cross breeding: yes? no? how?

[Naquita]

I have been doing a few searches on cross breeding cichlids last few days.
I got interested when i came across a photo of a convict X jag hybrid. it looked amazing.

I was wondering what everyones opinion on this subject is.

Also if i were to try it, how would I choose? and how would i do it?

I love american cichlids, and have 2 convicts, 4 jags and a green terror that haven't seemed to paired off yet.

my other pair of jags and convicts have paired and breed.

so i want to try something new. Space and aquariums are not an issue, got tons of space and extra tanks for any new fish.

are there any good sites with lots of info on cross breeding?

 

[Azedenkae]

Hey mate, my personal opinion on the matter is crossbreed however much you want, but if you are to distribute them, make sure to absolutely definitely label them properly.

Practically all 'Central American' cichlids can hybridize with each other and certain 'South Americans'. Only some 'South Americans' can hybridize.

I would recommend checking out the big example thread in MFk's Hybrid Section, as there are a lot of examples of hybrids there, and you can get an idea as to what you'd get.

One thing is when you cross a purebred and a purebred, assuming the parent(s) are not heterozygous for some color or pattern or whatever trait (e.g. leucism, albinism, etc.), the F1 offsprings will look similar to each other. Further crossing of the offsprings will produce heaps of variations tho.

When you want to decide on what to cross, think a bit about the product you may want to achieve, and the logistics of it. Many cichlids will have different behaviours, temperaments, etc. etc. and you may have to set up your breeding habitat in a particular way for your fish to hybridize.

For example, I did an experiment with my Convict and Ellioti, from my research I knew Convicts laid eggs in both caves and flat surfaces like slates, though prefering caves, whilst Ellioti prediminantly lay eggs on flat surfaces. I included both flowerpots and flat rocks in my tank, and the Convict kept on laying eggs in the flowerpots, which the Ellioti did not like, one bit. It wasn't until I removed the flowerpots that the Convict HAD to lay eggs on a rock, and only then did the Ellioti swoop in to fertilize the eggs.

Other things you have to think about is size, if one is so much larger than the other, they may never pair up. Or one may be too aggressive for the other. You'd have to decide on what size to get your fish for them to be more compatible. Also I would suggest that regardless, you should get a male of one species and at least 3 females of the other, give the male the ability to decide.

Some cichlids are very commonly crossbred, such as Green Texas, Convicts, JDs, Texas, and all that. I would recommend some of the less common species, those that haven't really been crossbred much. There's much joy in producing something completely unexpected, imo.

Anyways, that's about all I can think of for now. Have fun and good luck!