Apistogramma Cacatouides "Orange Flash" Breeding Journal

[Colin_T]

feed them 3-5 times a day with frozen and live foods,.
do a 50-75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day or two to keep the water clean.
have the temperature around 26-28C.
separate the prs so they have their own tanks.
get the danios out of there.
put a picture on the back of the tank.
add some more plants, including floating plants.
then let them do their thing.

 

[kribensis12]

feed them 3-5 times a day with frozen and live foods,.
do a 50-75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day or two to keep the water clean.
have the temperature around 26-28C.
separate the prs so they have their own tanks.
get the danios out of there.
put a picture on the back of the tank.
add some more plants, including floating plants.
then let them do their thing.

Thanks for the input.

I am prepping a second tank - as one of the females is exhibiting darker colors and hiding more --> I believe that the larger male has chosen a female and this one is feeling threatened. I will soon move her and the smaller male to their own tank. The Danios were intended to be a dither fish - but as there has been minimal aggression and I am splitting them up, they will be moved to a 20g.

Temperature has been 84F which has been recommended by many breeders - but I have seem other breeders recommend 80-82F. I may end up adjusting the temperature.

I do feed frozen blood worms every 3-4 days (as much as they can eat in 1-2 minutes) --> I supplement with Omega One Cichlid Flakes and Ocean Nutrition Spirulina Flakes. Do you have any other suggestions for a frozen food that I can supply them with? I find that frozen Brine Shrimp to be mostly just shell and water - not a lot of nutrition. I feel that beef heart would not be a good choice - but I know Discus Breeder's prefer them.

I will begin to up my water changes as well - maybe that will entice them.

 

[kribensis12]

So some drastic changes have been made:

I set up a second 10g tank last night, set to 82F.

I put filter media from my aquaclear into this tank (instant cycle) and moved half of the caves into the new tank. I also spent (literally 30 minutes) catching the 5 danios and moved them into my 20g. I also put a background on the tanks.

I did notice something VERY interesting (and promising!).

The female that I thought was being bullied as of recent (darker colors, living basically all day in the apisto cave and barely eating) is ACTUALLY the dominant female in the tank. I spent 20 minutes observing them last night and she is aggressively defending the cave - against the danios, the baby bristlenose and wouldn't let the other female within 6 inches of her cave.

I took a peak in the cave with my flashlight and did not see any eggs - but the larger male was also defending that portion of the tank.

I suspect that either she has laid (though I never saw a fully descended Ovipositor tube) and is going to soon. Exciting!

Food wise, I purchased some Omega One Cichlid Cubes ---> I really trust the Omega One Brand to have high quality, filler free food. I also purchased some Spirulina "Bug Bites" flakes --> I have heard some really good things about them online (here included). Hopefully this additional variety, increased water changes and privacy will help!

Pics coming soon.

 

[Colin_T]

I do feed frozen blood worms every 3-4 days (as much as they can eat in 1-2 minutes) --> I supplement with Omega One Cichlid Flakes and Ocean Nutrition Spirulina Flakes. Do you have any other suggestions for a frozen food that I can supply them with? I find that frozen Brine Shrimp to be mostly just shell and water - not a lot of nutrition. I feel that beef heart would not be a good choice - but I know Discus Breeder's prefer them.

I used to feed mine with marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up and frozen into cubes), adult and baby brineshrimp. The adult brineshrimp were usually frozen but they got live too. The newly hatched brineshrimp were live. The fish also got frozen bloodworms, Daphnia, mysis shrimp and raw or cooked prawn. I used cooked prawn when feeding fish tanks that had live shrimp in. The cooking process kills any diseases so the shrimp don't catch anything bad.

I fed them live Daphnia and mosquito larvae when available.

My feeding regime started with a bit of dry food, then marine mix, then frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp or daphnia, finished off with some live food. The fish were fed this way 3-5 times a day, depending on if I was working or had the day off.

 

[kribensis12]

Welp - promising news!

The Apisto's have been stuck in their feelings since last Friday when I changed their tank around - not eating well, not wanting to leave the safety of their caves etc.

Last night I snuck up to their tank in the cover of darkness (like a fish Ninja) and witnessed the female actively enticing the male into her cave. He did not seem overly interested - but she is VERY interested.

Hopefully I can report some eggs in the next few weeks!

