# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna >  How to Breed?

## benetay

How do i breed my Apisto ?

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## Simon

place a male and 3 females together and they will do wonders for ya[ :Grin: ] 

apisto is one of the easiest to breed beside guppy and platy... jus make sure, u have enuff cover for the frys

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## Nick

Do all cichlids breed better in brackish conditions or normal settings? Saw that somewhere on the internet.

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## Simon

softwater.. but i guess there is some species which need brackish water.. need to ask LSZ abt it

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## Nick

Our water are soft enough. Sometimes too soft liao at 0 dkH.[: :Smile: ]

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## lsz

haha
the water so soft it spits out mineral salt regularly and put beside the tank. 

i know that certain species can live in brackish and even full salt water conditions. (Eg the Uro.)

But i feel with our tap water, we really dont need to do anything much to get most of the cichlids available in our market to spawn.
just keep them well fed and water clean and have the right combination of male and female and they can work things out themselves.

Curviceps, which are supposed to be softwater fish spawned in my girlfriend's tank too, and it was pretty crowded to begin with. it was just plain tap water. 

think if they really want to, nothing can stop them
[ :Grin: ]

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## Mez

You would also be best off adding some blackwater exract.
This sofens the water and somehow induces spawning, it has worked for me..
Mez

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## Mez

Also i forgot to add, i will reccomend lots of live plants and hiding places for the females..
Mez

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## lsz

yeah some nice plants and wood! 

i read an article that they actually love an environment where the bottom is littered with fallen leaves and they will just spawn within them..and the leaves will of coz change the water parameter too.

if you have a tank devoted for their breeding (2ft will be nice)..you can set this up and try it out. 
doesnt look nice to us but to them it is heaven [ :Grin: ]

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## benetay

YuP i"m Using my 2ft cube tank to breed my apisto, foreground E.ten, mid-grd, E.maior,cord, back,E.hormaii. And a peice of wood wif java fern.

Centre rocks combined to form a cave. inside the cave java moss.
Female have a black stripe on the head area,body yellowish, keep staying in the cave never wanting to come out. 

So far i think no eggs nor frys are seen,(maybe i can't see cos too dark)  :Razz:

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## Nick

How many breeding pairs do you guys normally put in a breeding tank? Mine is a 2.5 ft tank, courtesy of Jacian. Want to breed rams, but tank seems too big for that pair. I've heard of the wonder of leaf litter in a breeding environment too! But my water turns brown very quickly. Do we have to go to this extreme just to simulate their natural environment, since many of our fishes are tank-bred and not wild caught?

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## lsz

be Patient
and let them sort things out themselves.

keep the tank clean and feed them nice nice [ :Grin: ] 

thats all you need to do 

oh ya...it will be good if the cave entrance is sheltered too. have a plant in front of it.
you may not like it coz cannot really see.
but your fish likes it. 


it is actually beneficial if you can have some tankmates with them.
you can have some tetras above, and a single small keyhole cichlid with them. somehow with other fish ard, the parent fish bond better and are more motivated.

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## lsz

regarding rams found locally...i always feel that they look so weak when i look at one. esp the fact that i know they are severely inbred..
so if you want to try to breed them, i will think getting them from different sources will be better.And even so, there are only just so many farms in singapore...
so the presence of balloon rams doesnt help...makes me think that those shorter ones are already "tainted". 


A small species that is very pretty and breeds well and is robust is the curviceps. They can breed in normal tap water, with other tankmates. Tested and proven  :Smile:  

have not tried keyholes before..but i know those in the market now are also badly inbred, and badly stunted. so i dont know if they are breedable ..

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## Nick

Hehehe... I agree most rams look weak, esp those balloon types. Dun really like them. A bit artificial, if you ask me. Mine is the Holland Ram. Super active. Even allow me to hand feed them. Not shy at all. If I put my hand in, they even peck at my fingers. So cute, right?[ :Grin: ] 

I heard about the inbred thingy too. No problems. Will introduce a new partner for the female everytime. Thanks.

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## DEA

*cough*

you can do what douglas does
show blue films in front of your fish  :Smile:  
[: :Smile: ]

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## benetay

I ever breed my rams and they laid and hatch but too bad i didn't do anything about the fry and so there goes it...

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## benetay

wahahah where is he ah??? nv see him so long liao...hmm...

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## lsz

maybe when one of my pairs breed i make into video and sell.
police come must run

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## benetay

whats wrong man....nothing wht...lolz,if so, u arn't the first. There are many others out there.

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## lsz

?
was joking abt fish blue film

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## benetay

i understand thts why LOLZ

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## Simon

i have a pair of cacatuodies, a pair of A. Alenquer and a pair of A. Tefe in my 6ft.. usually u dun find 2 females spawning at the same time and yes, dead leaves provides the frys with lotsa cover, which means I can never siphon the dead leaves[ :Knockout: ] 

i oso have a pair of A. Gold red in 4ft, some lonely apisto in my 2ft...

I'm now trying to remove the remaining frys from my 6ft and I notice a few sizes which means they r of different spawn or different species... the fry do survive without any special feeding, but like what jacian and yimin pointed out, their growth is super slow

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## lsz

actually the article i saw advocated dead leaves...not from the plants but those large ones they use to "brew" blackwater.

the parents will spawn in them.
so unless you have a tank specific for this purpose, it is not very feasible to have this setup.
But very itchy to try myself.


the fish spawn inside the leaves,. not me 

 :Razz:

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## Simon

actually dun really need the peat extract or blackwater extract, once the fish stablize in the tank and when condition r right, they spawn.. but of coz providing them with dry leaves like what LSZ mention does add to the chemistry of the water plus a great cover of the breeding pair plus its a biotope.. [ :Grin: ] think there was an entry in the AGA competition with a setup jus like it

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## lsz

i dont advocate using blackwater extract myself for keeping any fish. let alone breeding. 

it is the safest to let your fish accustom to tap water condition (it is another story for most african cichlids though)

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## benetay

Oh, tht very setup was just specially delicated to my beloved pair apisto. Althought i find it not very nice as the set up is to provide the fishes the ideal place for spawning.

One tank wasted for breeding purposes.

Why dead dry leaves? I did put in java moss in the cave which i dug out the inside to provide more space for the fishes. THe entrance can only fit one fish at a go.

The front entrance is covered wif E.ten which is also the foreground plant. THe back is covered by E.hormaii so it doesn't matter wht time of the day and how much light i provide i can never see them inside. (oh too dark,scary :Sad:  ) 

So i just hope you guys can give me more suggestions,feedbacks and idea, maybe i can try them and make it proven. [: :Smile: ]

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## Simon

dun have to pay much attention to them, provide them with what they require.. (driftwood, rocks) then wait for them to make it happen.. provided they pair up

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## lsz

just throw them some cover just feed them when you can just keep the water clean

this is often the best way to breed fish

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## LiquidFX

Hahahaha.. What a funny thread.

Benetay, maybe you watch them too much lah. They shy. [ :Grin: ]

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## Simon

> ----------------
> On 1/1/2002 10:44:24 AM 
> 
> Hahahaha.. What a funny thread.
> 
> Benetay, maybe you watch them too much lah. They shy. [] 
> ----------------


they get stressed being watched

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## benetay

at most 15mins a day i watch them, other than that i don't bother much about it. The tank is in my room i also dun have such time for them. Feed them well and thts it.

They like my appearance cos they know it's feeding time =)

maybe i should get another female or two into the tank to make the Male Hornier lolz

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