Re: 3.5 and 10 gal raising A. caca

["alex pastor" <alexp@idirect.com>]

Is it really not possible for you to buy a 20gallon long tank?  That way you
can breed them in the 20 and put him in the 10 (if necessary). When they
want to spawn again put them both in the ten, or her after she is no longer
actively looking after the fry anymore.

If you are serious about breeding these fish, you should buy yourself a good
book about them  There is "South American Dwarf Cichlids" by Hans J. Mayland
and Dieter Bork, or  "Complete Book of Dwarf Cichlids" by Hans-Joachim
Richter.  The second book is easier to read.  It's not all full of genetics
and determining species differentiation.  It also tells you about the better
ways to keep these fish.

You see there is a difference between a "breeding tank" and a "grow out
tank".  If you succeed in getting your fish to spawn, then you will have
quite a lot of fry.  Eventually they need more space or they just won't
grow.

(O.K. people on the list, these are my experiences and I know that you guys
do things all in your own ways as well.)  Since you are on the Apisto list,
you should be able to get a lot of information from the other people on this
list.  They are very knowledgeable and have had many years, and even
decades, of experience raising these types fish.

I had 80 fry in a 30 gallon tank.  After 4 months only a handful were
actually growing past the two month size. So, I had to split them up in
separate tanks.  This can be done in different ways of course,  but I put
them in batches of 20 into a 65.  They grew to saleable size in 2 months.

So you see, raising Dwarf Cichlids can be quite labor intensive.  That is
why they are generally far more expensive than other more common fish.  They
also take longer to reach adulthood.  Keeping and raising Apistogramma
species is addictive and fun.  (When are addictions no fun?)  Sometimes I'd
like to know how many people on this list just 'happened upon' these sweet
little fish, and ended up from owning just one aquarium to 10,24, 60.... I'm
sure the stories would be quite entertaining.  They probably all start out
with "I saw this fish, and knew that I just MUST have it...so..."

As an aside: I have some Apisto borrellii that were born in October.  They
live in a 120 gallon tank, and they have already reached the size of their
mother.  They are not yet sexually mature, so they are not breeding yet, but
they grew a lot faster than borelliis I was raising in a 30 gallon tank.
So, the more room they have, the faster they grow.








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