Apisto story

[onlyme]

I have 150 lt tank with 1 discus, 3 peppermint BNs and a pair of A cac double reds. I needed to look at the pepperments to see what sex they were and check the size so I pulled the tank down. It is heavily decorated with wood, rocks and pots and there is a lot plants and java moss in it.

THe Apistos are still small, it is not long since I purchaed them. The male is bearly 5cm and female just over 3cm. While emptying the tank for a water change and gravel vacuuming I noticed a dozen or more 1.5cm baby cacs. THis hobby never ceases to amaze me.

So to my question(s), , is it common for them to breed so small?

At 1.5cm does anyone any idea of old they would be?

It was a really nice surprise and they obviously are not hard to breed.

Craig Douglas.

[Kribbie]

Congratulations on the baby cacs!

Most of the south american dwarf cichlids will start to breed once they are sexually mature (ie. around 5cm for males and smaller for females). So, the first answer to your questions on the apisto is that....it is perfectly normal for them to breed at such a small size! And since your tank has plenty of space for the fry to swim in, therefore I would guess these little cacs are about 6 weeks old.

Apisto will breed pretty regularly and therefore you will have hundreds of them in a short period of time. But you need to keep an eye on the pair because it can be either the male/female might not ready to mate again, and they might have a few days of chasing around fights.

[abob]

My cacs have bred after around 4 months old and one of my females laid eggs in the rejects tank last night and she couldn't be much over an inch TOTAL LENGTH. I'd have to check my records but she'd barely be over 4 months old. I find males need to be quite a bit bigger and older than this tho.

At 1.5cm 6weeks is probably a good estimate for age.

I also find they breed like rabbits . they are great fish

Dean