My Apistogramma cacatuoides' finally got it right!

**cricha** · 29th Nov 2007, 13:26

Last night after a water change, my female took her fry out for their first swim. They finally got it right on their 4th try

!

This is my first succesful spawn and I'm need of some advice from you more experienced bros.

I bought some decap brine shrimp eggs. How do I feed them to the fry and how much?

I've also read conflicting advice about water changes during this period. Should I change or just leave the tank?

thanks

**trident** · 29th Nov 2007, 13:34

Chris,
Congrats, so happy for you.
Soak a bit of decap bbs in small water for about 10-20 mins.
Than pour it into the tank, don't use too much as it will foul the water.
The adults will eat the decaps too.

**illumnae** · 29th Nov 2007, 13:39

yup like richard said, just put a small pinch into a cup of water for awhile then pour it into the tank...the parents and fry both love it.

water change wise, since you just changed water yesterday i'd recommend not changing water for a week or 2, but make sure you don't overfeed. i've lost 1 day old fry because the filter had its power switched off for a mere few hours, let alone a water change. after 1.5-2 weeks, the fry will be more hardy, and you can proceed to do 10% weekly water changes

oh, and congrats on your spawn! it's a wonderful feeling when your fish spawn for the first time for you isn't it? =)

**cricha** · 29th Nov 2007, 13:46

Thanks for the super fast replies.

Indeed it feels great to have my first spawn. The funny thing is that in the past few unsuccesfull attempts, I was very careful with them. This time around I just went about changing water, etc without bothering about them.

Now I hope to get my Mamore to spawn too....

**trident** · 29th Nov 2007, 14:16

Chris,
They spawn in the planted tank or in a breeding tank?

**cricha** · 30th Nov 2007, 14:47

A couple of pics of the protective mum & her fry.

**marle** · 30th Nov 2007, 14:51

Very nice sight! Congratulations!

**trident** · 30th Nov 2007, 18:10

The fries looked so cute and mum looked so beautiful

Happy fries raising

**taygu** · 30th Nov 2007, 18:34

Stunning and beautiful mum and cute fries.

**illumnae** · 30th Nov 2007, 22:09

very yellow mum...looks like she's coloured with a highlighter! congrats again on your spawn, you must be one happy man

it's really fun seeing the mum take care of her brood isn't it? i especially like it when she sucks the fry into her mouth and spits them out elsewhere...the fry are like "whoaaaaah" and they always seem to "blur" abit after being spat out before swimming around again...very amusing behaviour

**Cacatuoides** · 2nd Dec 2007, 16:36

Hi Chris! Congrats on your fish's spawn...its an amazing experience from keeping fish to raising their young, you'll encounter many unique experiences too

**cricha** · 2nd Dec 2007, 18:09

Thanks again for all the congrats.

I must say it is a fantastic experience and now I know what the hype is all about.

Next I have to learn how to raise the fry successfully. How long before I should separate fry & mother?

**gregnng** · 3rd Dec 2007, 23:50

The mum looks great, the frys will be too

Feed bbs, rotate 2 bottles of bbs hatchery, start 1 bottle on day 1 and another on day2, cichlids are very jittery when they manning their fry, don't spook the mum, else everything should be fine

and its better to feed the bbs when they are orange color, cause if they fade, their nutrition value drops, those commercial fry food don't work on cichlids so don't bother to use them, they just foul the water

**genes** · 3rd Dec 2007, 23:55

I hatch my bbs once every 3 days using 2 cultures, alternating them. The bbs can survive up to 2 to 3 days if you keep an air stone running.

**Cacatuoides** · 4th Dec 2007, 11:23

If you're using the hatchery dish, just leave the culture alone and it'll last about 3 days...
After that just start another hatch

I feed my fries once or twice a day

I usually separate the fries and the mother about 2 - 3 weeks, as cacatuoides fries tend to grow much faster than other apistos, be prepared to get another fry grow-out tank too!! The pair will probably spawn every one or 2 weeks

**Titus** · 4th Dec 2007, 13:18

Originally Posted by Cacatuoides

The pair will probably spawn every one or 2 weeks

They so prolific breeders?

Guess it will be a joy for the owner.

**Cacatuoides** · 4th Dec 2007, 13:32

My previous cacatuoides pair, breeds every 1.5 weeks....although it may seem a good news but health of female deteoriates when she is not given enough nutrient and rest after each spawn, owner might face the problem of too many fries and not enough tanks...

Te best solution is to separate the pair for some time after each spawn