My Apistogramma cacatuoides bred

[trident]

Hi,
Was surprise today when I saw my female caca bringing her fries out for a walk. I suspected she have bred, but were unable to see any eggs or fries because it was well hidden in the cave. Didn't manage to get any nice photos except for this shot of the fries at the mouth of the cave.
Richard

[illumnae]

congrats on your spawn richard

from pro discus breeder to pro apisto breeder in such a short time!

hope you manage to raise the batch of fry successfully and have fun in doing so at the same time

[CacaManiac]

lucky devil you... i've gone through 5 pairs of Cacas and they have yet to successfully spawn for me.

Congrates man!

[stoker]

I have now had 4 spawns from my pair in a community tank and there are fry 10/15 mm swimming through the heavy planting.
Found them very easy to breed.

Mike

[trident]

Cacamaniac, Yi Xiang, Mike,
Thanks. This is my first time, found it very thrilling. But the fries are always hidden in the cave, don't have a chance to see them much.
Mike, since your's are in a heavily planted tank, do you face problem with the other fishes trying to eat the fries?
For me is, how to raise the fries successfully? I have moved out most of the dither fishes except for 2 tetras and the male. Do I need to move every other fishes out?
Richard

[illumnae]

the female should be able to handle the 2 tetras...but the male might pose a problem when he gets into breeding mood again. i usually move the male out and keep the dithers in without problems

[hanz0my]

Yea mummy caca should be able to do a good job. Mine dashed at any fish that came too close to her comfort - i left the tank as it is with all the dither fishes, and the fries came out alright. BTW, congrats on the spawn

[trident]

Yi Xiang, hanz0my,
Thanks, guess I'll just leave the male with 2 tetra inside.
In fact I see both the male and female chasing away the tetras
when they get too near for comfort. But the female still don't allow the male into the cave.
Richard

[illumnae]

when you hit the 2 week mark try and remove the fry into a tank of their own...i think that's the point where the fry can safely survive on their own and that's when the male will want to start breeding again so the fry may be at risk

[Cacatuoides]

different pairs of apistos possess different parenting characteristics....

For example, my pair faithfully took care of the fries without any problems till the fries are quite big......so you can observe your pair and see if the male pose any threats to the fries, if yes, then remove him out...if not, leave them to take care....this way, less hassle of transferring the male around

congrats to your spawn!!

[trident]

Eman,
Thanks. I guess I'll leave the male inside as I think it's a hassle to try and net him out. Anyway, day 2 and the male seems to be doing OK. Mingling around with the fries and mum.
Richard

[stoker]

OK Richard

Congrats on the first of many I hope,
The heavy planting seems to help the survival rate but makes it difficult to move them out to a seperate tank , use a syphon to :catch: them.
Never had a problem with males they just help out then again I have two females in the same tank and they have spawns at different times , so the males has to split his affections between them.
One thing that seems to help is not to have the tank too clean , leave mulm and dead plant material there as they help make micro-bugs that the fry eat. If you use a sponge filter all the better as this helps also.

Mike

[trident]

Mike,
Thanks. That is useful information. Instinctively I always like a clean tank, so I guess I have to change a little to accomadate the fries.
Thanks.
Richard

[Ram]

Congrats, Richard.
I hope the female caca I get from you will also breed soon.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

congrats richard, but do keep an eye on daddy!

[stoker]

That`s one thing that I found out the hard way , in the wild the fry feed off micro-bugs so if the tank is not to clean the survival rate is better until they are big enough to eat bbs. After that they really start to but on size.
I know it sound strange not having the tank spotless all the time but a way of overcoming this is to use a mature sponge filter and the fry graze of the surface , the other option is a big clump of Java Moss .If you can do both all the better. Apisto breeding tanks are never the cleanest as long as the water changes are done the debris can be left for the fry to feed off.
Has been seen that the female will LEAD her fry to a sponge filter to feed.


Take care Best Mike

[trident]

Thomas,
Sure hope they breed soon too. Always so thrilling to see the fries swimming about.

Mike, note taken. I have a very mature sponge in there and some plants. I have seen the female leading them amoung the plants but mostly they are pecking on the subtrate. I have also started to put in some live daphnia.
The male, well, he seems to be taking it well, flaring at the female sometimes.
Thanks
Richard

[iwishweallcouldwin]

for my fries i throw in java moss, they seem to love swimming among the moss and establishing their own territories and bomb shelters in the spaces among the moss lump throughout their 'fryhood'.

[stoker]

Richard

Would suggest that daphnia is too large for the fry ,,, feed micro-worm and brine shrimp to start.


Mike