# Breeding Multies



## Achaea (Jan 1, 2004)

Ok, maybe I'm being impatient here.

I bought six the first week of March for a 29-gallon tank.

The store didn't know how to sex the multies, which was fine, but they gave me two large ones and four small ones. I also added six white clouds to act as dithers.

The multies ended up destroying all but two of the white clouds who now reside on the other side of the tank.

Anyway cut to May. I have five multies. There's no fighting between them, i.e. if there are more than one male he hasn't been driven out of the colony. All five live close to each other in the shells. One of the larger ones like to visit the other four, but that's about it. It doesn't go into the smaller ones' shells.

I feed the fish daily using New Life Spectrum. I do a 30 percent water change once a week.

What can I do to get the multies to actually start breeding or is it too soon or could it be that of the five . . . I have all females?

They must be comfortable with the tank because there are tons of shells buried now. I'm thinking if they were uncomfortable they'd spend all their time not digging, but they dig a lot basically re-arranging the bottom of the tank.

So, any ideas? Besides me taking a Valium to chill?


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## Achaea (Jan 1, 2004)

Ok nix that.

I just checked my tank and . . . one of the small ones has two fry.

Go figure. I haven't seen anything and now today there are two hoovering with her by her shell.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

:lol: I'm glad, because I sure didn't have any advice for you! :wink: It sounds like you were doing everything right! :thumb:


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## Achaea (Jan 1, 2004)

I was getting nervous because everyone says multies breed easily, and here it was nada. I was debating if I should starve them for a week, or if I should try another food to get them in the mood, or if during water changes I was suppose to fill the tank with water that was colder than the regular temp or warmer than the regular temp.

So, I'm just glad I see two. I figure if they've spawned once, they will spawn again.

Now I can focus on the next project . . . getting my tempermental furcifer pair to spawn.


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

watch the water changes fish from the tang lake dont like alot of water changes do a 25% change about every two to three weeks is enough


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I don't find that is true, I do 50% weekly or 75% if I miss a week.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

pcrawford1044 said:


> fish from the tang lake dont like alot of water changes


...I'd love to hear an explanation of that one.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I do 50% weekly WC, and sometimes more when I skip a week. Tap water conditioner, finger tested temp, and a spoonful of baking soda and salt... no problems here!


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

wow thats pretty gutsy!! and unnecessary!


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Nothing wrong with big waterchanges as long as you match temp and pH and dechlorinate sometimes do 90% ones on raising tanks. Lower nitrate = faster growth. Nitrate levels in the lake are unmeasurably low below 1 ppm so why subject them to higher than that, that weekly 25% subjects them too?
Not saying large or small waterchanges are wrong just different things work best for different folk. :wink:

But also in a lowly populated multie tank 25% a week would be more than fine 

What Tangs do not like is not large waterchanges but changes in pH and temperature. :thumb:


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## jh82 (Oct 26, 2007)

My multies aren't phased by large water changes one bit. Including the tiny fry. Calvus and Comps do seem to sensitive to water changes, especially when they're small.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

pcrawford1044 said:


> wow thats pretty gutsy!! and unnecessary!


Unnecessary for whom? :wink: My fish show better color and behavior with cleaner water, and there's nothing gutsy about it, just time consuming to keep up with it in 7 tanks. 

I try to keep my nitrates below 20 in my established tanks, and that requires large, regular water changes. Nitrate isn't toxic to fish at low concentrations, but measuring nitrate buildup works as a proxy for other contaminates and waste products that build up from organic waste and decay.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

triscuit said:


> I do 50% weekly WC, and sometimes more when I skip a week. Tap water conditioner, finger tested temp, and a spoonful of baking soda and salt... no problems here!


That's how I do it, but I usually only do 20% changes and I don't add a buffer. People often overestimate the fragility of their fish.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

I usually do 30-40% a week no buffers here either.


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## millphoto (Jan 21, 2009)

I just do 10% each week and my multies are breeding like crazy!!


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