Multi Cichlids not Breeding!

[EmmaFish]

I have had a tank of multi cichlids that were breeding in the very beginning, when there was just one male, one female and a lot of shells. I now have 10 fish, of varying sizes; two large males, two females, and a scattering of small-to-mid-size juveniles. (I got the juveniles from GSAS; unfortunately my fish haven't been reproducing for over 8 months). There are forty shells in total; I divided them into a few different groups based on the males' territorial behavior. 

tank size: 20 gal L

pH: 9.0 at the beginning of the week, falls to 8.2 by the end of the week before water change

temp: 78F, it is set at 80 though; perhaps I should get a new heater? 

fish: 10 Neolamprologus multifasciatus of varying sizes

#shells: 40

nitrate: 0 ppm

diet: omega one marine flakes, a tiny sprinkle of Hikari first bites (a fellow multis keeper told me that having baby food around might encourage babies), frozen bbs weekly 

~one airstone bar for oxygen and current 

~the thermometer on the fourth picture is broken; the temp is actually 78F

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by EmmaFish

[Theplatymaster]

1. @Zenzo

[Zenzo]

@EmmaFish 

I would suggest holding off on water changes. If your nitrate level is at 0ppm and you are changing water weekly, it's probably disrupting them too much (especially with the pH fluctuation from 9 to 8.2). In my multi tanks, I notice more fry when the tanks have been undisturbed for a few weeks (sometimes going 4-6 weeks between water changes). 

As far as temperature, 78F should be fine. Maybe double check that it's accurate, but I wouldn't get a new heater if it's 2 degrees off.

As far as feeding, it helps to have lots of food floating around. The fry feed by waiting for tiny foods to float into or in front of the shells that they are in. If there isn't enough food, they will starve (or get eaten by other hungry, opportunistic adults or juveniles).

Lastly, you may want to consider moving some shells around, unburying some, and even adding a rock in the middle to break up line-of-sight between shell clusters.

Good luck! Tag me in a couple of months to let me know if you are successful. 

 

[EmmaFish]

How do you keep the water clean after a few weeks? I have the dreaded cyanobacteria that absolutely loves to tinge the sand green after about 2 weeks; that is why I do weekly water changes. I hope that the fish are not ingesting the bacteria when they move or pick at the sand, might that cause breeding issues? Also I have noticed that the cyanobacteria grows when I have been overfeeding my fish, but to ensure that there is enough food for the potential fry, shouldn't there be excess food around? Can you please tell me exactly how you feed your fish; the timing and amount; also the sources of oxygen in your tank? Will ten percent water changes bi/tri-weekly disturb the fish as well? Would they perhaps not breed because cause they are too close to human activity? 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:02 PM, EmmaFish said:

How do you keep the water clean after a few weeks? I have the dreaded cyanobacteria that absolutely loves to tinge the sand green after about 2 weeks; that is why I do weekly water changes. I hope that the fish are not ingesting the bacteria when they move or pick at the sand, might that cause breeding issues? Also I have noticed that the cyanobacteria grows when I have been overfeeding my fish, but to ensure that there is enough food for the potential fry, shouldn't there be excess food around? Can you please tell me exactly how you feed your fish; the timing and amount; also the sources of oxygen in your tank? Will ten percent water changes bi/tri-weekly disturb the fish as well? Would they perhaps not breed because cause they are too close to human activity? 

@Zenzo

[Zenzo]

On 2/24/2023 at 11:02 AM, EmmaFish said:

How do you keep the water clean after a few weeks? I have the dreaded cyanobacteria that absolutely loves to tinge the sand green after about 2 weeks; that is why I do weekly water changes. I hope that the fish are not ingesting the bacteria when they move or pick at the sand, might that cause breeding issues? Also I have noticed that the cyanobacteria grows when I have been overfeeding my fish, but to ensure that there is enough food for the potential fry, shouldn't there be excess food around? Can you please tell me exactly how you feed your fish; the timing and amount; also the sources of oxygen in your tank? Will ten percent water changes bi/tri-weekly disturb the fish as well? Would they perhaps not breed because cause they are too close to human activity? 

Having decent flow in the tank should help. Also a clean-up crew helps (I use Malaysian Trumpet Snails). I recommend addressing the cyanobacteria issue so that it doesn't keep coming back. Water changes alone won't get rid of all of it. I would dose with Maracyn or Slime Out to get rid of it. No, you don't want food just sitting around, but you also need enough to make it down to the shells. 

As far as human activity, if it's too busy near their tank, it could cause them to hide more...but I haven't found this to be an issue with multis. 

I have several videos about multis on my YouTube channel that you can watch to get some ideas. As far as feeding, no set schedule or amount. I feed them normally, like my other tanks. I just make sure that I have some small bits that float in the water column. It could be crushed up flake food, frozen baby brine, live baby brine, etc.

Here are the links to the meds that get rid of cyanobacteria:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/fritz-maracyn

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/fritz-slime-out

[EmmaFish]

Thank you very much! I shall change the water less and make sure that there's enough flow.