CacaManiac's latest pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides

[trident]

YiXiang,
You can actually pick these leaves from the road side. Singapore road side have plenty of these Sea Almond trees and best of all you are helping to keep the place clean.
Richard

[stoker]

is my tank too small for them? 18 inch by 11 inch by 11 inch.

Your tank is far too small for the stocking level that you have.
Feed brine shrimp small fish small food
10% waterchange weekly
Use a cave half coconut shell with 15mm hole in one side the female can defend it then
I have 4 broods in a 24x15x12 with heavy planting and sponge filter running
Water colour not really important ph about 6 temp 80 f or the cent version of that
Caucs are one of the easy apistos to breed so should spawn with no problem

Mike

[iwishweallcouldwin]

hi cacamaniac,
i would not say that your tank is too small to breed your cacas, as i've seen apistos breeding in bare 8 inches guppy containers with just an air stone before. i spawned my first pair of cacatuoides in a 2ft tank, but my subsequent pairs all found my 1.5ft 'romantic' enough to breed in as well. i just provided them with caves, winderlov, frogbits, driftwood, peat moss, sponge filter, ketapang leaves and ADA soil, and have succeeded in raising 4 broods as well. however, the only tank mate which my pairs had was a lone oto in each tank.

nonetheless, it is advisable to remove the parents, or at least the male, after the discovery of free swimming fries, so as to ensure the fry count will not diminish, and the male will not be overstressed too.

however, if i'm not wrong, cacas are one of the bigger Apisto variants around, and at their max size, it would be good to house the pair in a 2ft at least. however, smaller variants should not have a problem living in a 1.5ft tank. to all the oldbirds in this forum, please correct me if i'm wrong. also learning. thanks.

[illumnae]

i'm keeping a pair of bitaeniatas in a 1ft cube with 2 otos and a number of dithers (10 boraras brigittae/merah & 3 ruby tetras) and they're into their 5th spawn as we speak. as long as sufficient hiding places are created for the female, your tank should be large enough to breed them.

raising the fry, however, is another matter altogether...you will probably need a larger tank if you want to raise the fry in the same tank instead of removing them asap.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

agreed... my friend's agassizzi tefe also spawned in a 1ft tank. basically in my humble opinion, hiding spaces is the key.

[CacaManiac]

thanks for all the advice guys... i had put in the K leaves... water is all tan now...
let's hope it makes a difference for them

[CacaManiac]

Hello everyone
just a little update:

I've already seperated the Corydoras out of the tank...

The female is on a Rampage...
Chasing away the otos .
She's showing the strong black markings and yellow sheen.
Storming back into her cave after each attack.
When i explode a cloud of live Daphnia into the water, she goes even
more on a rampage...
Eating to her fill and flicking her tail at the male

i'm hoping she's either layed her eggs or is about to...

[trident]

cacamaniac,
Good luck bro.

[illumnae]

Hello everyone
just a little update:

I've already seperated the Corydoras out of the tank...

The female is on a Rampage...
Chasing away the otos .
She's showing the strong black markings and yellow sheen.
Storming back into her cave after each attack.
When i explode a cloud of live Daphnia into the water, she goes even
more on a rampage...
Eating to her fill and flicking her tail at the male

i'm hoping she's either layed her eggs or is about to...

sounds like the eggs have been laid. all the best!

[iwishweallcouldwin]

hey cacamaniac, looks like a batch of fries could be popping by soon, continue to update us! all the best! try to avoid doing any water changes now....

[CacaManiac]

Amazing man
you were spot on!

[valice]

hey cacamaniac, looks like a batch of fries could be popping by soon, continue to update us! all the best! try to avoid doing any water changes now....

Actually, I will say do some water change. Maybe 10% each week. Fries grow faster when there is fresh supply of water.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

thats very true valice, i'll take my words back, should decrease the volume of water change but increase the frequency, in that way the hormones which the fries secrete as a natural survival instinct that can stunt the growth of other fries will not remain in the water. reason why i say not to do water change is because i find that you should not startle the pair unnecessarily. thanks valice for correcting.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

by the way cacamaniac, just saw the fries picture, congrats!

[CacaManiac]

Ok guys
here are more pictures of the babies with their bellies full of food.
i estimate their age at about Day 7.

I've decided to leave the Father in with them as he is helping out rather amazingly in herding his offspring.

i'll still keep a sharp eye on him.

[trident]

you got wine glass inside?
and the fries is in the wine glass?
hope they don't get drunk

[illumnae]

very nice and healthy looking fry cacamanic! congrats on raising your fry well =) in about a month and a half to 2 months time you'll be able to sex them and the males will start developing nice colours and finnage =) looking forward to your pictures then!

i just sold off my last few caca juvs...kind of miss them already!

[doppelbanddwarf]

Richard I think thats his co2 diffuser. Cute little fries with protective mum.

[CacaManiac]

yup that is my diffuser.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

hey those are very very nice-looking, healthy, happy and full apisto babies! congrats! you sure feed them well! may they continue to stay healthy and grow up nicely for you! and congrats for getting a responsible father! but apisto are generally as horny as humans, so do continue to keep a lookout!!! hehe...