Keyholes Breeding

[i lov angelfish123]

my keyholes laid eggs 2 days ago it was their first time but the next morning the eggs where gone do you know if and when they will spawn again and can i have some info on helping the young survive their in a 67 gallon community

 

[KittyKat]

They will spawn again, but young of any cichlid species rarely survive in a community environment. Also, cichlids which are not raised by their parents often fail to breed and raise their young, and a lot of fish coming from wholesalers have been raised artificially.

In short, you need a dedicated, ideally 3*1*1 ft aquarium with a sponge filter, heavily planted, with a 2-5 mm layer of sand (or bare bottomed), plenty of bogwood and you will probably have success on their 3-5 spawning attempt. If you feed the keyholes live food once every 2-3 days, they should spawn again within 2 weeks.

 

[minnnt]

Great advice as always KK!

I would be tempted to set them up on their own as said by KK, let them settle in then do a 50% water change with colder water than their tank is at. This may help to initiate spawning as alot of fish spawn when fresh rainfall occurs (replicated by a cooler water change) Give them a few chances to get it right. Once you have free swimming fry, leave them all in the same tank with mum and dad for about a month then remove the parents to your other tank.

Kat, can i ask why so little substrate? Also if going heavily planted you would be limited to floating/plants on wood/rocks etc with no substrate?!

 

[KittyKat]

Kat, can i ask why so little substrate? Also if going heavily planted you would be limited to floating/plants on wood/rocks etc with no substrate?!

Because if for some reason the sand suddenly needs to be removed, it is easier to do so when there is only a little bit of it as it can by syphoned out during a normal water change. The only reason for wanting to do that which comes to mind at right this moment is some sort of algae problem.

No, I do not mean restricted to floaters I pot the plants I keep in breeding tanks.. by pot, I mean that I sometimes use ceramic pots and sometimes I use the mesh pots (which plants sometimes come in). I add the plants to them, then tie to the side with some thread and weigh down with a stone.. complicated, but I find that this is easier to maintain than a fully planted breeding tank. Also, my breeding tanks are forever going up and down, depending on what I'm doing at the time, so keeping a permanently planted set-up is not an option. The plants come from my main display (I usually use Crypts, but then I've only ever had them melt once when they were being moved) and I just sell them off when I'm done with the tank.

I am not saying that the only way to do it, but I have found that dedicated breeding tanks work best if they are set up like that, with the plants filling 1/2 - 2/3 of the area (from one end of the tank) and the other end is clear with a few suitable spawning sites in the plants and out of the plants. This sort of set up is not much good for observing the fish, but it seems to make them feel most at home.

 

[minnnt]

Kat, can i ask why so little substrate? Also if going heavily planted you would be limited to floating/plants on wood/rocks etc with no substrate?!

Because if for some reason the sand suddenly needs to be removed, it is easier to do so when there is only a little bit of it as it can by syphoned out during a normal water change. The only reason for wanting to do that which comes to mind at right this moment is some sort of algae problem.

No, I do not mean restricted to floaters I pot the plants I keep in breeding tanks.. by pot, I mean that I sometimes use ceramic pots and sometimes I use the mesh pots (which plants sometimes come in). I add the plants to them, then tie to the side with some thread and weigh down with a stone.. complicated, but I find that this is easier to maintain than a fully planted breeding tank. Also, my breeding tanks are forever going up and down, depending on what I'm doing at the time, so keeping a permanently planted set-up is not an option. The plants come from my main display (I usually use Crypts, but then I've only ever had them melt once when they were being moved) and I just sell them off when I'm done with the tank.

I am not saying that the only way to do it, but I have found that dedicated breeding tanks work best if they are set up like that, with the plants filling 1/2 - 2/3 of the area (from one end of the tank) and the other end is clear with a few suitable spawning sites in the plants and out of the plants. This sort of set up is not much good for observing the fish, but it seems to make them feel most at home.

Brilliant, thankyou very much Kat. Never thought of just sticking the plants in the tank still in the pots.