Breeding Apistogramma

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jnbrunner

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
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26
Location
Alberta, Canada
So I'm not sure of the exact species of my Apistos, but this morning I noticed the female was extremely aggressive and the male even more territorial than normal. I found her little stash of eggs and watched them for a while. They were doing an excellent job of protecting them. When I got back from the store about 2 hours later I noticed the eggs were gone, but both male and female were still being extra territorial and the female is not leaving her little cave. I'm just wondering if its possible that she is mouth-brooding? Will add pics as soon as I can get good ones!
 

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Do you see any eggs on the ceiling of the cave? I read that the eggs are adhesive and stick to the ceiling of the cave. The female guards the cave and the male guards the area around it.

Looking at pictures, the first reminds me of the Apistogramma cacatuoids (Orange Flash) and the 2nd reminds me of the Apistogramma hongsloi.
 
Well earlier I saw the eggs and she was most definitely guarding them. But then I couldnt see them anymore. I read that they sometimes move them, but I figured that she would be guardin a new area if that was the case.
 
eggs were on the side. Do they just eat them if they are not properly fertilized like the angels? I did notice her pecking at them, but was assuming that she was picking off fungus or anything else that may have been wrong with them. Would you recommend moving any of the other fish out of the aquarium if we plan on future breeding? as of now there are 2 angels, 4 corys, 4 ottos, 11 cardinal tetras, a shrimp, and an apple snail in there with them, but no one seems to go near her rock that she has claimed.
 
eggs were on the side. Do they just eat them if they are not properly fertilized like the angels? I did notice her pecking at them, but was assuming that she was picking off fungus or anything else that may have been wrong with them. Would you recommend moving any of the other fish out of the aquarium if we plan on future breeding? as of now there are 2 angels, 4 corys, 4 ottos, 11 cardinal tetras, a shrimp, and an apple snail in there with them, but no one seems to go near her rock that she has claimed.

I don't have any experience in breeding Apistos, just going off what I have read. Someone else will probably chime in with better advice than I can give. The snail doesn't go near the eggs? As I understand it, snails like fish eggs.
 
Its a purple apple snail, we moved him into a tank with a zebra loach a few weeks ago because we had no where else to put him, and we have since gotten rid of the loach but the snail is just hanging out on the underside of the driftwood, we actually checked him this morning because we thought he may be dead, but he is alive, just hasnt moved from that spot in like a week. We do have a 20 gallon set up and cycled for our spawning angels, but we were thinking of moving the apistos into there and letting the angels parent raise and just see what happens.
 
For what it's worth, most, if not all, Cichlids will move their spawns and/or fry around from place to place. They may have just moved the eggs to the side of the pot you can't see. I suggest you go by the theory that if she is still protecting an area, the eggs or fry are still there. If they give up on an area, it's because there is nothing there to protect anymore.
Hope this helps and keep us posted.
 
For what it's worth, most, if not all, Cichlids will move their spawns and/or fry around from place to place. They may have just moved the eggs to the side of the pot you can't see. I suggest you go by the theory that if she is still protecting an area, the eggs or fry are still there. If they give up on an area, it's because there is nothing there to protect anymore.
Hope this helps and keep us posted.

Yeah I was kind of thinking that as long as shes still being protective they are probably there somewhere, but i just cant see them! I think we will just hope for the best and keep an eye on the tank and maybe we will see some fry in a few days! Will let everyone know if I see any.
 
Yeah I was kind of thinking that as long as shes still being protective they are probably there somewhere, but i just cant see them! I think we will just hope for the best and keep an eye on the tank and maybe we will see some fry in a few days! Will let everyone know if I see any.


If you think this is bad, wait until you see your Angels raising their fry. They play the game " Guess where my eggs/fry are today!!!" Used to drive me crazy before I started hatching them out myself. I turned the game around tho to "Guess where your eggs are now!!!" lol

(Before you think that this was cruel, they obviously didn't mind playing because they always made more eggs. :D )

Good luck with the Apistos (y)
 
If you think this is bad, wait until you see your Angels raising their fry. They play the game " Guess where my eggs/fry are today!!!" Used to drive me crazy before I started hatching them out myself. I turned the game around tho to "Guess where your eggs are now!!!" lol

(Before you think that this was cruel, they obviously didn't mind playing because they always made more eggs. :D )

Good luck with the Apistos (y)
We are expecting the angels to spawn again really soon. In your experience are they good for parent raising? Will they eat their fry at all? Our last batch of eggs didnt make it as we were not prepared for them, and we tried to move the eggs into their own tank to artificially hatch them, ( we read on a forum somewhere that that was the best way). This time we will either parent raise or just put a divider in tank after wiggler stage maybe?
 
We are expecting the angels to spawn again really soon. In your experience are they good for parent raising? Will they eat their fry at all? Our last batch of eggs didnt make it as we were not prepared for them, and we tried to move the eggs into their own tank to artificially hatch them, ( we read on a forum somewhere that that was the best way). This time we will either parent raise or just put a divider in tank after wiggler stage maybe?

Yes and NO to all your questions. lol It usually takes about 3 or 4 spawns for the fish to get the process down. Small or no hatch ratios during this time. For me, I always used this time to search for 1 hatched egg. This meant that I had a fertile pair of fish. From there, I knew they would get it together eventually. I preferred to hatch my eggs artifically. As I stated before, trying to find the fry after the parents moved them, drove me nuts! When I became a commercial fish breeder, I couldn't afford that nonsense and did very well with artifical.
If you need some help, read through this thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f82/wigglers-at-last-237956.html I think between us all we covered just about all the particulars in Angelfish egg raising.
If you still have questions, feel free to PM me (y)
 
Yes and NO to all your questions. lol It usually takes about 3 or 4 spawns for the fish to get the process down. Small or no hatch ratios during this time. For me, I always used this time to search for 1 hatched egg. This meant that I had a fertile pair of fish. From there, I knew they would get it together eventually. I preferred to hatch my eggs artifically. As I stated before, trying to find the fry after the parents moved them, drove me nuts! When I became a commercial fish breeder, I couldn't afford that nonsense and did very well with artifical.
If you need some help, read through this thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f82/wigglers-at-last-237956.html I think between us all we covered just about all the particulars in Angelfish egg raising.
If you still have questions, feel free to PM me (y)

Thanks for all the info!
 
Well Im going to assume that the eggs are gone. She stopped being aggressive and isn't in her rock anymore. Oh well! Now that We know she's spawning we will maybe try to move them to their own tank so they're more comfortable next time.
 
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