Tank Size For Breeding Apistos

[Spank]

My apisoto's look as if they are about to breed again so I'm planning to buy a breeding tank for them to rais the fry in. The plan is to wait for the pair to spawn then transfer the mother and eggs to the tank.

So I need some information on what sort of equipment i'll need, like what tank size should I look for? will a 10GL be fine or maybe something a little bigger? and will the fish need all your normal creature comforts like substrate, lights etc, or will a bare tank, heater and filter do?

Thanks for the advice
Hank

 

[mikster]

I have recently bred some apistos, i have a pari of cacatuoides in a 29 gallon community tank, and then transfered the fry in the cave to a 15 gallon tank, the tank has a a bare bottom, 2 air powered sponger filters and a peice of bogwood with a couple of plants on and then a big mass of java moss. The plants and wood arent that essential but will help getting little organisms in the tank for the fry to feed on when small, i would say java moss would be a necessary, try and get the tank running as soon as possible with lights on quite a bit so u can get some algae growth which will help produce small organisms for them to feed on, so basically u need a heater, a sponge filter (make sure its rated larger than the volume of the tank as it will be overstocked when they are grown up) and some java moss/plants, dont crowd the tank too much with stuff as it will be harder to clean, what species were you going to breed and what is your water like?

EDIT 10 gallon should be fine, when they are small a smaller tank is good for making sure they feed properly but as they grow a bigger tank is essential to dilute waste and give them enough space.

 

[Tolak]

I bred cacatouides in a 20 gallon, traded some of the fry to a buddy of mine & he has them breeding well in a 10 gallon. Make sure you have some caves & such, a small overturned clay pot with a notch in the bottom so they can get in & out works good. I fed mine bbs, and as with all fry tanks filtered with a sponge filter.

 

[Spank]

Thanks for the help guys

Well my Apisto. Hongsloi are always at it like rabbits but in the community tank their eggs are eaten by loaches so I've never had a proper chance to breed them properly.

Water's fine, I use RO water so I can tailor the fry water to whatever their needs are. What would you recommend in terms of pH?
My community tank is at pH 6.45, and is controlled via pressurised CO2 and a pH controller. Maintaining this sort of pH in a 10gallon's going to be difficult I think.

 

[mikster]

Im no expert to be honest and its more about water hardness i think, if its under 7 and not hard then you will probably be ok, mine are A. cacatuoides and they breed in a ph of over 7 with very hard water.

 

[thegnu]

The pH of RO water depends, i think, on the pH of the tap water used. My tap water's pH is 7.4 and after going through my RO unit has a pH of 6.4. I put a short nylon stocking full of sphagnum moss peat in the 20L collecting bucket of RO water to help with re-mineralizing as much as anything. Water from a good RO unit should have a GH of nil and a KH of nil. I put a tiny amount of Kent RO right in my tank once every 2 months. Its an 88G tank, been set up for 2 years and has a constant pH of 5.8. Anything of around 5.5-6.0 would be good for A. hongsloi i think. At least with a small tank its much easier to rectify the pH if you do have trouble. You wont be using CO2 in your breeding tank will you?