African Cichlids Fish

Cichlid-Tips For Raising and Breeding Cichlid Fry

Cichlids-tips for raising and breeding cichlid fry every guide you read about breeding cichlids and raising their fry will tell you that water quality is the most critical factor. More or less if you have the basics right then this is excellent advice. To expand on this idea with a little more depth this article is going to look into a couple of the lesser understood factors that affect the quality and health of your cichlid fry and their mother.

Cichlid Fry Aquarium Tips

• Tip 1 Keeping a slightly higher water temperature will shorten the number of days the mother holds her fry before releasing, the fry will develop faster and lose their sack earlier. Slightly higher water temperature means one or two degrees above your species average recommended temperature and no more. Further to this, you should only expect the duration of holding to be reduced by a day or two.

• Tip 2 Particularly if the mother is in your display or community aquarium it is important to make sure there is adequate water movement throughout the aquarium. The mother will be looking to hide in caves and crevices where she can protect her fry, the water in these parts of the aquarium should not be stagnant. You can increase water flow with a power head and consider the outlet of your filter system. Within reason you can't really have too much water movement in your aquarium.

• Tip 3 If using a floating isolation aquarium to raise your cichlid fry then consider an air stone inside the floating aquarium to assist with water movement. You will ideally be feeding the fry four quick and small meals a day, they are growing quickly and will be generating plenty of waste. I find the best floating aquariums have large holes that can be covered with mesh when the cichlid fry are very small, the mesh can later be removed once the fry have grown in size and are producing more waste.

• Tip 4 The pH of your water is critical and should reflect your species natural environment as best possible. The pH should also be stable and you should know how much buffer you are adding to tap water with each water change. Cichlids require a relatively high pH and providing this on an ongoing basis can be very beneficial.

• Tip 5 Further to the idea of replicating the species natural environment, consider the use of lake salts. These can be purchased for Lake Malawi, Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika aquariums, they provide trace minerals found in the wild along with the benefits that salts give to your aquarium. At the very least the additional salts will provide some extra resistance against disease and some fungi.

• Tip 6 Perhaps the best and most underutilized tip is to feed your new born cichlid fry with baby brine shrimp and blood worm, although you can get away with crushing flake and miniature cichlid granules, the difference in growth rate is amazing. Brine shrimp can be grown in small containers at home and you should be able to pick up a starter kit at your local fish store.