# Help My Apistogramma cacatuoides (Triple Red) spawned.



## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

OK so yesterday i noticed the the female was acting funny when a serpae tetra came to close to the driftwood she always hangs out at. She turned on her side and then change colors and chased him away. She had never acted like this before so i got down on my knees and had to bend like a pretzel and that's when i saw the eggs.

I have no idea on how to care for them so after some Reading i have decide to let mom do her job this time since she is so protective over them.

Anyone how to care for them or any tips/tricks?

I am not really sure when they spawned so i don't know when i should hatch out some BBS.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

First of all if they are still eggs you've got some time before you need to hatch any BBS. The eggs hatch after 3 days (Depending on water temperature) and will then be wrigglers for 5 further days. Only when they start free swimming will you need to feed shrimp and/or microworm.

I feed them using a pipette to squirt the food at the babies so they get enough.

I always leave the parents to raise the fry, but if you have good fry eaters, like tetras, in your tank, then the female might struggle to raise many babies as she does all the work on her own! The male won't help at all in these haremic species IME. If you can I would remove the tetras for a while, but you will have to do it carefully so you don't disturb the female. I put a bit of food in, get the tetras up at the top feeding, then swipe the net once and move those to the QT tank. Repeat this once or twice a day. Another trick is to net them out in the middle of the night when mum, and the tetras, are sleeping.

Good luck!


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

ed seeley said:


> First of all if they are still eggs you've got some time before you need to hatch any BBS. The eggs hatch after 3 days (Depending on water temperature) and will then be wrigglers for 5 further days. Only when they start free swimming will you need to feed shrimp and/or microworm.
> 
> I feed them using a pipette to squirt the food at the babies so they get enough.
> 
> ...


Wow thank you very much.

I have another question do you think Red tailed rasboras and 1 yo yo are ok to keep with them? I have a 10 gallon that could hold the 4 serpae tetras for the time being.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

will5 said:


> Wow thank you very much.
> 
> I have another question do you think Red tailed rasboras and 1 yo yo are ok to keep with them? I have a 10 gallon that could hold the 4 serpae tetras for the time being.


No worries! 

I have heard that rasboras are slower moving and less efficient predators so should be good to keep. I think the loach though will soon polish them off - quicker than the tetras IMO! If you can get it out too!


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

I have seen the yo yo get close to the wood and she was trying to chase him off but he did not move. So dad came over and nipped and him three or four times before he decide it was not worth it.

The yo yo is going to be a pain in the a** to catch because he knows what the net is for for some reason. I caught him once before in a bottle that had bait in it but since he is a fast learner i doubt he will fall for it again.

Thanks again.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I doubt the fry will have much of a chance in a community tank, but you never know! Sometimes it takes a pair of cichlids a few "practice rounds" to get it right anyways. Don't lose heart if this batch doesn't make it. Congrats on the fry!


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

Six said:


> I doubt the fry will have much of a chance in a community tank, but you never know! Sometimes it takes a pair of cichlids a few "practice rounds" to get it right anyways. Don't lose heart if this batch doesn't make it. Congrats on the fry!


Your congrats on the fry was a little early because i still had eggs. This was until last night when my yo yo made a raid on the eggs. I was wondering why he had a fat belly this afternoon before I fed him. Now i know. All of the eggs are gone now, but the good news it that the female is still in breeding colors.

I just can't catch that dam yo yo he is just to smart. Out of the three that i did have he was the smartest, fastest, and the sneaky-est. He is a big PITA. On more than one occasion he has bitten me when i was cleaning the tank.

Anyone want a yo yo? He's your free if you come catch him.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Bad luck. Have you tried the bottle trap again? Put some food that he can't resist in and leave overnight and they're usually too greedy not to go in!


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

ed seeley said:


> Bad luck. Have you tried the bottle trap again? Put some food that he can't resist in and leave overnight and they're usually too greedy not to go in!


Yes in fact it's still in there to day. I change the food and added a mix of every food i had, but he still has not come near it. I even set a net in there with the food mix setting in there. he did come out for a second when i put the frozen blood worms in there but would only eat what the others would pull out of the net.

I am telling you he is not stupid. He knows I'm out to get him.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Oh right!

How about putting a nice, dark little pipe in that he might like to hide in and then closing up one end and putting a net over the other end? Put it near his favourite spot in the tank maybe? LAst brainwave I'm afraid, apart from dismantling the tank!


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Will

I'm sorry about the eggs getting eaten.

You can drain the water level down real low to catch your loach. That's what I did the last time that I wanted to catch my three in another tank. After I caught them, I traded them to the LFS. I don't want anymore yo yo loaches.

Last year, I had a threesome of the "Orange Flash" cockatoo's. They were easy breeders and spawned regularly. The funny thing was that when the females wanted to spawn and the male didn't; the females would chase him and nip him. I guess that he was just playing hard to get, but he was very prolific though. He didn't help look after the young with this threesome that I noticed.  

The only other fish in that tank were some otos and some pygmy cories.

Left C


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## will5 (Oct 26, 2005)

I did think about draining the tank and in fact i will have to do it in the next month or so to swap out my gravel, but i don't want to do twice.

I had him netted last night, but as the net got just above the water line i reached to support the bottom of the net and he jumped out of the net and back into the tank.  

Thank you all for your help.

If anyone is interested i will keep everyone up to date on the breeding, hatching, and the raising of the fry. That is if anyone is interested once i get the loach out and put in a tank divider.


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