New to Breeding

[Bla08kE]

Hey guys !!

wondering if you all could give me a bit of advice.

I have had a cichlid tank for about 12 months now, with a mix.

i would like to start breeding now, can anyone tell me where a good place to start is and any tips to make this succesful !

I am currently setting up another 4ft to do the breeding in and i will have a 3ft to use as a fry tank !

Thanks

[Ash]

you'll get better advice if you state what species you plan to breed, so... what are you planning to breed?

in general most cichlids to best breeding in species tanks (ie: only one species per tank)

[Ged]

Also some information on your current setup will also help.

[Bla08kE]

I'm not exactly sure what i want to breed yet !

I have set up another tank to start breeding.

i would like to do e/blu or yellow, im just not sure yet !

My tank is a 4ft, with a 1200L cannister. powerhead, etc ! the usual !!!!

It has man made channels in it in the corners !! im using crushed coral !

[wui39]

yellows and blues are easy to breed but if you going to breed them make sure you have good stock i.e. no deformities and good colour.

other than that go for it!!!! and have fun

[Camo]

Hey

Yeah mate 4ft get some pots either terracota or plastic and cut some holes in them for the fish to breed in if you are wanting to breed africans. Or just get bits and pieces like pvc pipeing and rocks for them to breed in.

If you are going for americans then i think you need things like flat rocks and caves for them to spawn in.

There are many ways that fish breed mate. Mouthbrooding (hold eggs in there mouth) and egglaying are the main 2 that are consistant with Africans and Americans.

Some Americans will be too big for a 4ft so make sure you do some research when you decide on your fish to keep. Some africans are to big aswell.

Some good fish to start out with are

Afrcians (Can be kept in colonys)

Labidochromis Caurelus (Electric yellow)

Sciaenochromis fryeri (Electric blue)

Pseudotropheus Acei Msuli Point

Labidochromis hongi (Hongi)

Pseudotropheus Saulosi

Aulonocara species (Peacocks)

Melanochromis Maingano

Americans (Only 2 fish, a pair)

Well not to sure on these but here goes.

Aequidens rivulatus (Green Terror)

Aequidens pulcher (Blue Acara)

Astronotus ocellatus (Oscar)

Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum (Convict)

Cichlasoma octofasciatum (Jack Dempsey)

Thorichtys meeki (Firemouth)

Heros severus (Severum)

Red Devil Cichlid

These are just some of the fish available. Type them into google and have a look at them. Or just type in cichlid lists and that should give you a list of cichlids both African and American.

Now some Americans can mouthbrood (hold eggs in there mouth) and some egg lay.

For the Africans the same applies.

Well i hope that helps mate. If you need more help just PM me ok mate.

Cheers

Cameron

[Ash]

*snip*

Americans (Only 2 fish, a pair)

Well not to sure on these but here goes.

Aequidens rivulatus (Green Terror)

Aequidens pulcher (Blue Acara)

Astronotus ocellatus (Oscar)

Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum (Convict)

Cichlasoma octofasciatum (Jack Dempsey)

Thorichtys meeki (Firemouth)

Heros severus (Severum)

Red Devil Cichlid

*snip*

Now some Americans can mouthbrood (hold eggs in there mouth) and some egg lay.

←

The species I've highlighted are really too big to try & breed in a standard 4 footer, however a 4x18 would work ok.

SA mouthbrooders: Some of the eartheaters are either delayed or advanced mouthbrooders, there is a few acaras that are too & one species of severum. AFAIK only a few of the eartheater mouthbrooding species are available in Australia though I could be wrong.

Eblue/yellow are a great first choice, pick the one you prefer pretty much.

[Bla08kE]

Thanks heaps !!!

I am going to start on e/yellow. Bought a couple this morning from a breeder !

Ive put some pots in there aswell and plenty of rocks !

i will let you know how it pans out !!!!

Appreciate the help guys, if i have any more questions i will ask you guys...

By the way, i have seen a few with the signature NQ Cowboys G Finalists.

GO THE TIGERS !!!!!

Thanks

[Camo]

Hey

I have seen heaps of Green Terrors in a 4ft breeding and i am pretty sure that Red Devil Man had a pair of RD in a 6ft then changed them to a 4ft and they are now breeding like crazy.

I will give you the oscar part. That get pretty big.

Cheers

Cameron

[lee427]

i hope all goes well with breeding the e/yellows

[Ant]

If the 4ft was 4 x 2 x 2 then I'd say it's possible, but not ideal (for red devils).

Good work you've picked a good fish to begin with. Keep the water clean and the fish happy and they will breed. Try to keep a ratio of at least 3 females to 1 male. So you could possibly have 2 males and 6 females in your 4ft depending on the size of your 4ft. The females will hold the bubs in her mouth for about 24 days and spit them out. As a begginer I'd suggest you let her spit them because stripping the female of her bubs can be stressful especially if you haven't mastered the technique. You can put the female in a floating fry saver when she is holding to avoid harassment and to avoid the bubs becoming a snack when she spits. For the bubs you could put them in your 3 ft and feed them a mixture of crushed spirilina flake, crushed tropical flake and maybe even some orca baby food every now and then. Alternatively you could put the female in the 3ft to spit. For the fry tank keep the water changes up, may be do a 10-20% water change every few days.

Anthony