Beautiful Fish!

[TheHolding]

Awww, I paid £6 for a pair

Private breeders > LFS. Though I now work part time in the aquatics deparment of a Garden Centre and hoping to improve the quality of the stock at present, so will be trying to up the standards.

£6 is a great deal do you have "super reds" mine were labelled as "super reds" but having a look at google they look more like "double reds".

What pH do you keep yours in? I'm gradually lowering mine they are in 7.2 at the mo.

My pair are currently 1.5 inches - males get to 3 inches so maybe his colours aren't fully blossoming yet.

I hope these guys easily breed as would earn some good £ selling them.

 

[Always Learning]

A PH of 7, but I'm thinking of setting up another tank of their own, buying a couple more females and setting up to be a little love nest for them.

They're meant to be super and the parents were gorgeous. Likewise, they're just starting to really colour up now and they're a similar size to yours, so time will tell. But with the parents, I have a good start at least.

 

[stang1]

One thing I learnt from keeping Cockatoo cichlids was keeping them in pairs rather than harems. Everywhere I read suggested keeping at least two females with a male but I never had any success. I tried it twice and on both occassions, one of the females was bullied and the other killed.
I'm not saying to not try it, just keep a close eye on them.

 

[TheHolding]

Sounds good, i will upload some pics of mine tomorrow!

Is your female territorial? Mine is extremly territorial, she has her own section in the tank.

 

[Always Learning]

She's not really no, but then she's not afraid of anyone either. He's still the boss over her, but as we all know, it soon changes when he wants to get his wicked way on a regular basis

 

[TheHolding]

She's not really no, but then she's not afraid of anyone either. He's still the boss over her, but as we all know, it soon changes when he wants to get his wicked way on a regular basis

Mine tolerates him and they seem to like each other problem is my betta smaragdine like her hiding place unfortunately she is unwilling to share!!

 

[OldMan47]

A very nice caucatoides you have in that picture. Apistogramma are something I have never ventured to try but I can easily understand the attraction of them. They are just gorgeous fish.

 

[TheHolding]

My cichlids are acting very strange the female has taken refuge under a coconut shell she is extremely violent and attacks any fish that comes near the shell.

The male is equally aggressive he swims around the tank chasing other fish, I wonder if they have spawned and protecting the eggs?

 

[didz04]

Yeah that is very likely how you say it is. If they are both really aggressive then they are likely to have spawned. Congrats, but tell us once you see babies just to confirm it

 

[TheHolding]

I will have to buy some food before they hatch what should I order?

I will try and get pics of the parents tomorrow.

 

[stang1]

You could try Liquifry, although crushing up a high protein fish food will be more than good enough.

 

[TheHolding]

Thanks Stang, I will be happy if they have spawned, have only had them 2 weeks, the female is bright Ellie at the moment with a thick black band accross her body.

She's a lot more colourful than when I first got her.

 

[stang1]

Sounds like she has her spawning colours. The female generally takes on a brighter yellow colour and the dark band becomes a lot more prominent.
Fingers crossed that they have bred, let us know if they have

 

[didz04]

Pictures would be really nice of the fry after the real Congrats I have a feeling to that my jewel cichlids are upto something, I made a new topic on them but no response so not sure yet.

 

[TheHolding]

Cool didz hopefully your fish have spawned too.

I have fallen in love with the dwarf cockatoos they are awesome characters recommend them to anyone! They are getting more attention than my brackish tank at the moment!