Question on First time Breeding A. Cacutoides

[Jcrizzo12]

29 Gal community tank, heavily planted

8 Cardinal tetra

8 Ember Tetra

1 Male and 1 Female A. Cacutoides

very seasoned tank, AM and Nitrites reading 0ppm, Nitrates 5ppm

 

Hi friends! Ive recently wanted to try my hand at breeding after running this tank for a long time as a sort of test to see if I can keep plants alive and now want to give some adorable and beautiful fish I love a try. Picked up some A. Cacutoides at my LFS and theyve been doing great in the month or so ive had them. Within the last day or so i noticed the female has relegated herself to one of the caves in the tank and is guarding it fiercely which leads me to believe we may have some eggs on our hands! 

I just have a few questions based on the circumstances im working with here

A) Should I move the female and the cave to a 5g tank i have setup with a thin layer of sand, Java Moss, etc to try and have the highest probability of keeping fry alive in a community tank until theyre old enough to defend themselves/keep the other tetras/male away from the eggs?

B) Should I monitor inside the tank as this will be the Apistos first ever spawn together and who knows if theyre going to be good parents at this point to say either or and use this first time as a learning experience in the tank they both know?

C) Is there anything im missing here I should look into besides these options? ive been doing alot of research and as always getting mutliple different answers on the same question

 

Really appreciate any extra help or advice I could get as a first time trying to be the godparent of some fish!

Edited June 14, 2022 by Jcrizzo12

[Ken Burke]

First, I’ve never successfully raised apistos. But did try without success. I feel like they are a bit touchy, and need a delicate touch.  
 

If you really want to breed them, you might think about setting up a dedicated tank for them. Your tetras will eat the babies given a chance, and the mother will be driven to distraction trying to play defense. I think that’s what happened to my female. Of course I had plattys in the tank, so a little different. 
 

 

[tolstoy21]

Your best chances of success are going to be having the breeding pair in a dedicated tank. A 5 gallon might be a tad small. A 10 gallon will work fine.

You can either leave the male in after the female has fry, or relocate him back to the main tank. Relocating the male works on a number of levels 1) he won't snack on fry 2) the female won't beat him up (she can definitely go mama grizzly when defending her kids!).  If you have the pair in a 5 gallon tank, the male is not going to be able to get away from mama bear very well and his chances of getting killed by her will go up.

On the other hand, if you leave male and female together, the male will usually eventually get the hang of being a good dad either on the first try (if you're lucky), or on subsequent tries. I'd personally try this in a tank big enough for the male to keep his distance from the new mother. A 10 gallons with some plants and hardscape that the male can hunker down behind works well. 

You can definitely breed them in the community environment, but you're going to run into aggression issues with mama grizzly, and/or the other fish eating most or all of the fry.

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by tolstoy21

[ChargerstoLA]

Even with mama on site the tetras will start snacking on the fry. That doesn’t mean some will not survive. Make sure to feed heavy so that both the tetra and the fry can get some food. 
 

Realistically what is your goal? Are you trying to churn out and get a bunch of fry to grow out? If that is the case, get a dedicated tank for sure. This will require a lot more work from you to make sure the fry grow. But if you just want to enjoy breeding happening in the tank and a couple of fry survive, see how they do in the tank. You can watch as mom and dad take them around the tank to where food sources are and keep them in a school.  Each version is enjoyable in it own way. 

[tolstoy21]

On 6/15/2022 at 7:27 PM, ChargerstoLA said:

Realistically what is your goal? Are you trying to churn out and get a bunch of fry to grow out? If that is the case, get a dedicated tank for sure. This will require a lot more work from you to make sure the fry grow. But if you just want to enjoy breeding happening in the tank and a couple of fry survive, see how they do in the tank.

Agree 100%.

I have a lot of fish that breed in my community tanks. Sometimes a few fry survive. Sometimes none do. It's always a pleasure to see the little guys that make it for the first time cause  they usually stay hidden and then pop out of a plant -- surprise! -- when you're least expecting it and they are big enough that they feel confident in not getting snacked upon.

Once you start setting up dedicated breeding tanks, it's a whole `nother ballgame.  This can still be enjoyable and rewarding, but it does feel a bit more like commitment and work than just letting nature take its course in the community tank scenario. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by tolstoy21

[ChargerstoLA]

On 6/16/2022 at 11:48 AM, tolstoy21 said:

Agree 100%.

I have a lot of fish that breed in my community tanks. Sometimes a few fry survive. Sometimes none do. It's always a pleasure to see the little guys that make it for the first time cause  they usually stay hidden and then pop out of a plant -- surprise! -- when you're least expecting it and they are big enough that they feel confident in not getting snacked upon.

Once you start setting up dedicated breeding tanks, it's a whole `nother ballgame.  This can still be enjoyable and rewarding, but it does feel a bit more like commitment and work than just letting nature take its course in the community tank scenario. 

Seeing that little survivor is amazing. It’s like wow, Mother Nature does prevail. 

[pcb09]

I breed apisto cacatoides.

I have a male and two females in a 35 gallon tank, they are the sole fish occupants. There are plenty of shrimp in the tank. Have a few coconut shells, and apisto caves in there. Have plenty of java moss as well. Break up the line of site of the fish. 

 

Even with all that you do have to watch for the fry. I siphon them out with airline tubing and raise them separately from the parents. Lots of water changes gets them spawning. Feed golden pearls, and baby brine shrimp. Lots of regular water changes to keep water clean, and off you go.