Apistogramma Cacatouides "Orange Flash" Breeding Journal

Hello everyone!

I have never done a journal on TFF so this is very new to me - so I hope that you guys can share in my ups, downs - and everything in between.

I have been a member for quite some time and have had all sorts of fish-keeping experiences and ever since getting married and having children, I have dialed the hobby back to almost an after-thought.

I am changing that, though.

In an effort to help accelerate paying off our college debt, I have been looking into a side hustle that would help provide for my family and not drain hours of my life away - and keep me from my kiddos (#3 due in June!).

So here it is: I am going to successfully breed, raise and sell A. Cacatouides in very hard water - with a pH that hovers around 8.2-8.4.

I have a 2m/2f set coming in the mail on Tuesday (feels like Christmas!) and a 10g waiting for them. It's decorated with a ton of caves, filtered by an Aquaclear (gotta love their resiliency) and a sponge filter - some plants already in there but more coming via the mail soon.

I do anticipate that one male will come out on top and either keep the two females for himself or I will get two pairs (can I be that lucky?). If I have an extra fish. I am able to get it into the responsible hands of another aquarist. I do have 5 zebra danios to serve as dithers at this point.

Below the 10g "love tank" (sung to the tune of "love shack"), is a grow-out tank - a 15g tall. Currently - this is it. I'm starting small and hope that in the next months and years to come - I will be successful enough to expand (I'm thinking Pelvicachromis Taeniatus "Moliwe" or Angelfish).

In the following posts you will see pictures of what I hope to be beautiful fish and tons, tons of fry! Please ask questions if you have any at any point -water parameters, diet, whatever you like.

Now I just have to sit here patiently for Tuesday to come!

Are you putting both pairs of Apistogramma in the 10 gallon tank?
If yes, they will fight. You need to keep the pairs separate.

The pairs are not proven pairs, so the idea is to let them decide and then separate. If I get two pairs I will separate them.

It feels like Christmas! Here are some pics after them settling for a few hours.

They seem to be acclimating nicely and I did put in just a "tiny" bit of flake - I saw some interest. I'll give them time to get comfortable and maybe try again tomorrow night.

UPDATE: They are settling in very nicely.

They showed interest in eating tonight which was GREAT and when they don't know I'm watching, they love to explore.

I'm hoping that they'll continue to settle in and start to pair off! When I bred wild caught A. Cacatouides the female was the size of the current ones - but the male was about 1.5 x the size; so I'm unsure if these males are mature enough.

Can we talk about that orange color? I am so impressed with these fish - I was concerned that without actually seeing them before I bought them that I'd get the short end of the stick - but I am very pleased!

Well - they are definitely at home! For the first few days, I would walk by the aquarium and they would all hide. Now, they are not afraid - and they enjoy each other's company. I would suspect based on behavior that we are 4-8 weeks away from them pairing off.

With them being said, I have seen an explosion of algae growth (brown algae) which I believe is a result of the new aquarium light that was installed. I'm attempting to figure out how to best adjust the lighting.

I have added two very small bristle nose to the aquarium (from a local breeder). The size did concern me as I was afraid the apistos would bother them, but they have not. I have begun to add frozen bloodworms into their diet to see if that will encourage the females to egg up. Here is a picture to show how small these cute little bristle nose are! I do hope that they put on size as soon as possible!

You bought bristlenose catfish to go in a breeding tank with cichlids?
Why would you do that. Breeding tanks should not be community tanks because everything else eats the eggs or babies,

Colin_T said:

You bought bristlenose catfish to go in a breeding tank with cichlids?
Why would you do that. Breeding tanks should not be community tanks because everything else eats the eggs or babies,

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As previously stated - the Bristlenose is there for algae control as I am trying to figure out the new light that is installed. In addition, adding a Bristlenose does not making it a community tank. In the same way that adding 5 small zebra danios as dither fish does also not make it a community tank.

I've bred wild caught a. cacatouides, kribensis, fire mouths, jewel cichlids, and quite a few others with birstlenose in the sam tank and have never encountered an issue before.

In my experience, the breeding pair has always done a more that sufficient job protecting their eggs (in the case of a. cacatouides, usually in a cave with a small opening) and fry when vulnerable.

@Colin_T have you actually experienced this as an issue? Has anyone else experienced a situation where their bristle nose has caused hard to their spawn?

Quick update - these guys are well at home. They act more like a school and show now territorial aggression whatsoever.

When I had the wild caught version, this was more or less true as well - until they bred they seemed to coexist peacefully.

At this point it is impossible to decipher if any of them have paired off etc.

To get them ready for breeding, I am feeding them a family flake regime of Omega One Cichlid Flake, Ocean Nutrition Spirulina Flakes and alternating every 2-3 days frozen blood worms.

I'll post a video of them later tonight! Gorgeous fish!

Here they are!

Well..... I'm starting to see some aggression. Ironically - the two males act as if neither exists. They swim directly next to each other and get along just fine.

The females though... not so much. One of my females has turned a very pretty yellow and does not get along at all with the other female. Anytime they cross paths, the dominant puts the other in their place.The "bullied" female now is a more pale yellow with a lot of horizontal black lines.

At this point, I am continuing to keep them all in the same aquarium. I suspect that the aggression may intensify so I will be getting a 10g up and running soon so I can split the smaller male and the bullied female into their own tank.

Welp, not trying to count my chickens before they hatch BUT.... the larger male and the dominant female are acting more like a pair. At this rate, I will need to split them up soon. I'm working on making that happen within the next week or sooner.

With that being said, I suspect that the female may lay eggs soon. She appears more wide than the subordinate female and I believe I am seeing the beginning of her ovipositor tube to be extended,

I'll be watching them like a hawk these next few days!

@kribensis12 - they look lovely ?. The orange really is eye catching. Can I just ask, what is a ’dither fish’..? I’m a newbie and I don’t think I’ve heard that before...?

NannaLou said:

@kribensis12 - they look lovely ?. The orange really is eye catching. Can I just ask, what is a ’dither fish’..? I’m a newbie and I don’t think I’ve heard that before...?

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Thank you! I really enjoy them!

A "dither" fish is a small, fast moving fish (that is unlikely to be eaten) that serve two purposes:

1. They add a bit of "interest" to the aquarium when there are more shy cichlids.
2. The movement of more "brave" fish will encourage the more shy ones to become a little more comfortable.
3. The most important reason is that they can help distribute the aggression of cichlids a little bit. It's not a magic "solve" for cichlids, but diverting their aggression on the dither fish can help reduce stress on non-dominant cichlids.

So guys, I'm struggling. Maybe it's a "patience" situation, but I'm struggling to get these guys to breed! The water is Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5 --> I am doing weekly 30% water changes. I am treating with blackwater extract and there are a ton of caves and some plants in there.

I am feeding with bloodworms every 3rd day and also a variety of flake foods too.

The females are a beautiful yellow color (which typically indicates their readiness to breed) and yet....nothing.

Any ideas?