Breeding cichlids trouble

[mattlll]

I need help breeding my cichlids.... I've read a few forums and have found out that my tank setup may be hard to breed with... The first problem is that my tank is slightly overstocked which may cause territorial disputes... (I have 11 mbuna, 1 jewel, and 1 alage eater).. The 2nd problem is that the ratio of male to female is all messed up.. I think I have 4 females and 8 males, though I'm not 100 percent sure if some of them are males or females.. I'm just making an educated guess based on fin shape and other factors... I would like to know if they will still breed with that ratio of genders... Thank u for any replies!!

 

[mattlll]

Oh and my tank size is 55 gal...

 

[bmarine]

They may still breed, but yeah you don't have the best m/f ratio. Are they all the same species?

 

[mattlll]

No.. I have 2 bumblebees, 2 red zebras, 3 auratus, 1 red top zebra, 1 johanni, 1 cobalt blue zebra, and 1 yellow lab..

 

[bmarine]

Okay, well its a lot easier to breed in a species tank. That being said, it can be done in a community too, but i'd be hesitant about selling because any fry you could get could be hybrids, which shouldn't be sold. Anyway though, With the fish that you have more than one of, do you have a male and female?

 

[mattlll]

Yeah I wasn't really intending to sell fry.. And yeah I have 1 male auratus and 2 females... And I think that 1 of my bumblebees is a male and ones a female...

 

[bmarine]

Hmm okay. Well if you just want to breed and let the fry get eaten or grow up in your main tank, you can get more females or exchange some males for females. Then, what i'd suggest doing is like a 40% water change, rescape the tank, add about a tablespoon of epsom salt in the tank after the WC, (mix it with tank water in a small container so it dissolves first, then pour the water in the tank). Lastly, i'd say try a different food. All this is a big change for the fish and will hopefully spur some breeding.

What are you feeding them now?

 

[mattlll]

Ok so with my weekly water Change I always add aquarium salt to the added water... About the rescape... My fish for some reason have been kinda stressed out lately... It seems like I'll go to the tank and they will all go into holes and hide right away but then I'll go away and come back in 5 mind and they'll be going crazy at the top trying to get food... So I don't want to stress them out even more with the rescape so I guess another thing is I'm wondering why my fish are stressed???

 

[mattlll]

Oh and I feed them new era rift lake green cichlid pellets regularly and zucchini or cucumber and brocholi about once a week...

 

[bmarine]

Ok, well, i'll have that sometimes too, dont worry about that too much. Rescape anyway, i think it'll be fine. And is there any specific reason you add aquarium salt??
And i'd say buy a new food, and try that for a bit, maybe New Life Spectrum or some other high quality pellet or flake. Its good for them to have a varied diet anyway. I have 4 different foods for my cichlids, i feed 2 different pellets and then 2 kinds of shrimp. More/different foods help the fish have a more rounded diet and it may just push them into breeding mode.

 

[mattlll]

I usually add aquarium salt because I've read that it provides lots of different minerals and electrolytes and is really good for the cichlids... I read about that a while ago and it seems to have been working pretty well... They seem really healthy jus stressed out a bit

 

[bmarine]

Okay, well because its not much of a parameter issue, and they can do fine without it, i'm gonna say stop using it, at least for a bit, and it should be fine. Go without any salt for a bit, and then put some epsom salt in. I am a proud supporter of epsom salt and i think it really helps to get breeding behavior! I know a guy who worked with a huge breeder in Africa with a large cichlid farm, and he only used epsom salt in his tanks, and called it "horny" salt because apparently it spurred breeding like crazy! And I have been quite successful with it too, so we'll see if it works for you!

 

[mattlll]

Ok my next few water changes I won't add salt and then once it all out of the water I'll start using Epsom salt! Thanks for the advice!

 

[bmarine]

K sounds good!!!! Good luck! Hope it works! Let me know how it goes!!