congrats
"default" wrote in message
...
So exciting! I started in Oct. with an idea to start up my 55g tank
again.
Last time I had a few big fish, this time I was going for many small ones.
I
started with a dozen Neons and some cory cats, and began researching
cichlids.
I have some experience with cichlids; Firemouth, Angel, Jurapari, Jack
Dempsy
Jewel, and convicts, and wanted to breed some to stock the 55g. I pared
my
search down to either Shell dwellers or Apistos.

My local fish store guy seemed very knowledgable about cichlids and
suggested
both the above types. He mentioned Apistogramma dot com as a sourch for
my
knowledge quest. Sho 'nough, I found plenty of info there to make an
informed
decision; Borellii or Cacatuoides. I set up the 20g long for a quarentine
tank
and eventual honeymoon suite. The 20 was specifically set up for Borellii
breeding. Sand, bog wood, oak leaves, flower pots, a coconut cave, some
river
rock, Java moss and a small java fern.

My LFS guy had Borelliis in stock, and he picked out a nice male, two
females
and a probable sub-dom male. I put the sub male and a female in the honey
moon
suite not quite a month ago and immediately they started to dance. Then,
just
last Monday, Dec. 6, the female had turned vivid yellow and was hiding
under the
bog wood (not in any of the 3 custom flower pot caves partially buried in
the
sand or the coco cave). Yesterday, I was showing my son where she had
been
hiding and he looked around the back of the wood to see if he could catch
a
glimpse of her. He said, "look at all the little ones on the glass." I
threw
him aside (not really :) and looked around the back of the tank.
There she
was, with about 15 tiny babies swimming around her.

Through out the day I watched with glee as she moved them around the bog
log,
within just a few inches of the cave mouth. The male would get chased
away if
he got close so I took him out and put him in the 55g with the other pair.
The
other pair, by the way, was also acting like they were ready and I noticed
the
female wasn't to be seen. (more later) As I watched into the afternoon,
I
really got a good look at the brood. There are easily 35-40 babies. The
log is
covered with blue green slime and the java moss appears to offer a rich
feeding
environment as well. I'll offer fresh baby brine shrimp today.

Back to the 55g; I took a look for the newly introduced father, and just
as I
located him I saw him gulp a tiny fish! Then out darted the little female
and I
saw she was protecting a brood of about 25 fry too! Here's where I go
nuts, I
just can't leave well enough alone and tried to save them all. There is
no way
any of those little guys would survive in a community tank with 25 neons,
2
angels, 3 cory's and 3 ottos. I grabbed the gravel vac and sucked up the
fry,
then poured them in the other end of the breeding tank. I caught their
mom and
put her in there too. I built a divider with the oak leaves and gave the
new
family a chunk of java moss from the big tank as well.

I get to check them out again in just a few hours, when I get home from
work.
The anticiapation is killing me! Here's the link to some pictures:
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/B..._Breeding2.htm

steve