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Hello everyone...
Here's an observation that I would really
appreciate some feedback on. I don't know if its just me, but I
find buying pairs of dwarf cichlids does not work. I've never had success
(breeding) in apistos that I've bought in "pairs". The first "pair" that i
got was A. bitaeniata at a fish convention. The "female" turned out
to be a subdominant male, and was promptly killed...the larger fish
later died. Next, I bought a pair of A. borelli, as I'd heard
they were easy to breed (lucky i didn't buy the pair of A.
agassizii "Alenquer"...), and the female died a couple weeks later, still don't
know why...the male followed dutifully and quickly after.
Anyway, my latest venture has been with a pair of
A. cacatuoides "orange". For the first time I thought I'd got a viable
pair. Then I introduced a couple corys and I found the female dead the
next morning. The nice male survived...and i was hunting for a good
replacement female. The only problem was that the shop that stocked the
fish only sold apistos as "pairs only" and wouldn't sell me an extra
female. Well, i got lucky once as i counted all the fish in the latest
shipment and found one extra female, and I took the fish home. Anyway,
this time I wanted to make sure the female wouldn't die (or until after she had
at least spawned...) so I kept her in her own 20 gal aquarium for 3 weeks,
feeding frozen BW and BShrimp as well as BBS. As the female grew plump
with eggs, I netted the male and placed him in the tank with her. The
female was so desperate to spawn that she immediately started displaying to
him. The male looked a bit quisy...but I was sure a spawn was imminent
(hey, what male in his right mind wouldn't want to get it on with a ripe
female?). Anyway, I went downstairs the next day (today) and found his
nice carcass on the bottom of the tank...
Is it just mmmmeeeee?? Has anyone had success
spawning with just a pair of apistos? If so, how?
If my experiences mean anything, buying just a pair
will hardly ever work. Especially for beginners it might seem enticing
(you pay less for just a pair than a group), but in the end it will be much
more beneficial to spend the extra little money (or in my case,
find a source who would sell more than "pairs only") to get a group, than
to have one fish die and dash your hopes for fry. In a group, the fish
will have a much better chance to survive against violence (i.e. fighting spread
out), and you can afford to lose a fish or two and still got one or two good
pairs.
What do you think?
regards
Sam Yung
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