Apistogramma Cacatuoides Have Bred

[mikster]

After a few weeks of courtship my dwarf cockatoo cichlids have finally bred and i have some tiny fry, i first noticed them on monday morning but i think they might have been swimming on sunday as i noticed the female acting strangley at the back left corner of the tank.

There is a little enclosed area in the back left corner that is protected from most sides by plants and bogwood and is protected at the top by the filter and the female is using this as a nursery area and all the other fish are being kept at the opposite end of the tank (tank is 29 USG).

So far i have been using liquifry squirted in there direction with a pipette and then today i have harvested copepods from another tank using a peice of corgette as bait and then using a pipette to suck them up and i have squirted these in the direction of the fry also, dunno if they are big enough to eat them yet but its worth a try, ive got some BBS eggs on the way off ebay and ive made a DIY hatcher but they seem to be doing ok so far.

Just witnessed some great parental care, about 30 minutes before i was going to turn the light off the female began collecting the fry one by one in her mouth and taking them back to the cave (over turned easter island statue).

Will try and get some photos but its difficult as there feeding area is at the back of the tank and not very accessible to my camera

 

[Waterbox]

congratulations. I bet it is a lot of fun to watch.

 

[stang1]

Congratulations! Look forward to pics!

 

[angelmouse]

Well done, thats great. Love to see pictures
Angel

 

[mikster]

Short video, they are more visible when the mum appears half way through.

http/s145.photobucket.com/albums/r207/mi...nt=Video001.flv

 

[thefirethief]

Congratulations Mike! Nice video. What other fish do they share the tank with?

 

[mikster]

in there with them are 6 corydoras sterbai (they arent fond of these and keep them confined under one of those resin tree root things alot of the time, the corys dont seem to mind too much though and i make sure they get food, then theres 6 cardinal tetras, they dont seem to bother these much mainly because the apistos are bottom dwellers and the tetras are more in the middle, they occasionally warn them off though. Next up is the Bristlenose plec, he just stays under the resin root and doesnt bother anyone, just comes out for food, hes about 4 inches so no one will mess with him any ways. and then finally ive got about 4 amano shrimp and one ghost shrimp.

 

[stang1]

Fantastic video Mike!

 

[Waterbox]

Cool vid, and sweet looking cockatoo! I have to get some now for SURE. All the pics of females I have seen don't look as bright as yours. Cool

 

[jayjay]

I'm going to try and get a few more of these (only have a female left at the moment) and I hope to have some success breeding them.

Congrats on the fry. The video makes me want them even more You are keeping yours are a pair aren't you? I'm going to have a 30g with some BN plec's and a group of apisto's, I'm not sure on numbers to try really though.

 

[mikster]

Yeah i have a pair, the shop would only sell me them as a pair, stuff ive read suggests the best method is like 2 or 3 females to 1 male though, i think ive only got a handful of fry still alive, ive hatched some bbs but its hard to know if they are getting it in such a big tank. Im going away in a weeks time for two weeks any ways and if they spawn again when i come back i will separate the fry into another tank and try and raise them.

 

[DarkEntity]

Id love to get some more Cockatoo Apistos....i might get shot of my Cherry Barbs and Blue Rams and get Apistos.

 

[mikster]

Quick update , ive got about 5 of the fry left but they are developing well and are now able to eat BBS, my only problem is im going on holiday on sunday, my sister has been learning well though and hopefully she will be able to do a good job looking after all my fish. Will try and get some photos sometime but the fish are small so its difficult even with macro mode.