[Avatar~God]

I have an open 85 gallon and i wont to breed some sort of Cichlid. i Dont wont to breed convics though. They’re every where. Any one have an recommendations? Here are a couple pics of my 85. I have a flat rock(slate), small rocks, driftwood. i am going to get plants up and running soon. I wont it to look as real as possible. My heater broke so i have to pick a new one up. Also I need these fish to be good parents(not eat eggs or fry). Also how long can I keep the babies with them? I would love for it to be a beautiful fish.

 

[Avatar~God]

i would also like to point out i dont have a sponge filter. will this be a problem? i was thinking about green terror.

 

[Fresh2salt]

i dont think a pair of gt will do well in a 85g tank. IMO . maybe try some Africans cichlids

 

[rbp 4 135]

ya by the time gt's reach breeding size, they will likely be fiting over spae in your tank. mabe some african species, as they are usually good parents

 

[con man]

u could easily go with a red devil pair gt pair jd pair festae pair of flowerhorn or mang pair in there with no problems.....

as long as the female has a retreat (eggcrate divider) ll will b good

if ur pair bonds then they will consideer the tank as THERE property and not b in competition with eachother (doesnt usually happen between male n females anyways)

all around an 85 is literally the perfect tank for a breeding pair of large cichlids

 

[acestro]

I agree. This is an ideal tank for good sized cichlids to breed in. I wouldn't worry about not having a sponge filter depending on what you breed. You can throw a sponge over most filter intakes anyhow.

If I were you I'd check out Jeff Rapp's selection for something unusual and appealing to you and buy a group (from which a pair should form).

 

[acestro]

Also, I know it's not attractive, but clay pots make great retreats for battered females, egg laying places, etc. Eggcrate is just for extreme cases/sizes, play it by ear...

 

[Avatar~God]

Jeffs? who is that? i was thinking this was a good size tank for breeding too.

 

[Avatar~God]

i did a search on google. are you talking about this guy http://www.tangledupincichlids.com/stock.html?

Its 50 dollors shipping for each fish.

 

[acestro]

Lots of hobbyists in Michigan, get a combined order (the shipping will be divided then).

It was just an idea if you wanted something unusual (maybe I went too far! ). I dig GTs and they would be easier to get.

 

[channafreak]

Heres a crazy idea if you want some interaction. Some african cichlids have somthing called stepped breeding. The parents breed and guard the fry for a certain period or when the fry reach a certain size, then breed again and let the original fry continue in the same tank and care still for them. When this process comes around again the job of guarding and leading gets passed on to the first spawn of fry. This can continue for many many generations if you want, with everyone looking out for everyone else and coexisting. If you dont have a bunch of tanks lying around or cant unload them fast enough then SA, CA cichlids will a lot of the time just try and chase off the original fry. THey get eaten a lot of the time. Brichardis and pulchers do this type of stepped breeding. In lake Tanganika the schools of fish are in the 10,000s and quite a site. It is nice not having to worry about moving fry about when breeding time comes again. This can cause quite a stir with some american cichlids if one parent is ready to spawn and the other isnt. Especialy when one parent starts eating fry and the other parent is trying to defend. I have ended up with only 1 fish left in a matter of hours unattended. Food for thought. If you want more info just ask.
Jeff

 

[shaft]

Try these guys.

 

[acestro]

Cool suggestions guys, although the frontosa may be a little large for breeding in this tank.

 

[lemmywinks]

u could easily go with a red devil pair gt pair jd pair festae pair of flowerhorn or mang pair in there with no problems.....

all around an 85 is literally the perfect tank for a breeding pair of large cichlids

[snapback]852721[/snapback]​

you do realize how big some of those guys get dont you? and how agressive they get? male festae and jags can both get 16"+ in a home aquaruim. male festaes can even reach lengths twords 18-19"

Cool suggestions guys, although the frontosa may be a little large for breeding in this tank.

[snapback]853826[/snapback]​

I agree 100% with you there. usually when breeding frontosa you need a good sized colony of them, and that tank will not be large enough to hold 5-6 adults.

I would go with a medium sized cichlid pair with some dithers for that tank. Some good things would be some of the smaller sized veijas, a pair of dempseys, a pair of green terrors, a pair of texas', or even some thing like a pair of motaguense

and for dithers you could use convicts, silver dollars, and even giant danios (better hope like hell they are fast though

).

 

[Avatar~God]

you do realize how big some of those guys get dont you? and how agressive they get? male festae and jags can both get 16"+ in a home aquaruim. male festaes can even reach lengths twords 18-19"

I agree 100% with you there. usually when breeding frontosa you need a good sized colony of them, and that tank will not be large enough to hold 5-6 adults.

I would go with a medium sized cichlid pair with some dithers for that tank. Some good things would be some of the smaller sized veijas, a pair of dempseys, a pair of green terrors, a pair of texas', or even some thing like a pair of motaguense

and for dithers you could use convicts, silver dollars, and even giant danios (better hope like hell they are fast though

).

[snapback]854140[/snapback]​

So you are saying GT would be good to breed in my size tank? What are dithers?

 

[Avatar~God]

I did wont somthing u dont see every where. i gess i would be willing to order fish online. Any info on therse guys they look sweet.
I found this picture on Jeffs site.

 

[lemmywinks]

So you are saying GT would be good to breed in my size tank? What are dithers?

[snapback]855613[/snapback]​

yes you could easily have a pair of green terrors in your tank. and dithers are basicly any fish that are fast enough not to get the sh*t beat out of them and distract the 2 main fish from fighting with each other. they also help break up territories.

I did wont somthing u dont see every where. i gess i would be willing to order fish online. Any info on therse guys they look sweet.
I found this picture on Jeffs site.

[snapback]855620[/snapback]​

Geophagus Abalios are a very cool fish. I used to have a 8" male that died for no aparent reason though

These guys do not really big or really agressive so you could also keep a few other geo's in there as well such as altifrons (very similar to abalios), balzinis, and even sp. 'red head tapajos'

. To get a pair of these you are going to need to raise a group of 4 or 5 and just wait until you get a pair

good luck

 

[Avatar~God]

yes you could easily have a pair of green terrors in your tank. and dithers are basicly any fish that are fast enough not to get the sh*t beat out of them and distract the 2 main fish from fighting with each other. they also help break up territories.

Geophagus Abalios are a very cool fish. I used to have a 8" male that died for no aparent reason though

These guys do not really big or really agressive so you could also keep a few other geo's in there as well such as altifrons (very similar to abalios), balzinis, and even sp. 'red head tapajos'

. To get a pair of these you are going to need to raise a group of 4 or 5 and just wait until you get a pair

good luck

[snapback]855717[/snapback]​

Thanks for the reply. If you were to have an open 85 gallon what would you breed in there? i would not mind somthing more diffucult to breed.

 

[acestro]

If you like the abalios I say go for it! I'd actually breed one of the much smaller fish so they could have all kinds of options and room to do their thing. Just food for thought.

 

[Avatar~God]

What smaller fish were u thinking about? i wont any option out there.