Breeding Dwarf Cichlids

[Kayden]

debating on breeding apistogramma or rams. I have a 20 gallon long tank cycling and either want to breed some rarer apistos (not cacatuoides or borelli) or GBR's. From what I understand the rams would be a more hands on as it is almost always a requirement to artificially raise the eggs and fry, While the apistos are better parents. This is making me lean towards the apistogramma since I have limited space. The reason its between these two fish is
Warm water fish (80-90 degrees)
Attractive
Can breed in 20 gallons or less
South American (As of yesterday every fish I own is SA)
If you have any tips for breeding either of the aforementioned fish or any suggestions of other fish that fit in the listed criteria I would love your input. I Will try to post a picture of the tank later today.

 

[TheReefer]

I find a blackwater set up with a lot of leaf litter, seed pods, rocks, live plants, and natural caves work very well, the fry feed on the biofilm that grows on the leaf litter and the leaf litter gives the fish a place to spawn

 

[Kayden]

I find a blackwater set up with a lot of leaf litter, seed pods, rocks, live plants, and natural caves work very well, the fry feed on the biofilm that grows on the leaf litter and the leaf litter gives the fish a place to spawn

Thats mainly what i'm going for. ill compile the botanicals as it is cycling. Blackwater is definitely my favorite style of aquarium

 

[Rollokola]

they’re not rare or very special, but I have a pair of nannacara anomala. very pretty colors, and classic spawning behavior of dwarf cichlids. ive had them spawning three or four times but never took care of the fry. the ember tetras in the tank did that for me..... kind of gets me in the mood to raise fry from them now.

 

[Kayden]

they’re not rare or very special, but I have a pair of nannacara anomala. very pretty colors, and classic spawning behavior of dwarf cichlids. ive had them spawning three or four times but never took care of the fry. the ember tetras in the tank did that for me..... kind of gets me in the mood to raise fry from them now.

I have also considered breeding some of the nannacara or laetacara species. They are very interesting in their own right and beautiful too. But they are harder to come by IME and just too much hassle for what their worth. I would pick up a pair of ivanacara adoketa in a heart beat though

 

[Kayden]

Here’s the tank so far. The bottom part can hold another tank (20 long or 29) for a grow out. The bacteria haven’t really done their thing yet so I have about a month to get everything ready.

 

[d033ie]

I like the idea of the setup explained throughout this post. Dwarf cichlids is something i might try sooner or later.
Dwarf Triple Red and Sunset Apistogramma look freaking amazing. As far as rams, there's a really good amount of choices out there. OHR's ( Orange Head Rams), EBR's ( Electric Blue Rams), and DKR's ( Dark Knight Rams). Wow! a few more also. So color you can go many ways with that. Also rams don't need a lot of space, so you could divide the tank and breed two different pairs. Typically rams don't like large amounts of space. Pretty shy little guys and small tetra's like neons would do well with them. If you're looking for super rare type fish that surround those two groups. Here's a good start https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=apistogramma+live+fish&ul_noapp=true .

 

[Kayden]

Have two double red apistogramma agassazi on hold at the fish store. Thinking of grabbing em Saturday. I did throw in my cycling fish when my ammonia hit zero (5 black neon tetras and some more BB ) to get the cycle done quicker

 

[d033ie]

Glad to hear things are a go, doubles are really nice as well. Do keep us updated!

 

[Kayden]

Bad news folks.
I called the fish store yesterday to ask about my apistogramma. The male passed away and the female looks like shes going out.Back to the drawing board.