Apistos Breeding! X3!

[Whitey_144]

Hi all,

I've had a 30G Amazon tank now for about 5months, I have 20 cardinal tetras, 5 angelfish and 3 apistos (1M,2F). I use an RO unit to keep water as neutral as possible (my tap is high PH). The slightly larger female has spawned for the 3rd time (that i know of) today, the 1st spawn had about 5 and i was unprepared so they didnt lsat that long. 2nd spawn i had a breeding net ready, i caught 3 and put them in but i think the netting was too open? or the other fish sucked them through?? basically they disappeared although it doesnt look like they shouldve fallen through. today's batch i tried to suck up and i put them in a fish net inside the breeding net, only caught about 4, i think i may have killed a few too
there are 4 are still with the mum.

http/s1080.photobu...nt=DSC01726.jpg

Please could someone helps me with some questions.

- how many fry do apistos cockatoos have in each spawn on average? in today's spawn i saw about 15
- how quick can they spawn again, i think it's about 2 weeks since last?
- can anyone recommend what food to give the fry in the net, i have frozen food, but not access to baby brineshrimp etc, are there any good fry food in a bottle on ebay?
- if the fry could dodge the other fish, would the ones in the tank find food on moss etc?
- what's the easiest way to catch them without stressing the mum? sucking them up today didn't work and the mum took a trip down the hose too!

I'm not too bothered about saving all the spawn, but i've never bread egglayers before so i'd like to grow maybe 1 or 2 spawnings on.

I'm soon going to setup a 4foot tank, my original plan was to keep a pair of angelfish (once they pair up) in the 30G and put the other 3 in the 4foot with cardinals. But now I'm thinking of putting all the fish in the 4foot and keep the apistos in the 30G, that way i could fish out the dad and other female when there is a spawn and grow them all on, do you think this is a good plan? not sure if the 5 angelfish would get too cramped too soon in the 4foot.

Thanks for any help!
Whitey

 

[minnnt]

Lol @ the mum taking a trip sorry.

Crushed up Tetra Prima works well for feeding fry as it tends to sink after a few seconds.

I would say breeding could take place every 4-6 weeks quite easily.

Best way i have found of removing fry is just catching them with a fish net and putting them in their new home.

 

[Whitey_144]

Lol @ the mum taking a trip sorry.

Crushed up Tetra Prima works well for feeding fry as it tends to sink after a few seconds.

I would say breeding could take place every 4-6 weeks quite easily.

Best way i have found of removing fry is just catching them with a fish net and putting them in their new home.

lol, yeah it was probably a fun ride, but i did have a second of panic thinking he might get stuck!

I've bought some liquifry food and crushed bloodwrod granules from ebay, in the meantime i'll crush some flake and hopefully i may be able to raise a couple!

I think the 2nd female's about to come out her cave with a spawn too! great having one at each end of the tank!

 

[minnnt]

Yes you are very lucky to have the trio working perfectly as it should! Well done!

 

[ALW]

Tbh i dont think you will have much luck. The fry will be eaten by the Angelfish soon as they go back into the tank. How big are the Tetras? How big are the Angelfish? Do you know that Angelfish feed on tetras in the wild so dont be surprised if they start going missing.