TedsTank

Sounds great!!!....Quite an experience (for you). I have learned that the best is to just leave them alone. Let the female raise them. If panicked for any reason they will pick off some of the fry.

Your tank for the Cockatoos may be a bit small because the female has territory that the male is not allowed in til the fry get more independant.

Anyway congrats!!!! Good job on the setup!!! they had babies. Your new fry will also be more comfortable (adapted) to your specific water parameters. Cockatoo fry are fast growers for apisto's.

nitram79

Thanks Ted,

yeah it definately has been an experience. if it wasnt for the babies getting into the filter, i would have left her and them together. but i noticed that thier numbers has declined over a few days and also the day i removed her, i was watching them and there was a baby in the corner on the gravel. the mum came over and she was hovering a couple of inches away from the baby and looking down at it at about a 45 degree angle. as i was watching her she started looking really funny like she was about to pounce on the little one and i think the baby got the same impression and it just took off really fast. i thought hey that didnt seem right. then she went over near the filter and i saw her snap at something that was on the move cause she had to chase it a bit. thats when i thought i best take her out coz i wasnt sure what was going on.
as for tank size, i dont have anymore males left, they all died. I'm planning on breeding one of the male babies which is 50% flash and 50% triple red with a female 100% flash, if she is still alive when i get home in a few hours. she got picked on again by the dominant female so i put her in the tank with the babies. they are in an enclosure so they'll be safe. if she doesnt make it i'll let them back out to swim around the 2 footer. i had to collect them all so i could clean the tank because i have a stocking over the filter so its not collecting anything and the tank is getting a bit dirty due to overfeeding. so will see how we go. will take some pics before i let em go though.

TedsTank

Fun!!!..the hardest part I ever had was to get the babies out of the community tank without ruining the community tank!!! Breeder I have seen use min. of 15 gallon long tanks, a sponge filter and a flower pot or coconut hut for breeding. Then take the male out (much easier to catch) after spawning and leave them alone with the brooding mom...4 weeks or more til the fry are very actively feeding.....that is the commercial setups....Takes quite a few tanks...breeding....fry and then growout. And these guys can spawn almost every 3 weeks if you dont seperate them!!!!!

nitram79

Yeah my girl laid eggs twice but no male to fertilize the eggs so so ate them. The babies finished off the eggs when i moved mum out.
i have em in this breeder enclosure. do you think its big enough to leave them in there till they get a bit bigger so they cant get sucked into the filter??
here are some pics.

nitram79

here are a few better pics of the biggest of the baby. some of the others are a quarter of the size of this one

bolivianbaby

Awwww, he's so cute!

nitram79

yeah he is, but im thinking it could be a girl, but I dont know yet. only time will tell

here's another pic

TedsTank

Start doing some internet research on skewed sex ratios with apistos. Water temps and to some degrees pH will affect the outcome of the spawning, in that you could get mostly males or mostly females. One breeder I know spawns one group at a low temp and one group at a higher temp, so as to end up with more pairs.

One of the theorys is that these little guys evolved in the small pools and creeks. During the dry seasons the pools get very small and warm..and wont support too many males, hence there are predominantly female fry....and the reverse during the wet season...larger areas of water available and cooler fresh water from the rains.

Apistos are an interesting group of fish!!!

nitram79

I have actually done some reding on this subject, but i couldnt find much specifically on cacatuoides, but there is a bit on other apistos. What i read was warmer water will produce more males than females. and a low PH of arounf 5.0 to 6 will produce will produce more males than females. neutral to higher will produce more females. which is opposite to what you said but this was on other apistos though, not specifically cacatuoides. I was hoping with the parameters of my water with what i read, that it could go either way, depending on what works more PH or temperature, coz my water was at 28c and the PH is 7 - 7.5, but going off what u say, i'll get more females. the 2 biggest ones look like girls, but the rest are so small that its hard to tell, they have yellow bellies which makes me think male but i dont know. im trying to tell from thier fins also but no real luck there.

TedsTank

looks like you might have 2 spawns because of the size difference. You will notice the males soon as they grow....will begin to show color on their tails fairly early.

The cacs grow fast!!! many of the other apisto's take forever!!!!

Keep going forward....you are learning alot!!!!!