How tall does a spawning cave need to be?

[Fishfur]

In hope I might be successful breeding Badis badis, I have to plan how I will supply caves for the boys to own and what size those caves should probably be.

Searches provide no clues - they all just say they need caves without any details to indicate what might constitute a suitable cave.

I have never dealt with a cave spawning species before so I am wondering just how much space is needed - hie much height, or depth or width.

The fish are on the small side - maybe 2.5” long.

I have a couple of roughly palm-of-the-hand size hand moulded clay caves. They have openings a little more than an inch in diameter and are roughly 3” deep & might be 2” tall in the middle. They are more or less igloo shaped.

I also have some clay watering stakes I don’t use for watering. They have an opening a little over 1.5” diameter in a hexagonal shape.

They’ll be about 5” long by the time I take the tapered ends off them. They taper to nothing & I’d hate for anybody to get stuck inside, so I figure I’d saw off the tapered end & close the opening with a rock or something.

I also have a clay jug - decoration type thing in that dark clay from China. It’s big - about 3” diameter opening & 4” tall & long. I’m thinking it’s too big for a spawning cave but what don’t know about spawning caves?

Any advice on the general topic of cave spawning is very welcome.

With B.badis it is the male that claims a cave to entice females into & then guards the spawn for a bit.

 

[TClare]

I am not sure, I am actually wondering the same for my dwarf pike cichlids. I think the entrance hole should be small and probably would consider your first option to be best for those fish. But maybe the best thing would be to provide a couple of different options for them to choose? You could also make some additional cave options with driftwood or rocks. I did this initially for the dwarf pikes but I am not sure now if they are deep enough, or with small enough entrances. In this case it would be the female who chooses the cave and the (bigger) male doesn't necessarily have to fit inside. I am thinking about trying a coconut shell, and this, with a small entrance, could be a possibility for your fish too, they are often used for Apistogrammas many of which are of similar size to the Badis....

 

[Fishfur]

I am not sure, I am actually wondering the same for my dwarf pike cichlids. I think the entrance hole should be small and probably would consider your first option to be best for those fish. But maybe the best thing would be to provide a couple of different options for them to choose? You could also make some additional cave options with driftwood or rocks. I did this initially for the dwarf pikes but I am not sure now if they are deep enough, or with small enough entrances. In this case it would be the female who chooses the cave and the (bigger) male doesn't necessarily have to fit inside. I am thinking about trying a coconut shell, and this, with a small entrance, could be a possibility for your fish too, they are often used for Apistogrammas many of which are of similar size to the Badis....

Giving them a choice makes good sense & I should have thought of that one myself. So my thanks for doing it for me .

The little hand made caves I got some time back when I attempted to keep a pair of gold McMasteri apistos. Unfortunately that did not work out well. The poor things did not last long enough to need the caves.

Blue Badis are indeed very similar in size to the female McMasteri. Be nice not to have to buy a cave & I was planning on making at least two from the lava rock as well - the mouldable plastic I intend to use should make that relatively easy to do.

 

[Hellfishguy]

A terracotta flower pot with a 3” diameter opening laying on its side would work fine. I’ve bred Badis badis many times and found that they’re not very particular when it comes to caves.

 

[Fishfur]

A terracotta flower pot with a 3” diameter opening laying on its side would work fine. I’ve bred Badis badis many times and found that they’re not very particular when it comes to caves.

That’s very helpful, thanks!