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FrozenFins
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I'm looking to breed some apistogramma. However I can't find any local to me. So I'm thinking we can buy some online. However I have a few questions:

  • When buying apistos to breed should I just buy a male and female, and hope that they will pair up. Like is there a good chance that by having a male and female they will pair up.
  • Or am I better to buy 6-8 juvinilles and wait for a pair to form out of those
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On 1/15/2022 at 8:39 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Agreed.  I find they 'usually' pair up, but not always.

What kind of apistos were you looking to breed? 

I'm really not sure, theres so many options.

I really like the Blue Pandas, and the cacatuoides are really nice as well.

There are mollys in the tank I plan on putting them. I know a few baby mollies will most likely be eaten. But do you think the 6 juvinilles and adudlt mollys will get along.

 

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Mollys can be pretty disruptive as they’re constantly courting and competing for females. They may either make the apistogramma comfortable as dither fish or they could make them anxious. I have black mollies with my Krobia xinguensis and it’s a good match.
 

Apistogramma are opportunistic feeders and good stealthy hunters so should keep the newborn Molly fry down. However, once the fry are a week or 2 I doubt they’ll go after them as that’s approaching the size of their mouths 👄
 

Some apistogramma are harem breeders I think cacatuoides fits in that category and others in the Inca, Njasseni and panduro complex are pair bonded. The blue panda is a pair bonded apistogramma so once the pair forms it may turn into WW3. But they’re cichlids so you never know. Another thing with apistogramma and rams is that sometimes after 5+ spawns they seem to get tired of each other in a pair bonded situation so you may want to keep the extra females around to rotate with your male if you go the panduro route. 

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On 1/16/2022 at 12:13 AM, FrozenFins said:

There are mollys in the tank I plan on putting them. I know a few baby mollies will most likely be eaten. But do you think the 6 juvinilles and adudlt mollys will get along.

Cacatuodies females can get quite aggressive if there are fry present. So if you're planning on breeding them, I'd pull the eggs or have a dedicated breeding setup for the mother to rear the fry.

Additionally, apistos are traditionally a soft water species and mollies are a hard water fish. Not to say apistos can't be bred in harder water, but if you run into issues with them not spawning, you might want to isolate them out into something with a lower GH/KH.

Edited by tolstoy21
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Depends on the species; some species - esp most  harem breeders are not picky at all and you can buy any male and female and they will work out; others are extremely picky and you have to wait for them to pick their mates. apisto is a genus not a species. As for mollies and hard water vs soft - depends on the species - some absolutely require soft acidic water to breed (blackwater conditions); others will manage to breed in more neutral water (clear water) and some will do fine in medium to not too hard water. There is no one size fit all so perhaps you should start by telling us which species of apisto you wish to breed. 

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Most species of apisto tend to stay in the lower reaches of the tank; if the mollies are similar to guppies (I'm not a molly fan) and stay near the surface there will likely not be much conflict but the females will guard the frys and if a molly venture near they will be chased off aggressively.

 

Anyway to proceed you need to state which species of apisto and your water condition (kh/gh/ph). 

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On 1/15/2022 at 11:13 PM, FrozenFins said:

I'm really not sure, theres so many options.

I really like the Blue Pandas, and the cacatuoides are really nice as well.

There are mollys in the tank I plan on putting them. I know a few baby mollies will most likely be eaten. But do you think the 6 juvinilles and adudlt mollys will get along.

 

panduro (and fishes in the same complex like nijjensi) need  ph below 7 and very soft water for the eggs to hatch. Cockatoo can breed in more normal water but I really dislike them for various reasons. Borelli is a smaller but more flexible fish than cockatoo and will breed in water that is not too hard (I think off the top of my head gh below 12 but don't quote me on that). They are also much more passive but the females will aggressively guard the frys as always. A cockatoo female is about 3 times larger than a borelli female to give a sense of size difference.

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