I have a new piece of manzanita driftwood that I'm floating in my 75g to get some tannins and lower the PH. I repositioned the flower pots so that they're farther back in the aquarium, with plant cover. I plan to feed lots of thawed brine shrimp over the next few days (I'll melt the cube and rinse off the juice).
Already the apistos (all four, even the two new 1" juvies) and even the rams, though they spawn on flat rocks and not pots (though I have a smooth rock in there for them and the keyholes) are fussing over the newly positioned flower pot, the large male apisto chasing off the other dwarf cichlids and, by now, probably trying to get the female over to his new digs. The tannins haven't been released yet (driftwood went in this morning), and I'll only be feeding the brineshrimp in a few hours, yet so far the progress is great.
Does this sound acceptable? I'm trying to get the apistos to breed in my community tank. I have a large (4"x5"x1" or something close to that) pack of brine shrimp eggs. My goal is to gain some experience in breeding fish that you actually have to do something about to breed. If they do breed, I'll know some of the signs, what they look like, what they do (it's written down, but it's different to witness it yourself), how fast the fry grow, how many to expect, and I may even get an idea on how often to feed them.
I'd be overjoyed if some of the fry survived to adulthood. I'd be absolutely thrilled to have as many apisto fry survive as I can. But these aren't super-ideal conditions, just with the fact that they're in a community tank full of hungry fish. I have a turkey baster that I can shoot BBS with into a select location, and that will probably help feed them, if they don't get enough food already (I feed shrimp pellets, "Baby Bites", and they'd be surrounded by two huge moss balls, some java moss, and lots of blue-green algae growing little foods).
So, if everything goes and I get a survivor or two, I've learned a lot, I have more wonderful SA dwarf cichlids, and I've bred my first fish where I didn't just leave them to mate by themselves (endlers, guppies, platies, shrimp...). If they eat their first batch, I know there's more chance of them not doing it next time, and I know the signs of spawning. If they spawn, the fry hatch, and they all starve (most likely prospect), I know I have to feed more (overfeeding isn't likely, the majority of my fish are obnoxious slobs), and I know what to do up to that point. Lots of learning for me, some noob who knows a bit about some things, but nothing or next to nothing on most things.
Sound good to everyone?
Already the apistos (all four, even the two new 1" juvies) and even the rams, though they spawn on flat rocks and not pots (though I have a smooth rock in there for them and the keyholes) are fussing over the newly positioned flower pot, the large male apisto chasing off the other dwarf cichlids and, by now, probably trying to get the female over to his new digs. The tannins haven't been released yet (driftwood went in this morning), and I'll only be feeding the brineshrimp in a few hours, yet so far the progress is great.
Does this sound acceptable? I'm trying to get the apistos to breed in my community tank. I have a large (4"x5"x1" or something close to that) pack of brine shrimp eggs. My goal is to gain some experience in breeding fish that you actually have to do something about to breed. If they do breed, I'll know some of the signs, what they look like, what they do (it's written down, but it's different to witness it yourself), how fast the fry grow, how many to expect, and I may even get an idea on how often to feed them.
I'd be overjoyed if some of the fry survived to adulthood. I'd be absolutely thrilled to have as many apisto fry survive as I can. But these aren't super-ideal conditions, just with the fact that they're in a community tank full of hungry fish. I have a turkey baster that I can shoot BBS with into a select location, and that will probably help feed them, if they don't get enough food already (I feed shrimp pellets, "Baby Bites", and they'd be surrounded by two huge moss balls, some java moss, and lots of blue-green algae growing little foods).
So, if everything goes and I get a survivor or two, I've learned a lot, I have more wonderful SA dwarf cichlids, and I've bred my first fish where I didn't just leave them to mate by themselves (endlers, guppies, platies, shrimp...). If they eat their first batch, I know there's more chance of them not doing it next time, and I know the signs of spawning. If they spawn, the fry hatch, and they all starve (most likely prospect), I know I have to feed more (overfeeding isn't likely, the majority of my fish are obnoxious slobs), and I know what to do up to that point. Lots of learning for me, some noob who knows a bit about some things, but nothing or next to nothing on most things.
Sound good to everyone?
