Impossible to breed in this setup?

[jandb]

I've been wondering if I ever have any chance of something spawning in this setup? Most of these guys aren't mature yet but there are a ton of relatively easy spawners like geophagus and Severums. I also have a bunch of acaras, specs and even central longear sunfish. There's a decent amount of cover and plenty of rocks but also a ton of fish that would enjoy a meal of eggs. The tank is 144"x36"x24" tall. The 9 clown loaches are very nibby and the wide bars are always looking for food. What do you think? What would improve my chances?

 

[fisheatfish]

You could add more decor to separate territories. Too much open space with your setup...looks really nice though. Best chance for success would be to divide up a section of the tank for a pair to spawn peacefully.

 

[YankeeJack]

What an awesome tank! Nice! I doubt any fry would survive in there.

 

[Fat Homer]

Agree with the above , tank looks good, but unfortunately, if you are hoping to have anything spawn and actually stand a chance of surviving, a lot more decor with areas the larger fish cannot enter will definitely be needed...

 

[Betta132]

Things could probably spawn, but the eggs would last about three seconds. If you add a lot more decor, especially rockwork with a lot of tiny spaces, it'll give any eggs and fry a better chance at survival. African cichlid communities usually end up with a few fry skulking around, so it should work here.

 

[Ihsnshaik]

Too many fish in that tank for any to survive. I'll take the loaches off your hands

 

[paulW]

What a great tank. I agree with the others though. Even if some eggs did make it unnoticed, I doubt fry would survive. Betta132 is right, sometimes in African communties, a few fry survive in crevices, but in my experience, that's only without fry predators.. I used to have the problem of hybrid fry appearing in my Malawi community. Then I removed all holey rock and put about 10 Synodontis in. Now, I see an occasional holding female , but no fry survive. I have seen fish spawn in the tank, usually a bunch of other fish jump in and eat the eggs (when haps spawn in the open), despite the male's attempts to keep them away. The female might end up with about 4 eggs in her mouth, that's it.

I am not an expert on your stocklist, but I'm guessing they could find any fry that happened to survive.

 

[HumanBean]

Very nice tank and loaches are awesome.
Although in this setup spawning and fries can only be possible if all of the live stock start recognising eggs and fries lol.

 

[jandb]

Thanks everyone! I figured as much. I'm going to go driftwood picking this spring and look for some gnarled roots. Probably a long shot but it'd be cool if something worked out.

 

[convict360]