# Breeding



## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Hi All. I am finding this website very informative as I am new this hobby. I always find some useful information from here and from all you respectable and experienced members.
I am from Chandigarh, India and working with Dell Computers.
I currently have 3 tanks runings.
The main tank is 5 feet*1.8 feet*2 feet.
I have white sand as substrate and the tank is decorated with stone, arti. plants, and toys (will post a pic).
I have cichlid community, following is the fish, sizewise (Bigger first)
1 tiger oscar male
1 Red devil Nt sure
1 trimac female
1 Dovii (Jaguar)
2 Pike (climbing perch)
2 convict ( pink and zebra both male)
1 senegal
1 pleco

The tank has hiding places as well.
I have never experienced breeding cichlids before, however I really want to.
Kindly guide me, how to go about it.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

First you are going to want to setup two aquariums. One for the purpose of breeding and one for the growing out of fry. The size of each tank depends on the type of fish you want to breed.

For Lake Malawi cichlids, they are often harem spawners with one or two males and 3-6 females. This will require a 30-40 gallon tank at the minimum for most species. To grow out the fry a 20 gallon tank will work fine.

For Lake Tanganyikan cichlids, they are often pair spawners with one male and one female. This can be done in as small as a 10 gallon to as large as a 75 gallon depending on species. Some species are quite aggressive or need large areas to build bowers or display in. A 10-20 gallon tank is good for raising fry.

All of the cichlids on your list are however Central American or South American species and not African at all. These will easily need a 40 gallon or larger tank in order to breed and you will need a male and female pair to spawn. The Centrals are considerably more aggressive and it may be necessary to put a divider in the tank to keep the male and female separate so they don't kill each other when not breeding.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.
Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank You Andy for your suggestions.
I am more towards pair spawners.
I love their behavior and colors during the activity.
I have 1-2 spare tanks with 20 -30 gallons capacity.
What would you suggest for a start.
Shall I try with convicts first?


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Convicts are one of the easiest fish to spawn. A 10 gallon is all you need but a 20 is better. All you need is a male, female and a flat rock or flowerpot for them to spawn on.

The fry are robust and can take finely crushed flake food right from the start.

Not sure what their value is in India but because they are so commonplace in the U.S. they really have no market value though.

Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank you for inputs, Andy.
I am a beginner in breeding so as you said, cons are an easy fruit.
They do not have much market value here as well.
I have two males, pink and zebra, 3 and 4 inches respectively,
The pink is in my tank from last 6 months, I will try to get a female this weekend and set up a tank.
Shal I put both males and some females in the same tank or how do I start, plz suggest.
Will keep posting in the same thread.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I would pick one male and put in one female. Convict females are easy to spot by their rosy bellies. They should get along ok and probably breed for you within a few weeks if the female is mature and in good condition. If the female is not very ripe you can get her conditioned with some live foods like blackworms, daphnia, or chopped earthworms.

Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank You, Andy.
I will visit LFS to look for a healthy female.
can I cross a pink male with a zebra female or vice versa?


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

I work with Dell and do night shifts.
Woke up at 1 and searched all the LFS around here but no avail. 
I saw meeki at one LFS however the size is very small, 1.5 inches approx.
Its hard to sex them for me but I can get a school of 4-5 fish. 
Does it makes any sense to give them a tank of their own and try to spawn at this size or shall I wait for the bigger size, female convict seems to be a little long wait.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

You can interbreed different color varieties of convicts. They are all still the same species. Just different color morphs.

If you get 4-5 young firemouths at 1-1.5" it will be the better part of a year at least until they start spawning. You could do it in a 20 gallon tank if you wanted.

Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks Andy
I was bit confused, but let me go with Meeki first.
Will keep posted.
I can be found on facebook.


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

I think a mod should move this to Central American forum. Also take the advice what the others said and get 4-5 meeki's. Though I would not advise a breeding pair in a 20 long. A 29 would be my absolute minimum.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I do agree that this should be moved out of African cichlids since we are not talking about Africans at all.

As far as minimum tank size that is all very subjective. When I bred mine I did it in a Biocube 14 which has a 12.5 gallon capacity. I raised several spawns before I moved them out to make room for new fish. Bigger is always better but it's hard to justify what is a minimum.

I also know that the former ACA Best in Show Firemouth (and winner of many other contests) spent it's entire life in a 20High. Although I do not know if he ever bred the fish.

Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Hi, How do I request to the Mod's to move it to CA.
Anyhow there is an exciting news this weekend.
One of my friends, broke his 3 feeter tank and I rehomed the fish till he gets a new tank. Following is the stock.
1 Flower-horn 8-9 inches,
1 Dovii, 6 inches, jaguar, female
salvini, tilapia, and a trimac.
I have flower-horn and trimac in one tank, 45 liters, and they are behaving strange.
They seem to be a pair, trimac has made a next by removing the sand aside, I have kept a small cave there, female goes there first, comes out and then male repeats the same.
Please advise.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Since Flowerhorns are descended from a trimac cross it is possible they are breeding.

Be forewarned that these fish are extremely aggressive and there is a good possibility that they will kill off every other resident of the tank.

Andy


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank you Andy.
Kindly help me to move this to Central American forum.
I have kept the pair with a pleco only, shall I remove it too?


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank you Mods for moving the article.
I will welcome valuable suggestions from all members.
Thank You,
Henrique.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

The mods are the only ones who can move the thread and they should see this soon.

I would remove the pleco.


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## Henrique.Jones (Dec 27, 2013)

They seem to be quite comfortable with each other by now, they dig in sand and made a nest, but there seem to be nothing....
However I have kept an artificial cave adjacent to the nest, in which the female keep coming and going.
I cant see inside the cave as it is facing away from me, can there be eggs?


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