don't make an effort to grow them all out so my average group seems to be more modest in size - but i'm also not doing this for profit but rather interest. I have a very passive group in a 65 (48x16 inch) of around 20 growing out with parents for over a year and i just can't see how anything smaller would be healthy for the fishes.

 

[Mike Wise]

IMHO it is possible if you have a lot of experience with dwarf cichlids. I have done it (accidentally) and also lost many fish. I have similar size tanks but now only use them to keep and breed pencilfish and other tetras and as hospital tanks.