Small cichlids to breed

[gourami]

Hi all, i'm setting up another tank and would like to try cichlids. the tank is twelve gallons and mesures 24" by 12" by 12". If possible i would like to try my hand at breeding some (i have bred quite a few other non cichlid fish and so have a bit of experiance at it). I would be very grateful for any suggestions of fish anyone could recomend.

[mooman]

Apistogramma cacatuoides or Apistogramma boreli are easy to breed and will do it in water that is too hard and alkaline for most other SA dwarf cichlids. What are your water parameters?

[tanker]

Rams, Apistogrammas, Bolivian Rams, Kribies, are good ideas for such a small tank.

Africans--Julies?? or Shell dewellers??

[gourami]

My water is hard (gh16) and Alkaline (ph7.8) I am quite keen on rift lake cichlids both from malawi and tanganyika (But prefurably not shell dwellers).

[mooman]

Hmm beter stay away from the SA dwarfs unless you have access to RO water. Your parameters are custom made for small julies (J. transcriptus or J. ornatus) or any of the shelldwellers. Multis (N. multifasciatus) breed like rabbits and will not require a seperate growout tank. If you use a sand substrate marketed for African cichlids and put some Limestone rocks in the tank then you won't even need to mess with any water additives.

[gourami]

julies look very nice, do you have to keep them 1 male to two females? btw thanx for the quick reply

[claytoris]

You should definatly try to breed Black Convicts, I had a male and I added a female in with it in a 10g tank and about a week and a half later I have over 100 fry. They are easy to breed and they are very easy to take care of. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

[Larissa]

so does that mean that if your water is hard and alkaline you can't get any of the SA dwarves to breed sucessfully? You must mix it with R/O water?

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Firemouths are easy to breed and you get a decent trade in buck for them.

[FishFreak101]

You should definatly try to breed Black Convicts, I had a male and I added a female in with it in a 10g tank and about a week and a half later I have over 100 fry. They are easy to breed and they are very easy to take care of. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

You got that rite!

[nomadofthehills]

Sounds like ur tank is closer to 15g :)

[gourami]

Thanks so much everybody, this site so helpful!!!! :)
please keep the recomendations coming!!!

[PumaWard]

J. transcriptus form monogomous pairs. As youngsters, it's impossible to tell the difference between males and females, so you'd be better off to get 4 juvies, allow a pair to form, then pull the outsiders. They are secretive about breeding, and most likely you won't know they've bred until you see the fry swimming around on the rocks.

As adults, females are generally larger than the males. They guard newly freeswimming fry, but otherwise only their territory. Older fry help take care of younger fry, and all fry are allowed to stay until their parents kick them out. I have a few 1'' fry with my pair right now and the parents still let them hang around, so they can stay with the parents for a while.

These guys are my personal favorite fish, so I am of course going to say.... GO WITH TRANSCRIPTUS :D

Also, for the tangs, you may want to add a little baking soda to your water, a pH of 8.0 is the bare minimum... 8.4-8.5 is better.

This tank is too small for firemouths or convicts, both require a 29g minimum for a pair, preferably a 30g long.

[gourami]

thanks for the info and for confirming my wondering about covict and firemouths (i had a feeling that a 6" fish would be too big for a two foot tank). Do you think that adding limestone to the tank would help correct the water requirements?

[FreddytheFish]

i really like blue demasonis, theyre supposedly really easy to breed

[fish_breeder_05]

small convicts.

[PumaWard]

Yes, the limestone will most likely help.



Demosoni get too big for this size of a tank as well.

[FreddytheFish]

Demosoni get too big for this size of a tank as well.

really? i thought they only grow to 3in

[PumaWard]

I guess I should have worded it differently, they are too aggressive for this size tank.

[FreddytheFish]

yeah, thats the problem with them

they fight like demons

[gourami]

Thanks so much everybody!!!! :D
Anyone else?