 

[Cydeth]

Welp - promising news!

The Apisto's have been stuck in their feelings since last Friday when I changed their tank around - not eating well, not wanting to leave the safety of their caves etc.

Last night I snuck up to their tank in the cover of darkness (like a fish Ninja) and witnessed the female actively enticing the male into her cave. He did not seem overly interested - but she is VERY interested.

Hopefully I can report some eggs in the next few weeks!

Exciting news, good luck with the eggs.

Great looking fish, I really like the orange variant.

 

[kribensis12]

Exciting news, good luck with the eggs.

Great looking fish, I really like the orange variant.

Thanks! They really are beautiful - especially when the females are deep yellow/gray for breeding and the males are strutting around --- so pretty!

 

[kribensis12]

Additionally, I intend to add Catappa Leaves and some drift wood to give these guys a more natural habitat.

 

[Colin_T]

You don't need to add leaves or driftwood unless you are dealing with wild caught fish, and most Apsitogramma cacatuoides are captive bred and have been for 20+ years.

Double red, orange flash and all the other colour forms are captive bred and have been for years.

 

[kribensis12]

You don't need to add leaves or driftwood unless you are dealing with wild caught fish, and most Apsitogramma cacatuoides are captive bred and have been for 20+ years.

Double red, orange flash and all the other colour forms are captive bred and have been for years.

There seems to be a significant amount of research ( for example ) that suggests there are many benefits to blackwater - and one of the more desired ones that I have is the additionally softening needed and the antibiotic properties (better hatch rate). I was also looking for some more natural decor (specifically the driftwood) as additional hiding places and there is a quite a bit of research that shoes the biofilm that appears on the leaves are an excellent supplemental first food for fry.

I do have plans (longer term) to order some W.C. cacatouides and cross them - to bring some more vigor back to the line and hopefully color --> I used to have a wild caught female that was borderline lemon yellow during breeding; it was breathtaking.

 

[Slaphppy7]

There seems to be a significant amount of research ( for example ) that suggests there are many benefits to blackwater - and one of the more desired ones that I have is the additionally softening needed and the antibiotic properties (better hatch rate). I was also looking for some more natural decor (specifically the driftwood) as additional hiding places and there is a quite a bit of research that shoes the biofilm that appears on the leaves are an excellent supplemental first food for fry.

I do have plans (longer term) to order some W.C. cacatouides and cross them - to bring some more vigor back to the line and hopefully color --> I used to have a wild caught female that was borderline lemon yellow during breeding; it was breathtaking.

IAL's are highly beneficial in FW tanks, I have them in all of mine, along with DW and other botanicals...a nice site to purchase botanicals, if you haven't seen it already: https://tanninaquatics.com/

 

[kribensis12]

IAL's are highly beneficial in FW tanks, I have them in all of mine, along with DW and other botanicals...a nice site to purchase botanicals, if you haven't seen it already: https://tanninaquatics.com/

Yup!! If you clicked on the hyperlink in my previous post, it referred to some of the research done on that website.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Yup!! If you clicked on the hyperlink in my previous post, it referred to some of the research done on that website.

I'll check it out, thanks

 

[kribensis12]

Well I was hoping for a little more movement by now.... but it's seems to be almost the opposite.

It seems that the super-ready to breed couple is experiencing a relational dispute.

Since removing the additional apistos and the danios, the male has been hiding a lot and not as "I own the tank". With that being said, the female is READY to breed. Yesterday evening I observed the female displaying for the male and when her advances were not returned, she attacked him and he swam off.

His fins are not ripped and he shows no bodily damage - so I'm hoping that he'll warm up to her soon. If not, I may switch this male with the younger one and see what happens. I'll continue to feed well and do frequent water changes.

 

[NannaLou]

Well I was hoping for a little more movement by now.... but it's seems to be almost the opposite.

It seems that the super-ready to breed couple is experiencing a relational dispute.

Since removing the additional apistos and the danios, the male has been hiding a lot and not as "I own the tank". With that being said, the female is READY to breed. Yesterday evening I observed the female displaying for the male and when her advances were not returned, she attacked him and he swam off.

His fins are not ripped and he shows no bodily damage - so I'm hoping that he'll warm up to her soon. If not, I may switch this male with the younger one and see what happens. I'll continue to feed well and do frequent water changes.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ?