haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
So I have had my 90 gal African tank for a couple months now. I am thinking about trying to breed a species. What are your thoughts on breeding Africans? Pros/cons, what I'll need to consider for the future, etc.?
Thoughts on breeding africans
- Thread starter haglagwr
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Forgot to mention I have mbunas heard yellow labs are the easiest? But I'm just wondering in general if its a good or bad idea?
haglagwr said:
For me all Africans are the same for breeding wise. I have bred labs also. I would think it is a good idea though it's very fun!! What you decide to breed is up to you but I recommend getting a breeding group for whatever species. What is your substrate?
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Fishie said:
Unfortunately it's small gravel substrate. Do I need to switch to sand? Also is it easier to breed some species over others? I was thinking about adding some females for my e.b. Johanni
haglagwr said:
I have gravel in my tank and they are breeding. They do like it rocky but it's just harder for them to make nest and holes for breeding reasons. What do you mean breed species over others? If you mean cross breed I would think its harder to IMO.
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Fishie said:
I meant is it harder, to breed certain species over others. So for example is it harder to breed afras than red zebras? Or is it just a matter of adding 3-4 females with 1 male of the same species and waiting??
Ovid
Aquarium Advice Regular
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haglagwr said:
The easiest to breed IMO are Kribensis. Though mouth-brooders are personally more fun to breed, Kribensis take almost no effort at all. Note that they are usually ready to breed about 4 weeks after their fry are free-swimming, so you will want to make sure you can handle all the procreating. They will lay eggs in the top of a cave and guard them diligently. Kribensis also don't get very big and work well with most other cichlids (they are a river cichlid, unlike most popular Africans). Good luck with your choice.
haglagwr said:
Kribs are easy to breed but I was thinking of mouth-brooding cichlids. I think they are all the same difficulty to breed with mouth-brooders. You can make them breed with having a lot of females,big water changes and having a rocking environment. I heard having the water level down help but I don't know about that one.
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Fishie said:
Yeah definitely am gonna stick with mbunas. So I'm thinking about introducing some female johannis. Any other suggestions in breeding pairs that are colorful both male and female? Thanks for the replies so far!
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Any thoughts on which mbunas make good breeding pairs color wise??
Mbuna's don't exactly 'pair up'; they're polygamous ('harem') breeders. An ideal breeding group would be comprised of 1 male and several females (2-4) per species. A numerical mbuna "pair" could spell disaster for the female (over harassed before and after the spawning). Multiple females divide the male's attention among the group.
For the most color (variation-wise) you might want to go with a dimorphic species (matured males and females being differently colored or pattered), particularly the species where the females are also colorful (such as pseudotropheus saulosi, metriaclima kenyi, melanochromis johanni, etc).
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haglagwr
Aquarium Advice Regular
Ha yeah i didn't mean pairs I guess breeding group is a better term. Well I would love to find a saulosi they look like beautiful fish. Hopefully I can track a group down, I've never seen em at my LFS before. The johanni could be another good option, I have a male about 4 inches just need some females.
So if I put together a breeding group that produces fry, what do I do next? I've heard they produce tons of fry. I'm not planning on stripping them or trying to sell them, so will they eventually get eaten or die? I have a tough time accepting this end result just for my enjoyment in seeing them breed...What do you guys think?
Mbuna's can be very prolific fish with potentionally each sexually matured female producing 20-40 fry as often as every other month (in my tanks at any given time I typically have several females mouthbrooding concurrently).
If the fry are born and left in the main tank, they'll have to fend for themselves to survive. If each and every batch is reared, then homes must ultimately be found for them all.
If the fry are born and left in the main tank, they'll have to fend for themselves to survive. If each and every batch is reared, then homes must ultimately be found for them all.
