Cockatoo Apisto Breeding Questions

[smilemadeofsun]

Hello guys! I hope all is well with you and your tanks. I woke up this morning and to my delight there were a bunch of newly hatched fry in my 20L apisto tank!! I went and grabbed a divider and separated the male and my clown pleco (the only other two inhabitants besides mommy) and have left the mom in there with her babies for now since she is showing them around to my java moss to eat. If she ever gets to the point where she starts eating them or anything I have a breeder net on standby, but for now she is being a great mommy. I have java moss in there and other live plants so they will have some insuforia to feed on, but I also have some Hikari First Bites for when they get a little bigger. Is there anything else anyone recommends? I am a breeding virgin, but I've been trying to do a lot of reading and educate myself. I am not trying to become a serious breeder or anything, but the LFS near me will take the babies for credit when they are old enough, and I would sure love to see some tiny little cockatoo apistos swimming around and watch them grow. What does someone recommend as a good grow out tank size for them once they are big enough to separate from mommy and daddy? Would a bare bottom 10g with a sponge filter be best or does someone have a better suggestion? As always thanks for your time and advice!

-Robert

[brennae]

I can't help with your questions but these are the cichlids I'd have if I had any. Its always exciting when fish produce offspring. Congrats!!

[coralbandit]

10 g will work for first month.
Once they are free swimming they don't need the parents.
After the infusoria they will do best on live BBS till they can eat large foods.
There are frozen BBS(Baby Brine Shrimp) also if you don't want to hatch your own.
Then you can move up to the hikari!
Congrats apistos can be good $.
IMO the pair will breed again shortly after they are re introduced so giving her a little break(keeping him separated ) is a good plan for a week or so.
Lets her build back up her strength for NEXT!!!!

[smilemadeofsun]

Perfect! Thank you for your info. I will continue to keep them separated, and I am buying the fry tank soon. If I got another 20L I am assuming I could keep them in there for 2 months at least, or should I be looking at a 40g breeder or something? I was reading that some people were able to get their apisto fry to 1 inch in 2 months, and some were saying an average time to get them to 1 inch is 5 months? I am sure it has a lot to do with feeding habits and water quality, but that seems like a pretty wide gap. Any thoughts on that would be much appreciated also, if it's not too much to ask

[Gillie]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

10 g will work for first month.
Once they are free swimming they don't need the parents.
After the infusoria they will do best on live BBS till they can eat large foods.
There are frozen BBS(Baby Brine Shrimp) also if you don't want to hatch your own.
Then you can move up to the hikari!
Congrats apistos can be good $.
IMO the pair will breed again shortly after they are re introduced so giving her a little break(keeping him separated ) is a good plan for a week or so.
Lets her build back up her strength for NEXT!!!!

It is pretty important to leave them with the mother the first month free swimming, that's the time they learn from the mother. I've noticed that a lot of apistos that aren't raised in this manner eat more spawns before they catch on to what is supposed to be happening and abandon spawns earlier than they should which makes it frustrating for the next guy.

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