Will calcium effect breeding dwarf cockatoos?

[Sharkluver]

For those of you who know, I am planning on breeding fish for my Animal Companions class. I thought I was going to do convicts but found Dwarf Cockatoos at a pet shop about a half an hour away and decided they'd be a better choice. I have not set the tank up yet so don't know my exact water parameters but do know our water goes through a filter that removes some of the minerals so the water shouldn't be too hard but still have minerals in it. The one thing I do know is that our water has a lot of calcium. Will this affect the breeding of the cichlids? I know keeping them is fairly easy but hatching the eggs is a little more difficult. I will get exact water parameters as soon as I get a test kit.

 

[tlindsey]

For those of you who know, I am planning on breeding fish for my Animal Companions class. I thought I was going to do convicts but found Dwarf Cockatoos at a pet shop about a half an hour away and decided they'd be a better choice. I have not set the tank up yet so don't know my exact water parameters but do know our water goes through a filter that removes some of the minerals so the water shouldn't be too hard but still have minerals in it. The one thing I do know is that our water has a lot of calcium. Will this affect the breeding of the cichlids? I know keeping them is fairly easy but hatching the eggs is a little more difficult. I will get exact water parameters as soon as I get a test kit.

It depends on the Apistogramma being wc or cb. I have a pair of Orange Flash and had them spawn twice in hard calcified water out of my tap. Most Apistogramma.com members use a RODI unit for their aquarium water to remove minerals to soften the water from their municipal source. I do 50% wc's and have driftwood and leaf litter for tannins which benefit some species from SA.

 

[tlindsey]

It depends on the Apistogramma being wc or cb. I have a pair of Orange Flash and had them spawn twice in hard calcified water out of my tap. Most Apistogramma.com members use a RODI unit for their aquarium water to remove minerals to soften the water from their municipal source. I do 50% wc's and have driftwood and leaf litter for tannins which benefit some species from SA.

Prior to this I failed at keeping specie such as German Rams and Apistogramma but now realized and learned from the forum of keeping total dissolved solids from becoming a threat by doing weekly 50% wc's and the Apistogramma and female German Ram have been thriving for about halve a year now.

 

[Sharkluver]

So if my water is within the proper parameters and I keep some driftwood and leaf litter to soften the water and do lots of water changes I have a good chance of breeding? I was planning on doing a 5-gallon water change every day out of a 40-gallon tank. Is this good enough or should I do big water changes? I have to go up a flight of stairs to the nearest faucet so doing little changes would be easier for me.

 

[Sharkluver]

And, I know this sounds stupid, but what are wb, cb, sa. I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

[tlindsey]

So if my water is within the proper parameters and I keep some driftwood and leaf litter to soften the water and do lots of water changes I have a good chance of breeding? I was planning on doing a 5-gallon water change every day out of a 40-gallon tank. Is this good enough or should I do big water changes? I have to go up a flight of stairs to the nearest faucet so doing little changes would be easier for me.

If 5 gallons a day keeps your Nitrate level under 10 ppm that will be great but if it doesn't you will have to increase the %. WC stands for wild caught CB stands for captive bred and SA stands for South America. I had to learn this also.

 

[Sharkluver]

thank you

 

[duanes]

If you plan on getting serious about breeding Apistogramma, you may want to visit and join Apistogramma.com, where there is tons of dwarf cichlid info., about them, and many other species
Although I can't remember the what calcium favors, but I remember reading the amount of calcium(which effects pH) can influence the amount of one gender or the other in spawns of certain Apistogramma.

 

[Coryloach]

Although I can't remember the what calcium favors, but I remember reading the amount of calcium(which effects pH) can influence the amount of one gender or the other in spawns of certain Apistogramma.

Nothing to do with apistogramma, but just remembered that out of years of keeping platies, and their offsprings, I only ever had one male platy from the numerous fry that I raised...in my very hard water.... And I never bought a male ever, the first platies I bought were already pregnant....I never knew why, not sure its the hardness level...who knows...but no males...

Will this affect the breeding of the cichlids? I know keeping them is fairly easy but hatching the eggs is a little more difficult. I will get exact water parameters as soon as I get a test kit.

Perhaps you can invest in some RO water for hatching the eggs if that's a necessary condition, then slowly transition back to tap when the fry hatch. The best is to read a few scientific articles on their breeding, which will state everything you need to know...The rest will come from experience.