CA/SA/West African(?) Breeder

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I'd skip the Laetacara and be careful of the Pelvicachromis types just because of the tank size. While that size tank would easily house a small pair of either, there's not much room for them to escape each other if things go south. I successfully kept Laetacara dorsigera in 55 gallons+ and they spawned everywhere, but when I separated the pairs into their own breeding 20g, the males of both pairs destroyed the females while I was out one day. I lost one female and the other never regrew any of her fins. I'm not sure what caused them to flip out but I actually had better luck just letting them spawn in a larger community setup and removing the fry.

I have Enigmatochromis lucanusi (aka Pelvicachromis sp. 'Blue Fin') growing out and ran into the same issue -- the sub-adults were beating each other up in small species tanks, but when I moved them into 55 communities with other small, peaceful fish they calmed down and quit harassing each other.

I've definitely bred kribs in 20 longs in the past but I'd just make sure you had a really good bonded pair before moving them into a smaller tank by themselves. Another option may be to keep a small group of tetras with the pair to deflect some of the potential aggression. Not sure if that'd stop them from going at each other, though, if they had a falling out.
 
I like the krib idea, but you also mentioned bolivian rams & you mentioned aquabid. Why not get some of the more sought after color morphs of rams - elec blue & I think they have mixed elec blue & gold now for a really nice fish. Get a pair off of Aquabid & the fry would probably get you a better price/trade in value at your LFS.
 
ryansmith83 said:
I'd skip the Laetacara and be careful of the Pelvicachromis types just because of the tank size. While that size tank would easily house a small pair of either, there's not much room for them to escape each other if things go south. I successfully kept Laetacara dorsigera in 55 gallons+ and they spawned everywhere, but when I separated the pairs into their own breeding 20g, the males of both pairs destroyed the females while I was out one day. I lost one female and the other never regrew any of her fins. I'm not sure what caused them to flip out but I actually had better luck just letting them spawn in a larger community setup and removing the fry.

I have Enigmatochromis lucanusi (aka Pelvicachromis sp. 'Blue Fin') growing out and ran into the same issue -- the sub-adults were beating each other up in small species tanks, but when I moved them into 55 communities with other small, peaceful fish they calmed down and quit harassing each other.

I've definitely bred kribs in 20 longs in the past but I'd just make sure you had a really good bonded pair before moving them into a smaller tank by themselves. Another option may be to keep a small group of tetras with the pair to deflect some of the potential aggression. Not sure if that'd stop them from going at each other, though, if they had a falling out.
Click to expand...

Well said, unfortunately my male cutteri in my 20 long killed his bonded female today, so I'm debating about a big move in that tank


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Which brings this thread to it's next question (I'm sure this answer is coming):

If I bring the male cutteri to the 75 to hopefully pair with the one remaining female (who is the same size as him now), would the following stock list work:

75 gal

1 Oscar @ 9" (super tolerant, doesn't care about my cryptos)
1 HRP Male (Brutus) @ 4" and thick (He runs the tank)
1 Cutteri female @ 2.75"
1 Cutteri male (proven wife killer twice over) @ 2.75-3"

Filtration - 2 AC110 and 1 Eheim 2026

20 long
1 hrp runt male @ 1.5"
7 pristella tetras (had for 2 years)
2 pearl danios (left over from being dithers for the cutteri)

Thoughts? (I haven't done any moves yet so I'm not looking to get flamed)
 
Shell dwellers FTW!!!
 
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