Tips on dovii breeding?

[Mad About Cichlids]

All my fish like to spawn after a good cold water change. I look at it like this, Its like wet season, all lakes and rivers fill with good fresh cold water, all the wild life love it including the fish.

Totally agree with this.

Water a few degrees cooler than the tank water is what I usually do.

Humans and fish grow quite differently. Breeding or not, dovii will get too big for just about any home aquarium eventually.

If your goal is to successfully spawn them, do it when they're small and they don't need a 12' tank...

Matt

There was a 20" + male with his male along with his mate offered for free locally but no one was able to take them due to not having at least a 300g tank to probably a pair that big. I believe the owner is a member here as well.

 

[Skyeboy]

They are both moving sand around few hiding spots they picked. Male became way more agressive. Nothing comes on his side of the tank now and they are both doing the whole fanning.shimmy shake dance

 

[dogofwar]

8' 300g would be too small for that pair.

Totally agree with this.

Water a few degrees cooler than the tank water is what I usually do.



There was a 20" + male with his male along with his mate offered for free locally but no one was able to take them due to not having at least a 300g tank to probably a pair that big. I believe the owner is a member here as well.

 

[lunsforj]

that doesn't sound like something a responsible fishkeeper would do. I'll pass on that one, thanx

I don't think there is anything irresponsible about this approach. It's simply a matter of practicality. Fully grown large breeding pairs are a wonderful sight, but take a significant amount of care, consideration and attentiveness. Most large scale breeders prefer to spawn relatively young fish for that reason. Even in the wild fish spawn at young sizest and eventually reach full adult sizes if given the opportunity to do so.

 

[Frank Castle]

I don't think there is anything irresponsible about this approach. It's simply a matter of practicality. Fully grown large breeding pairs are a wonderful sight, but take a significant amount of care, consideration and attentiveness. Most large scale breeders prefer to spawn relatively young fish for that reason. Even in the wild fish spawn at young sizest and eventually reach full adult sizes if given the opportunity to do so.

different strokes for different folks, I tend to like my females at least, to be as large as possible so they produce more eggs. One thing you have to understand, and I know fish are a little different, but animals in general are healthier when they breed at a healthy size.

I came back from reptile breeding for 5 years last year but I bred fish the 5 years before that and in the reptile trade, breeding a female early is like "sacrilege" and the community will tear you a new one on practices and husbandry for that stuff. I'd like to see it carried over to fish as it holds much merit.

As I said before "just because they CAN, doesn't mean they SHOULD". Let them grow up and make sure their bodies can handle pregnancy or gravidity before breeding, they will live a lot longer and be overall healthier. You need to understand, breeding is VERY hard on the females body of ANY animal, humans included

 

[lunsforj]

I think conflating ideas on reptile breeding and spawning Central and South American cichlasomines is a little misleading. Most Centrals and South Americans spawn at sizes well below their max, and are evolutionarily adapted to do so. Most of these cichlids simply don't have the luxury of hanging around long enough to reach such sizes.

 

[CANAMONSTER]

A 6x3 for a pair of Dovii is fine. Better then it being on some ones grill

 

[Frank Castle]

I think conflating ideas on reptile breeding and spawning Central and South American cichlasomines is a little misleading. Most Centrals and South Americans spawn at sizes well below their max, and are evolutionarily adapted to do so. Most of these cichlids simply don't have the luxury of hanging around long enough to reach such sizes.

that's in the wild, not in captivity. In captivity we can alter that by waiting until the female is an appropriate size before breeding them. You do what you do, i'll do my own thing. I would rather produce more offspring than fewer, anyone who wouldn't can spend extra money funding their hobby. I use my fry to cover my overhead costs of running my fish room. It's worth it to me to wait until a female is big enough to produce 1,000 eggs rather than 200

 

[dogofwar]

Most of the time I keep and breed fish because I enjoy keeping and breeding fish. Maximizing the yield isn't something that concerns me because I neither have the time nor the interest to sell fish.

There aren't enough responsible fishkeepers in the country (or a market) for 200 dovii let alone 1,000, unless you're gonna use them for feeders.

Fish aren't reptiles. "Appropriate" size for fish to breed is when they pair off and breed. It sometimes takes a couple of tries before they figure out how to work together. And whether they're breeding or not, fish grow throughout their lives. They get way more nutrition (and expend way less energy) than they would in nature.

Matt

that's in the wild, not in captivity. In captivity we can alter that by waiting until the female is an appropriate size before breeding them. You do what you do, i'll do my own thing. I would rather produce more offspring than fewer, anyone who wouldn't can spend extra money funding their hobby. I use my fry to cover my overhead costs of running my fish room. It's worth it to me to wait until a female is big enough to produce 1,000 eggs rather than 200

 

[Frank Castle]

Most of the time I keep and breed fish because I enjoy keeping and breeding fish. Maximizing the yield isn't something that concerns me because I neither have the time nor the interest to sell fish.

There aren't enough responsible fishkeepers in the country (or a market) for 200 dovii let alone 1,000, unless you're gonna use them for feeders.

Fish aren't reptiles. "Appropriate" size for fish to breed is when they pair off and breed. It sometimes takes a couple of tries before they figure out how to work together. And whether they're breeding or not, fish grow throughout their lives. They get way more nutrition (and expend way less energy) than they would in nature.

Matt

we will simply have to agree to disagree, Sir. Cheers.