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Apistogramma Cacatuoides Spawning

6K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  Zapins 
#1 ·
Ok, a continuation from the other thread about my bolivian rams spawning this will be a thread about my apistos. These guys I did want to breed! This is a trio that has been in my 20 gallon tank at work for just over two weeks. They started trying to spawn one week after I got them with varying success.

First off here is a picture of the tank. This one is understocked and overplanted. I've pretty much let the plants grow wild. It looks much better in person that it does in the photo.



Things started last Thursday night, exactly one week after getting the apistos. First off we've got a little bit of the spawning behavior and spawning coloration

https://youtu.be/wIwx4gtJcck

Another look at the colors:

https://youtu.be/r3riptaqnuw

Yet another look at the colors and a little dancing:

https://youtu.be/pP958Lz6ZdM

A slightly closer look at the females spawning color:

https://youtu.be/dfdniViRo_A


I was looking for the females to be going in and out of the caves as a sign that they bred successfully and on Monday I didn't see that. I was dissapointed, but I guess I can't expect so much too so. The one female was hanging out by the outside of the cave all day long but it took me a little while to put it together, but late in the afternoon I noticed this...



She laid her eggs on the outside of the back of the cave. I guess that still counts as being a cave spawner. Just like with the rams I didn't have to wait long as I saw eggs hatching by lunch the next day. Here is the female corralling the newly hatched wigglers.

I saw the other female corralling fry on the other side of the tank but it was too quick to catch on video and she put them in a spot where it was near impossible to see them. I'm pretty sure they have all been eaten (mostly by the male) Not all first timers can get it right I guess.

https://youtu.be/MjBlKE48T1I

The wigglers after 1 day:

https://youtu.be/ffsr55zNsG8

2 days:

https://youtu.be/tKkv1otCdT0

3 days:

https://youtu.be/hAqvtAozKSY

this morning Finally got a decent focus where you can really see them:

https://youtu.be/Pmb9F4nSrk0


Now in the afternoon the fry are starting to manage to move around and are working their way up the side of the cave. I even saw a tiny bit of swimming.

It's wait and see, but so far it's looking good. I feel much more confident that some of these will make it as opposed to the rams.
 
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#2 ·
I picked up a trio last Saturday. I know one female has spawned and the other is in and out from under a piece of driftwood, so I think she may have spawned as well. I was surprised how quick this happened because they are juveniles. Not entirely sure how this is going to work out if both females have fry.
 
#3 ·
What size tank. I found that when mine spawned they picked opposite sides of the tank. They stick by the eggs/fry throughout and will only leave to get some food or to grab the males attention. I saw my females fight before spawning, but they stay apart since they have.

They can spawn pretty young, so it's not impossible for it have happened already. I read that a new environment can trigger the females to lay eggs, so there is no guarantee that they were fertilized. This my second attempt with apistos. The first ones I had the female laid eggs three times with nothing coming of it. Best of luck, I hope they were successful! The hardest part is the wait for them to hatch and become free swimming.
 
#4 · (Edited)
It's a 10 gallon tank with just the Apistos in it. I noticed the spawning action 2 days ago when I could not find the male and one female. I'm pretty sure he fertilized the eggs due his actions when I found them. The eggs were layed on top of the driftwood, the other female has posted up under the driftwood.

Funny part was I told my buddy that I may have a female to give him. For the first few days the female that I know has spawned was getting terrorized by the male and other female. I was almost certain that they were going to kill her or she was going to jump out of the tank from being chased.
 
#6 ·
Tank looks nice. I would consider rehoming one of the females, 10 gallons is pretty small for a trio. If they are not breeding it would likely be fine, but with breeding they will get aggressive. I saw my two females fight a couple of times and mine is 20gal. Make sure there is a cave for both of them and broken lines of sight. The photo doesn't show the whole tank, but from what I've seen it looks like a good setup. I hope it all works out with the trio
 
#10 ·
Nice apistos! I breed these as well. A trio in the ten gallon just won't do it. The non laying female can and will eat and or kill the eggs of the other female.

Best of luck!


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#11 · (Edited)
I figure I will have to rehome one of the females. As of today, the one female who has always been under the driftwood is out now and has about 40 free swiming fry. The other is still up top with the wigglers. I do have a 40 breeder that I have yet to put water in and could use that in the future. At this point though I think the fry are to small to move.
BTW, what do you normally feed your fry when they're this small?
 
#13 ·
So I just got finished removing the subdominant female to a different tank. She was causing nothing but problems and constantly going after the dominant female, but I think I figured out why. Earlier today I noticed the male was stealing her fry and moving them over to the dominant female. Other than that the fry are doing awesome and swimming all over the tank.
 
#15 ·
I just had some fry swimming a couple days ago. However being in a community tank with rummynose the numbers have dwindled.

My plan was to keep them in a 20L but my lfs rarely gets apistos in so I made it a cherry shrimp tank. A few days after spending a stupid amount on cherry shrimp he got apistos in so I had to snag a pair. It has been about 8 months since the last time he got any.

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