20G - Apistogramma cacatuoides

[touchofsky]

Sounds good.  Please keep us updated!

[bizfromqc]

Tank update.

Temp: 27c
pH: 6.5-7.0
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0.3-0.8ppm
NO3: 10-20ppm

No change from two days ago.

Nitrite and Nitrate appear to be at the same level than 2 days ago. Could have a slight change but the colors of the test kit are so close to each other I have a hard time telling which is which.

I fed my apistos a bunch of frozen brine shrimp yesterday, a teat day. Male seems to like'em a lot more than the female. Although the female seemed to be buys coming in and out of the clay cave...

I might have some good news in the coming days (don't want to jinx it but I THINK I may have seems some wriggling action in the cave  )

Will test again this weekend and go from there and keep everyone posted on the "cave" situation.

[bizfromqc]

It seems the apistos were at it again, It's difficult to see inside the cave but I see what looks like tiny fry but nothing moves yet... Good news is that they haven't been eaten yet so time will tell what will happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yIDdAwCXTM

[touchofsky]

Good luck, I hope it all works out this time!

[bizfromqc]

TANK UPDATE.

FREE SWIMMERS, Woohooooooooo! 

Got freaked out this morning because the clay cave was empty and I couldn't find the female or any of the eggs/wrigglers. So I set out to find them and found the whole gang hiding out behind the piece of driftwood, mommy and I'm going to estimate at least 50 free swimmers!!!

The picture and video doesn't really show how many of these tiny fishes there are! Substrate below the female is littered with tiny little apisto babies. Took a picture with the flash (I never do because it messes the colors) to try and show a bit more of them but got mixed results. You can see some of them on the picture attached.

I also uploaded a video to YouTube for you guys to check out. Let's just say mommy has her hands full! You can even see her "swallow" a couple of them and spit them out in another spot because they were straying away, it's by far the coolest thing I've seen with these guys. I read that dwarf cichlids were good parents and that's why I decided to keep'em in the first place so I could witness it. I have yet to be disappointed 

Here's the link to the YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRhvG6KDCqg

Can you tell I'm excited about this yet?

I fed the little guys frozen baby brine shrimp tonight. Frozen is not the best but that's all I have now. I just received 1/2 a pound of brine shrimp eggs this morning in the mail and I will be hatching live ones ASAP to feed to them. I have to get an air pump and airstone and get cracking with the eggs. Until then, they'll have to make do with the frozen stuff. They seemed to enjoy it although it's hard to tell since everything is soooooo tiny.

As you'll see in my 10G build thread, I decided to pull the male apisto out of the tank and put him with the danios. I've decided it's probably the best thing since the female won't want to harm him, he won't want to harm her and no one will want to eat the babies as a snack LOL

So right now, in the 20G, there's only the female apistogramma cacatuoides, her babies and 3 otocinclus. I am totally not worried about the otos trying to eat the fry. I'm a bit worried about them though as the female won't allow them anywhere near the corner of the tank where the babies are. She's a force to be reckon with.

A couple of days ago I decided to move things around in the tank to better see what was going on in the breeding cave. I also moved some plants around and added some Creeping Jennys to the foreground. I decided to cut the L. Aromatica in half and start two new ones (might not have been such a great move though LOL). In any case, I now have a clear view of what is going on in the cave and have more room in the foreground for plants.

Attached a picture of the female and free swimmers, picture of the Creeping Jennys and an FTS shot. Don't forget to check out the YouTube video of the female tending to her babies, it's pretty cool.

[daworldisblack]

Pretty exciting!! Hope it works out this time round! 

[bettabreeder]

Wow way to go!!! Congrats!!!

[Peekay]

You are so lucky!  Very cool and so interesting!

[DaWolfe]

Very cool Eric.  Congrats. 

Hopefully they will all survive so you can sell them and get bigger tanks. 

Dan

[bizfromqc]

Very cool Eric.  Congrats. 

Hopefully they will all survive so you can sell them and get bigger tanks. 

Dan

Ah ha, yeah bigger tanks... where will I put them though? LOL

[touchofsky]

What a great video!  Momma apisto is sure a busy lady    Good luck with them.  I am looking forward to your updates 

[bizfromqc]

Got my BS eggs in the mail from Canadian Aqua Farm. 20$ for 0.5lbs shipped right to my door, pretty good deal considering BA sells 0.21oz for 3.99$.

Got the "hatchery" setup with a 2L apple juice jug, an air stone and a tiny air pump. Put the whole thing in a bucket under one of my tanks. If all goes well, I should have some newly hatched BBS in 24-36 hours to feed to my fry.

[fischkopp]

I run two 1l bottles in parallel to hatch BBS, but with 24h offset. The first bottle is used for feeding during the day, while the other one is hatching the batch for the next day. That way you have fresh BBS every day and don't run out.

[bizfromqc]

I run two 1l bottles in parallel to hatch BBS, but with 24h offset. The first bottle is used for feeding during the day, while the other one is hatching the batch for the next day. That way you have fresh BBS every day and don't run out.

Good point, I'll get another bottle started either late tonight or tomorrow morning. I only used about half a teaspoon of eggs, should be enough for two/three feedings of BBS. Right now I feed them a bit in the morning, some more when I come back from work and a little more just before going to bed. I may adjust the amount of BBS eggs if I see I don't have enough (or too much) for the daily 2-3 feedings.

Thanks for the tip.

[fischkopp]

Half a tsp sounds like more than plenty, you probably won't need that much.

If the fry just started free swimming they will still have there yolk sack for food; don't feed until you see it almost gone.

[bizfromqc]

Half a tsp sounds like more than plenty, you probably won't need that much.

If the fry just started free swimming they will still have there yolk sack for food; don't feed until you see it almost gone.

They're about 3 days old now. I don't know if it means anything but I did see most of them gobble the Frozen BBS I've been giving them (does that mean their yolk sack is gone)?

I'll see what 1/2tsp gives me and drop to 1/4 if it's too much.

[Peekay]

Hey Eric... look in the classifieds... Peter has some of the ludwigia that you were coveting in my build thread for sale!   

[bizfromqc]

Hey Eric... look in the classifieds... Peter has some of the ludwigia that you were coveting in my build thread for sale!   

Yes I saw that, thanks for reminding me though 

Call me chicken but I'm a little paranoid about rescaping the 20G now with the tiny fry in there. I don't want to rock the boat too much and tick'em off.

But seriously, It's like we just had another kid. I'm constantly keeping an eye on them, feeding BBS three times a day, checking temperature, parameters. etc... LOL

My wife thinks I'm nuts 

[Peekay]

So drop it in one of your other tanks until your fry go off to college.   
Sorry, I'll stop enabling... 

[bettabreeder]

I'm sure pops in the 10g would love some ludwigia... Just saying