# Breeding CA's and SA's



## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

I am mostly a African Cichlid guy...mostly. But I want to try my hand breeding something different that I've never tried before.

Here are my thoughts...Firemouths, Convicts, and Blue Rams(SA's).

What would you suggest and why?


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## skreebus (May 27, 2007)

FM and Cons. Cons are like rabbits, and are a very hardy cichlid. FMs are also an easy breeder. Most people get Cons to breed without even trying. Best ideas is to get like 4-6 juvies of one of those species and let them pair off. Then separate the pair(s) and try to keep your tank in ideal breeding conditions.

With that being said my FMs have fry right now in a dirty 55gallon that I didn't get the chance to clean after losing their big tankmate. I just looked in one day and.....I GOTS BABIES!!! LOL I was excited. But at the same time shocked because I didn't buy these 2 with the though of getting a pair, it just worked out that way.


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## phxl (Nov 21, 2008)

Convicts are _too_ easy 

Rams would be cool, and a little less common than Convicts. I've been thinking I would like to try and breed apistograma.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

My first ever cichlid was Convicts and I will admit it was Convicts that got me hooked and addicted into breeding CA and other cichlids and fish. They are excellent parents and are enjoyable to watch. I have never spawned Firemouths before but I want to. I have kept them and they are great fish as well.

After I had kept a pair of Convicts I was addicted but wanted to try other cichlids so I kept Africans for about a year and thought I could do it without having to get Convicts in the first 6 months of keeping the Africans I found that I was wrong and bought another pair and it kept cycling like that. I would get rid of my pair thinking I could move on from Convicts and a few months later I found that I had to have a pair of Convicts or CA/SA cichlid and that Africans were boring......... :lol: .

I would go with Convicts or Firemouths you won't be disappointed and soon enough that love for Africans will fade. Convicts are easier to sex but Firemouths are more colorful and very cool fish. If you go with Firemouths I would suggest getting at least 6 juvies (I usually go with 8 ) and let them grow up and pair off. If you go with Convicts I would suggest getting 1 male and 2-3 females and let them pair off. Once when you get a pair of either Firemouths or Convicts remove the extras and leave the pair alone. You can add target fish if you want. Here's how to sex Convicts:









male is on the left and female is on the right in the pot

Males get bigger and are just grey and black and have longer elongated fins. Females are rounder, have an orange belly, smaller, rounder fins, have yellowish tinted fins, and have a black spot in their fins.

Here are two sites that might help as well

http://www.tropicalfishgallery.com/spec ... nvict.html

www.fantasyreef.com/showthread.php?t=3180

I hope this helps


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Cons and FMs are very easy, but so are most CAs from my experience. Basicly if you have a male and female of the same species they will spawn. The biggest trick is to get males and females that wont try to kill each other. For that the best bet is to get a group of juvies and grow them out together and wait for them to pair off naturally. Just make sure your LFS will accept the return of the unpaired fish before attemping that. Once you get a pair, it's just a matter of time before your up to your ears in cichlid fry :lol: . Many CAs can have spawns of well over 200. I'd say go for something you like rather than something that's easy. Cons and FMs would be hard to get rid of, and might be likely to end up as feeders. If your going to the trouble to breed, then shoot for something that would give you an opportunity to unload at an LFS or online. Something that's at least uncommon for your area and you'd be happy keeping for a long time. Unless your wanting to breed them for feeders.


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and thanks CiChLiD LoVeR128 for the picture. I'm getting back into Cichlids after shutting down my tanks over a year ago. I guess I couldn't take the withdrawl symptons any longer.

Right now I'm growing out five Albino Brichardi and waiting for them to sort things out. What I am after is to raise a huge colony of Albino Brichardi with multiple generations. In the meantime I want to try raising a CA or an SA just to study them and watch their behaivor.

I'm going to ask a question about a particular species on the South American Forum so keep an eye out for that. Thanks again.


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

One last question and this has to do with Firemouths. What would be the smallest aquarium you could raise a mated pair of Firemouths in, taking into account you would be removing fry as they grew out.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

I think a 30 gal would be perfect but a 29 gal would be good.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

I agree with CL, but that's scraping the bottom end on tank size. I've bred them in that size tank ,and given the choice ,I'd go for something a bit bigger if I decided to breed them again.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

If you can get your hands on some Cryptoheros/Archocentrus/whatever it is this year spilurum (same family as convicts) or nanoluteus or cutteri or even sajica you'd have a lot of fun too. They keep similar to convicts. The whole process is essentially the same. They're more interesting though. Spilurum especially are absolutely fascinating. The fish's eyes and body change color and pattern drastically when mating. It's an unbelievably rewarding fish to have. Breeds as easily as cons. I had mine for 3 days before they spawned and got fry successfully on the first spawn. I wasn't even feeding them frozen food to condition them just hikari cichlid complete and hbh8 veggie flake.

Sajica (T-Bar cichlid sometimes) are usually easy to find and they're neat too but I don't like the bulbous shape they get when they age- to each their own.

cutteri and nanoluteus I have no personal experience with but I have seen them both in person and they're beautiful fish.

As mentioned the firemouth is a lot of fun. It's a really nice fish to have. Easily available.

I don't know how big your tank is.

Ever seen salvini? You might like them. Fluorescent yellow with red and black lateral striping. They really like their swimming space though and they tend to resent the presence of other fish in a very general way. A pair would more than likely want 48" of tank to themselves to spawn.

Honestly though just for really fun behaviour I don't think you can beat the firemouth and the spilurum I find them very comical. Firemouth especially.

One more thing you might want to consider is getting yourself some nice angelfish- not really commercialized ones, but nice, couple gen from W/C proper angelfish with bright red eyes that retain the natural behaviour. It's an elegant, beautiful mellow fish and very easy to spawn.


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

Why are CA's and Sa's so questionable in terms of their personality and all else relating to their husbandry. If we were talking about Africans the answers would be cast in stone!

Is it all a matter of throwing in the right amount of driftwood and Tetra Black Water?


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

Oh Whoops!!!


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

fisher king said:


> *Why are CA's and Sa's so questionable in terms of their personality and all else relating to their husbandry. If we were talking about Africans the answers would be cast in stone!*
> Is it all a matter of throwing in the right amount of driftwood and Tetra Black Water?


Apples and oranges my friend. They might all be cichlids , but they are quite different from each other in many respects.


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