C. cutteri breeding questions

[divemaster99]

Hey guys, you may have seen my thread about my new cichlid pair or maybe you didn't. Regardless I got a 10 month old breeding pair of Cryptoheros cutteri at my local fish club auction and now they're in my 75 with 6 giant danios, 1 striped raphael catfish, and a 4" sailfin pleco (L165). I have a few questions about breeding both since I'm new to it.

1) approx how long will it take before they "feel like doing something"(to keep it pg ).

2) I put in a terracotta pot and a bridge decoration for them to lay eggs on, is that good?

3) there're aren't any eggs yet but last night I noticed my pleco sucking on the pot, will this be a problem when they lay eggs? I know they could keep him away during the day but I worry once lights go out. I don't need all the eggs to survive since I got the impression they breed like convicts but I'd like at least 1 out of every 2 fry/eggs to survive.

4) what is the chane my raph and pleco won't eat ALL the eggs?

5) is there anything special I could be feeding to encourage breeding?

6) as of now I don't have a fry tank (I will soon) so how long would fry last before the other residents get to them or the parents get tired of taking care of them?

7) how long would a batch of fry last in a 10 gallon? how about a 20 tall?

8) please feel free to tell me any other important things I need to know before something bad happens, I'm staying positive though

 

[duanes]

There is a 99.999% chance the pleco will eat the eggs and wrigglers.
And about the same chance the other cat will get the fry, both are nocturnal feeders.
And even though cutteri are great parents, cichlids being night sleepers leave the fry at a distinct disadvantage.
Keeping fry in a 10 gal for a while should be fine, but as they grow, the more fry you keep, the more water changes you will need to make, I have kept a large number of fry in a 20 gal but make every other day water changes. Lots of fry can easily overwhelm the biofilter. For me, culling any even suspect mutations or substandard looking fry as soon as noticed helps.
My cutteri started spawning at about 3" for the female.

 

[jonclark96]

There is no "magic" answer on when will they breed, but my experience is that cutteri will breed fairly easily at a young age. I would guess that you will have a hard time raising any fry in a community type setting, especially with the tank mates that you listed. The cats will go for the eggs and the danio will opportunistically pick off any fry that do become free swimming. As an example, I had a breeding pair of paratheraps in a 180 that would usually lose their entire batch of eggs in one night to the several plecos that were in the tank.

If you really want to raise the fry, I'd suggest giving the parents their own tank to spawn in. A 20H (2' tank, not the tall that is like 2 10 gallon tanks stacked on top of eachother) would give you the space you need. Pull the male after they spawn and let the female tend to the eggs. Once they hatch, pull the female and let the fry grow on their own. I've grown out a batch of fry in a 20H until they were pushing 1" without issues. You just have to keep up on the water changes.

Good luck with them.

 

[divemaster99]

So what you're saying is put the parents in a 20 tall (24 x 12 x 16) until hey spawn and then put them back in the 75 until I sell the fry. Them put the parents back into the 20 and repeat. Seems like it would be pretty stressful to the parents put all right I'll try it.

i am probably getting a 55 in a month or so, originally I was thinking one or two sunfish but I can always put the parents in the 55 and let them have the whole tank if you think that would be better.

or I could always just wait until they lay eggs then take whatever the eggs are on and put it in the 20. The eggs don't need the parents to take care of them right? They don't need fanned or anything, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[jonclark96]

Based on your current stock, I wouldn't worry about the stress of moving a fish back into the 75. From my experience, the most stress you can put on a fish is to throw them into a tank with an established "pecking order". With no other cichlids in the tank, I think the issues there are reduced.

I breed cryptoheros in permanently divided 20H's, with the male on one side and the female on the other, in order to eliminate the male killing the female when he wants to breed and she isn't ready. I've lost way too many females from not doing it. Personally, I have not had much luck removing eggs from a tank before they hatched. Others may be able to add their experience to help, but I usually wait until the eggs are wigglers before removing them.

 

[divemaster99]

How long can they go in a 20 tall? As soon as I can set one up I will but 20 seems small for longer than a few days doesn't it? I've heard others say 55 min for a pair. A lot of conflicting info out there .

 

[divemaster99]

Could I wait until they lay and fertilize the eggs then take whatever the eggs are on and the parents and put them both in the 20 tall pm let them take care of the fry for a little, then put the parents back in the 75. Or would they flip out and eat the eggs?

im asking because the male keeps sort of "dancing" or "shimmering" in front of the female, they're digging a pit under a bridge, and they're cleaning off the surface of the pot so I think they may lay eggs soon, which isn't good since I still need to buy and cycle the 20. Hopefully it takes them a few tries to get viable eggs so the eggs don't get eaten.