Apistogramma Cacatuoides

[bizfromqc]

Hello everyone,

Been a forum reader for a little while but only became a member a couple of days ago. I got my pair of A. Cacatuoides friday evening. Sunday morning, the female was a bright yellow and I found out that she had spawned under some anubias leaves (even though I had some clay pots in there she didn't use them, maybe the opening is too big).

I've got 5 zebra danios in there now as dither fish, I've been trying to find out if I should remove them or not from the tank and I've found that I got a 50/50 Yes/No answer. What has been your experience with Zebra Danios, keep or remove?

Also, I was looking at pointers on when to remove the male (or keep him in) and the fry to a grow out tank (was thinking 4-6 weeks).

Thanks for all the pointers, total beginner but willing to learn from the experienced keepers/breeders here.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the spawn!

How big of a tank are the fish in? If it's under 20 gallons removing the male might be a good idea unless the tank is heavily decorated. I normally leave pairs of Apistos together even with a spawn. The zebra danios will eat as many cichlid fry as they can at a time until they are gone so I would remove those as soon as you can.

 

[bizfromqc]

Thank you for the quick reply, I will definitely remove the Danios, they're pesky little things...

The tank is a 20G planted (would send a FTS picture of the tank but I cant seem to do this as Im still new here). It's moderately planted and all it has are the pair of apistos and the danios (which we'll be removed soon).

I thought of keeping the male in this time and see how things are going and if I have no luck, remove him for the next spawn (if he makes it).

I've got a HOB filter now and I was going to get a sponge pre-filter, is that advised?

 

[Mike Wise]

I've got a HOB filter now and I was going to get a sponge pre-filter, is that advised?

Either put a foam block around the filter intake or use a sponge filter. Power filters will suck in any fry that get too close. Seasoned sponge filters have an extra advantage. Micro-organisms living on the sponge make good supplementary food source for the fry.

 

[bizfromqc]

Thanks for the tip.

I just picked up a sponge pre-filter to put on my HOB intake so it's more fry-friendly.

I also picked up some frozen BBS for first couple of days if this spawn proves to be a successful one. How long do you guys typically feed the fry BBS/Worms/Other Live (frozen) food?

I was planning on feeding the small 1mm pellets to the adult apistos with some frozen brine shrimp once or twice a week, should I stick to this feeding regimen while the female is tending to her brood or should I increase/decrase some type of food?

Many thanks.

 

[bizfromqc]

Got home last night and the eggs were gone

 

[Mike Wise]

Sorry to read this. Don't worry, they will breed again. As for BBS (use live, not frozen) I think you should continue until they are juvenile size. It's not the size that is important, but the motion. I feed live BBS as the main food for my apistos all of their lives. This is a recommendation, not a requirement. In the past I have raised apisto fry on powder foods (the product is no longer available, sadly). I couldn't raise as many fry to adult size and needed more water changes using it, but it was possible.

 

[bizfromqc]

Thanks for the tip on live vs. frozen. I knew live had to be better but I'll have to read up on how to successfully raise/hatch BBS for the (hopefully) next batch.

When should I expect another spawn?

 

[bizfromqc]

Well folks, they were at it again. This time I added a cave and also got rid of the zebra danios in the tank so the pair was basically alone in the 20G with 3 otocinclus. The female has been in and out of the cave and it's pretty tough to see what's going on in there but I believe I saw wrigglers last night!

Here's to hoping some of them make it to free swimming and eventually fully grown fish!

2 questions:

1) When should I start feeding BBS?
2) Should I wait to see how it goes with the male still around or remove him as soon as I see free swimmers (if they make it to that stage)?

Thanks

 

[Mike Wise]

If it were me, I would start feeding live BBS now to the adults. Why? Because you will have fry food available once the fry become freeswimming. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a large school of fry and discovering that you have no food for them. Live BBS will be eagerly eaten by the adults until the fry appear. I would leave the male in the aquarium unless he starts bothering the female.

 

[bizfromqc]

I now have free swimmers, I would estimate between 30-50 of them. Free swimming since yesterday afternoon.

[video=youtube;vRhvG6KDCqg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRhvG6KDCqg[/video]

I took the male out to leave the female alone and do her thing with the fry. The male is now in a planted 10G with 5 Zebra Danios to keep him company.

I just received my brine shrimp eggs yesterday so I didn't have any live one to feed them yet, had to use the frozen ones. They seemed to eat it anyways although it's pretty hard to see what's going on, everything is so tiny

Do I keep feeding the female her regular NLS pellets or will she munch on the extra BBS present in the water column? I also have no idea how much BBS to give them...

Any pointers for this point forward? Water changes, feeding, etc...? Any and all tips are greatly appreciated.

I'd like to do everything I can to ensure a good survival rate.

Thanks

 

[jamari214]

I love your fish!! You have done a good job. I was wondering if you were planning on selling any of them once they become big enough? If you are please keep me in mind, as I have been looking for a while and have not had any luck finding.

Continued good luck with the fry.

 

[bizfromqc]

I hope I can raise a good bunch of them to maturity, they're getting the royal treatment as it is lol
Wouldn't mind getting fish over to you but I'm in Canada near Ottawa/Ontario the national capital. You'd have to go on a road trip or we'd need to setup shipping of some sort (never done it).

Thanks for the comment on the fish! The female is quite a good mom too, just ask the otos who venture in "her" corner