Help Needed With Cichild Breeding!

[Cichlid Ben]

Hi everyone, this is my first topic im about to post!!! I am very keen on trying to breed Cichlids and have read a lot about it, i am currently in the progress in changing my tank of which is a juwel 180 litre viewing glass, to what the cichlids are used to like caves and rocks and lots of hiding places which i think is going ok, in my tank at the moment are 3 rainbow cichlids and 3 firemouthss of which are only 8 weeks old and then i have a 1 foot long plec, which am in the progress of seeing whether the sea-life centre are intrested in re-homing him as he is too big for my tank now, 3 silver sharks and a 4inch catfish of which he will eat any small fish such as tetras. Will cichlids breed with these fish in or am i right in thinking to get the 3 silver sharks out, big plec out and the catfish to give my cichlids a better chance of breeding, i know there a bit young yet but would like them to grow up happy so in the future they can breed or will these fish im thinking to take out not even bother the cichlids as i know they are good at fending off other fish that sniff around there fry? Hope all this made sense and hope somebody can help me, many thanks, the newbie Cichlid Ben

 

[OldMan47]

If your rainbow cichlids are this kind, feed them lots of fresh veggies and keep their water clean and get out of the way. When I want mine to breed, I just grab a handful of duckweed from each of my other tanks and float it in their tank. The greedy pigs will eat every scrap very quickly, but it seems to get them in the mood to breed. Mine are not very good parents beyond the first day or two so I siphon off the fry that I want to raise and rear them in a separate tank.
The group of my rainbows

Proud parent with new fry

The black half of the body is a breeding only color. This is the same fish as the one at the far left in the first picture. When they flash that black lower body color in the tank, all the other fish leave the area. At first the other fish pay no attention, but by the time the fry hatch, the rainbows have them all trained. Unfortunately I had a betta that was a slow learner. He is fine now but he looked like a female for a while there.

 

[snowflake311]

If you really want to breed the less fish in the tank the better. Some fish will spwan in a comunity tank others might not.

What fish are looking to breed. You should not keep 2 breeding pairs in a tank together that's just going to be a mess with too much drama. Pick one type of fish get a few young ones let them pair off keep the pair and wait. Keep the water perfect and give the fish what they need.

Your tank IMO is too small for all thoes fish once matured.

 

[Joshi39]

I just recently had my gts spawn in a community aquarium and i have two yellow labs two peppermint plecos albino shark and redtail shark, the mother quickly let everyone know to stay away from the eggs ad they did!!! once they became wrigglers i syphoned them into a breeding net but had dramas with holes in the net so i lost a fair few, had around 30, but today only have 10 from that, and they have just become free swimming, this is my first EVER spawn with any fish so im happy to have ten out of it!!! i have only had aquariums for just under 3 months, so its all a learning curve!! wasnt expecting them to spawn but they did!! Just remember good water quality and good food is the answer imo! and if they wanna pair and spawn they will! Good luck its amazing to watch the breeding cycle!!!

 

[Cichlid Ben]

If your rainbow cichlids are this kind, feed them lots of fresh veggies and keep their water clean and get out of the way. When I want mine to breed, I just grab a handful of duckweed from each of my other tanks and float it in their tank. The greedy pigs will eat every scrap very quickly, but it seems to get them in the mood to breed. Mine are not very good parents beyond the first day or two so I siphon off the fry that I want to raise and rear them in a separate tank.
The group of my rainbows

Proud parent with new fry

The black half of the body is a breeding only color. This is the same fish as the one at the far left in the first picture. When they flash that black lower body color in the tank, all the other fish leave the area. At first the other fish pay no attention, but by the time the fry hatch, the rainbows have them all trained. Unfortunately I had a betta that was a slow learner. He is fine now but he looked like a female for a while there.

hi, thank you for your answer oldman47 really helpfull, i live in the uk and not familuar with duckweed, where could i get some from in the uk please? Do you have a link where i could purchase some please?

yes these rainbows are the same as mine but cant tell what sex they are at the moment as they are quite young, lovely fish though, brilliant photos!

If you really want to breed the less fish in the tank the better. Some fish will spwan in a comunity tank others might not.

What fish are looking to breed. You should not keep 2 breeding pairs in a tank together that's just going to be a mess with too much drama. Pick one type of fish get a few young ones let them pair off keep the pair and wait. Keep the water perfect and give the fish what they need.

Your tank IMO is too small for all thoes fish once matured.

Hi thanks for your reply, great help, i would like to keep all different types of south american cichlids as i love all types, do u mean there will be too much breeding going on or to much fighting? I would like to breed rainbow and firemouths.

 

[snowflake311]

If you really want to breed the less fish in the tank the better. Some fish will spwan in a comunity tank others might not.

What fish are looking to breed. You should not keep 2 breeding pairs in a tank together that's just going to be a mess with too much drama. Pick one type of fish get a few young ones let them pair off keep the pair and wait. Keep the water perfect and give the fish what they need.

Your tank IMO is too small for all thoes fish once matured.

Hi thanks for your reply, great help, i would like to keep all different types of south american cichlids as i love all types, do u mean there will be too much breeding going on or to much fighting? I would like to breed rainbow and firemouths.
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Yes way too much fighting and stress. you could split the tank but really it is not large enough for all thoes fish full grown. Just stick to breeding the rainbows. Or get another tank for your firemouth.