Starting an African cichlid progression thread

[mudbuttjones]

For the first time since November when I switched my 75 out for a 90 with a 40b sump, I've been able to catch a female and isolate her before she spit the fry out. Im really excited.

I've got them in a breeder net in my sump.

I'll be posting periodical updates.

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[elting44]

Very cool! Look forward to seeing their progress!

 

[mudbuttjones]

I had some hikari first bites left over from when I had a breeding pair of bolivian rams.

I was feeding them hikari first bites, but they seem to be doing well on Omega One flakes. Ive been crushing them up a little bit and feeding the fry 2x a day. They totally devour the little crumbs. The nice thing is that they are in my sump, they can grow out in there and the parameters are identical to the display. I can go nuts feeding them because the system can handle an extreme bioload versus if I had them in a 10g with a sponge filter.

Does anyone have a recommendation of a better food to feed them? I've raised lots of African fry with whatever I had on hand.

Live food is out of the question for now. Money is tight, my wife and I are working opposite shifts, and I'm stuck all morning taking care of a newborn by my self, so it's a miracle in itself that I'm able to get a pinch of food in the tank lol.


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[elting44]

I'd say stick to the Omega One flakes if they are eating it, no need to change. What sp of Africans are they?

 

[mudbuttjones]

I'd say stick to the Omega One flakes if they are eating it, no need to change. What sp of Africans are they?

The thing is when I set my first african cichlid tank up a few years ago I didn't have much money left over for stock and I ended up buying lots of "assorted cichlids" from per smart or wherever. Since then I've bought lots of named species and haven't had any luck breeding them.


This is the mom. I bought her like 3 years ago at Walmart while grocery shopping. Lol. And she's been my most prolific breeding female. No idea on the specifics.


This is the dad. I bred him from an albino zebra and a kenyi I am pretty sure.



Coming along nicely.

I'm not a serious breeder, they just do it on their own. I can't stop them. I know a lot of guys on here are against mixing or hybridization. .. but this is just stuff I do for fun and keep in my own tanks. And to be honest it's not like I started out with any heirloom species

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[mudbuttjones]

About 3 weeks old.

I lost 2 fry about a week in, not 100% sure why, but the rest seem ok


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[duanes]

I take a few shell-less peas, thaw them in tank water, mix in pellet dust and frappe, shoot into into the fry area with a turkey baster or pipette