I was asked by a few people on how to breed firemouths, and have decided to post up my experience and techniques. Many of you may not need it, as they are not the most difficult cichlids (pretty easy actually) to breed. They follow the ol' cichlid breeding guidlines. However, since some people may not know what those are, I am posting this up anyways.
1) Get the fish: seems pretty easy, right? well, not really. it is sort of hard to sex these guys, especially since they breed at such a small size (mine started at under 3". I have found that males show more blue metallic colors on their gillplate and around the faces, although this is not always the case. Also, their dorsal fins tend to end in streamers, instead of just ending. You might just want to buy around 5 or 6 and see which ones pair up
2) What tank?: the smallest tank i have ever done it in (or they did it in
) was a 20g tall. Mine have also bred in a 29g long, and most successfully in a 75g long. It seems like they lay more eggs and more of the eggs survive as the tank gets bigger. In all of the cases they have spawned in a little terra cotta vase, with part of the entrance covered by rocks (I guess they feel like they are a little more private, who knows).
3) Water + Food: The first time I spawned firemouths was during an ich infection. I still stand by the theory that they figured they weren't gonna make it, so decided they had nothing to lose. Well, they didn't die, and found themselves with 400 kids. Whoops. Anyways, what happened during the ich infection was that I bumped up the tank temperature a couple of degrees, from 77F to around 82-83F. I noticed they dancing around each other, with the occasional foreplay (rubbing, light nipping). At the time I thought they were two males fighting, but BOY WAS I WRONG! Once it got through my head they were a pair, I waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited and nothing happened. It was then that I learned about conditioning foods. I stuffed them with bloodworms and the occasional feeder shrimp and PRESTO...they laid eggs.
4) Eggs and care: The eggs looked like a bunch of bunch of brown spots at first, but slowly a few turned white. These are dead eggs, and the parents diligently picked them off. One parent would take turns fanning water over the eggs with their pectoral fins, while the other viciously defended their pot (terra cotta, remember
). By the way, these tiny little firemouths bred in a tank full other fish, ALL of them bigger than the firemouths. Apparently the company made little difference. I do suggest against those evil egg sucking plecos who eat them at night.
5) Baby time: After 4-5 days, i went to check the eggs, only to find them gone! I was a little TO'd because I thought the parents had eaten them. However, I noticed the parents still defending the pot. Instead of defending the inside, they were defending the sides. The parents had cleared out sand next to the pot, and dug a pit under it. The babies had actually hatched, and the parents moved them to a safe location. They did this many times over the next couple of days, until finally after around a week or so of being hatched, some of the fry were free swimming.
6) Now what?: by this point, I suggest removing the fry (even earlier if you want) and placing them in their own private tank. Using a turkey baster is the best removal method, IMO.
***important! if you move the fry AND the parents to a new tank at this point, the parents are very likely to eat the fry (I learned the hard way)
Of course, letting the parents have a tank all to their own is IMO the best. That way you can fully appreciate a parent cichlid caring for it's young. Remember also to either use a sponge filter or a cover on your filter uptake. Powerheads are notorious baby eaters. Barebottom tanks are also recommended, as they are easy to clean. Keep their water clean to get healthy, fast growing babies.
7) Last points: for now anyways, since I am sleepy. Once the yolk sacks were gone, I fed the fry crushed/powdered flake food and have never had problems. You can try other fry food, or newly hatched brine shrimp, but flake always worked fine for me. Let those babies grow, and be aware that a large number of the eggs develop into fry, and many of the fry grow up well. Have a plan, since you will soon be full of fry in your tanks.
I hope you guys will breed some of these great cichlids as well. Any questions are welcome, and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities. Thank you
1) Get the fish: seems pretty easy, right? well, not really. it is sort of hard to sex these guys, especially since they breed at such a small size (mine started at under 3". I have found that males show more blue metallic colors on their gillplate and around the faces, although this is not always the case. Also, their dorsal fins tend to end in streamers, instead of just ending. You might just want to buy around 5 or 6 and see which ones pair up
2) What tank?: the smallest tank i have ever done it in (or they did it in
) was a 20g tall. Mine have also bred in a 29g long, and most successfully in a 75g long. It seems like they lay more eggs and more of the eggs survive as the tank gets bigger. In all of the cases they have spawned in a little terra cotta vase, with part of the entrance covered by rocks (I guess they feel like they are a little more private, who knows). 3) Water + Food: The first time I spawned firemouths was during an ich infection. I still stand by the theory that they figured they weren't gonna make it, so decided they had nothing to lose. Well, they didn't die, and found themselves with 400 kids. Whoops. Anyways, what happened during the ich infection was that I bumped up the tank temperature a couple of degrees, from 77F to around 82-83F. I noticed they dancing around each other, with the occasional foreplay (rubbing, light nipping). At the time I thought they were two males fighting, but BOY WAS I WRONG! Once it got through my head they were a pair, I waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited and nothing happened. It was then that I learned about conditioning foods. I stuffed them with bloodworms and the occasional feeder shrimp and PRESTO...they laid eggs.
4) Eggs and care: The eggs looked like a bunch of bunch of brown spots at first, but slowly a few turned white. These are dead eggs, and the parents diligently picked them off. One parent would take turns fanning water over the eggs with their pectoral fins, while the other viciously defended their pot (terra cotta, remember
). By the way, these tiny little firemouths bred in a tank full other fish, ALL of them bigger than the firemouths. Apparently the company made little difference. I do suggest against those evil egg sucking plecos who eat them at night. 5) Baby time: After 4-5 days, i went to check the eggs, only to find them gone! I was a little TO'd because I thought the parents had eaten them. However, I noticed the parents still defending the pot. Instead of defending the inside, they were defending the sides. The parents had cleared out sand next to the pot, and dug a pit under it. The babies had actually hatched, and the parents moved them to a safe location. They did this many times over the next couple of days, until finally after around a week or so of being hatched, some of the fry were free swimming.
6) Now what?: by this point, I suggest removing the fry (even earlier if you want) and placing them in their own private tank. Using a turkey baster is the best removal method, IMO.
***important! if you move the fry AND the parents to a new tank at this point, the parents are very likely to eat the fry (I learned the hard way
)Of course, letting the parents have a tank all to their own is IMO the best. That way you can fully appreciate a parent cichlid caring for it's young. Remember also to either use a sponge filter or a cover on your filter uptake. Powerheads are notorious baby eaters. Barebottom tanks are also recommended, as they are easy to clean. Keep their water clean to get healthy, fast growing babies.
7) Last points: for now anyways, since I am sleepy. Once the yolk sacks were gone, I fed the fry crushed/powdered flake food and have never had problems. You can try other fry food, or newly hatched brine shrimp, but flake always worked fine for me. Let those babies grow, and be aware that a large number of the eggs develop into fry, and many of the fry grow up well. Have a plan, since you will soon be full of fry in your tanks.
I hope you guys will breed some of these great cichlids as well. Any questions are welcome, and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities. Thank you
