Hi, i have a spare tank its 3ft length x 2ft height x 1ft depth i was just wondering if it was suitable to use as a breeding tank and if so what could i breed?
It will consist of sand and rocks

I want the parents to raise the fry until the fry reaches adulthood or at least a nice size (if possible)
I was thinkin of some type of mouth brooder but i dont know if you have to seperate the young from parents at a certain age?

If the tanks suitable please give me some suggestions on whats good to breed, thanks

That's a good tank I would look at Kribenis. They will rear their young With african mbuna you usually take the parents out and raise the young yourself.

With mbuna they usually put the female in a tank of her own while she's holding. After she spits the fry some put her in another little tank to feed her well and get her strength back up before she goes back to the main tank (females generally don't eat the whole 2-4 weeks they are holding). Or you can use a breeder cage thing that hangs on the inside of the tank and put her in that. Otherwise she may try to eat the babies, especially after not eating for so long.

Ive bred kribs once before and the dad killed them all after a year and half, i shoulda seperated them (i know now) but i did get mixed messages when people said they had raised krib fry and left them in the tank with mum and dad and they was ok

I want to breed something i can leave in with parents but if its not possible then damn!

My mate suggested red tops, they are nice i currently have a blue ice red top zebra and a hongi both male so might see if i can get hold of some females for either one of them

I once transferred Mbuna with fry in the mouth without realizing..... Only noticed when I put it in the new tank the fry was spat out....

I haven't kept any Lake Tanganikya cichlids personally, but I know there are a few species that will raise their young. I think most of the shelldwellers will allow their young to stay around, you might try researching them.

There are more types of Africans out there that you could try then I could count. Take a look at some of the Copadachromis species from Lake Malawi. Their breeding behavior is quite interesting. Try a nice colony of xmas fulu from the Victoria region. A little hard to find but well worth the effort.

yea kribs are a good fish but they may take a few times in order to get it right

but some shell dwellers will raise there fry and you can keep them in there long term. like multies. but other shellies like occies will drive off fry after they get to mature

& multies seem to be very entertaining to watch as well