I have become... a back yard breeder...

[hrd2gt]

OH JAN is going to KILL me over this!!! LOL!!!

So who would figure that the fish world is as crazy as the dog world. I have several tanks now in my house, and noticed that my big tank with a variety of cichlids decided they are happy... doing all sorts of weird dancing... and are having babies!!

Several of my fish are from specialized fish stores, but most are from... Petsmart *gasp*!!! lol, ask me which ones are which... well, shucks, i cant lie, cuz i do know what ones i paid to much money for, LOL!

Anyways, I happened to notice a pair of fish get real aggressive with others on protecting a hole they dug under my rocks... and just one day happened to catch a baby come out and grab some food then hide away again! whaaa??? he is such a smart lil baby now! knows how to survive! Only 1 of who knows how many. Anyways, fish store said it was probly few months old (gawd i dont pay attention). So now I am paying attention and I noticed another fish had babies in her mouth! Its to funny, you can see eyes when they breathe... so i hurried, set up a small 10 gal tank... spent half hour trying to catch her... and got her into the other tank.. next morning she spit out her babies, and now I have 11 tiney babies...

If this keeps up... i am going to be giving babies as gifts to everybody! lol... or as my friend said, i can always feed them to my oscars... HOW AWFUL!!!!!

my first baby

the parents

the new babies (some of them that i could see!)

 

[pawpads]

Ha!! I have Oscars too!! They go through a LOT of feeders!! The Africans are pretty for freshies! I lean more toward saltwater. Good luck with the babies!

 

[JanS]

Congrats hrd! I love breeding Cichlids since they're so unique and the mouth brooders are really interesting to watch. Gosh, your older baby looks like a Brichardi, but if those are the parents that isn't it.
Your tank/s look really good too and you're so lucky to live in TX where you can get the TX holey rock. I want some but it's pretty hard to fly back with me and the shipping cost would be ridiculous for even a couple of rocks with the weight.

Wow PP I didn't know you were into fish too!

 

[hrd2gt]

If i ever go north i will haveta get ya some jan, friend of mine told me you used to go to a landscaping store and get them for like $3-4 bucks, maybe haul a pallet up there and sell them! lol

 

[pawpads]

Wow PP I didn't know you were into fish too!

We seem to be into everything here at the Jones Plantation! Brian LOVES fish. He has always wanted a large freshwater tank, so I set him up one with 2 Oscars. I have my tank set up as saltwater. The SW cost more to get up and running but gosh....is there anything prettier to look at than a reef tank? I just love it!
I also have many Zebra finches!

 

[MyBuddy]

LOL! So exciting, hrd! We used to be 'into' fish a long time ago and it was mostly Guppy babies and maybe Swordtails?? I know there was another one that had babies. I think it was that one. It was pretty cool and we were doing the same thing, fishing them out with nets, handling with care, thinking if anyone saw us they'd think we were nutty! LOL Ah, it was fun!!

 

[JanS]

I have 1 SW set up too and it used to be 2 until a heater stuck and literally boiled the one tank. There went tons of $$$$$ since it was a reef tank too and I felt so horrible for everything in there dying such a terrible death. They later recalled those damn heaters (Visi-therm Stealth) but it didn't do me any good.

I went back to the basics on one tank and have Molly's and Platy's in there so needless to say there are "always" babies in there.
I also have feelers out to get some p Demasoni when I go to the Cichlid convention in Indy next month so I hope I can get some this year. I have a special tank just waiting for them.

 

[pawpads]

This was about 2 months ago (?). Brian just loves his Oscars!They go through a lot of feeders but also are on a Oscar pellet diet as well as other natural "prey" foods. Some say that goldfish feeders are too high in fat for the Oscars but I balance out their diet.

 

[JanS]

Nice looking tank! I can't believe the Oscars haven't rearranged it for you yet.

Most don't/won't feed the feeder fish anymore because of the risk of diseases and like you said, they're really not the best for them, so it's good you're giving them the pellets too. My friends big boy just loves earth worms when she gets them out of her garden so it might be fun for you to try that too. My Frontosa's suck them down like spaghetti too. LOL

 

[Doberman Gang]

I used to breed central American cichlids but they were egg layers. You do always have to have what we called a bullied fish to keep the breeding pair from fight and killing each other.

 

[pawpads]

The Oscars get all kinds of crawlies from outside! The get worms, moths, crickets, and grasshoppers. They really will eat almost anything. Pigs!
The live plants have really grown and now everything is in a bigger tank. They really haven't "messed" it up yet which surprises me. The ones I had 10 years ago wouldn't let me keep anything in the tank!

 

[hrd2gt]

wow PP, how big is the tank? I had to seperate my oscars because they would beat the hell out of each other even tho they were together since they were the size of quarters. I still keep them together but they are in two 40gal tanks... and they each got 2 friends each. a pleco and a giant cat. LOL... talk about alot of tank and maintenance for damn 6 fish! Guess i need to get a new pic of the tanks all done... shame on me

 

[DreamValley]

LOL... definitely they don't have babies in the backyard. I would call you Tank Pool Breeder... hahahaha

 

[pawpads]

wow PP, how big is the tank?

The one in the pic is just a 55 gal. I wouldn't keep Oscars in anything smaller...even one Oscar. They won't reach full size in a small tank and they will "fight" if they don't have ample space.
The tank they're in now is 125 gal. The 55 is my saltwater tank now.

I still keep them together but they are in two 40gal tanks...

Is that 40 gallons. If so I imagine that it's really hard to keep clean. More than one large type fish will keep a tank that size dirty, cloudy, ph balances off, and so on. Oscars by themselves make A LOT of waste and you have to do regular (partial) water changes and keep the tank clean.....feeder fish help clean the rocks and glass, until they're eaten!

 

[JanS]

Beautiful PP! I love your Tangs too! I have a pair of Cinnamon Clowns in my salt tank and that's it for fish but I saw some really cool smaller fish that would fit right in with them.
My Anemone did great for years until I switched to MH lighting and then he started travelling from his original spot and finally withered away to nothing. Poor thing.

I used to breed central American cichlids but they were egg layers. You do always have to have what we called a bullied fish to keep the breeding pair from fight and killing each other.

Ah yes, dither fish. I keep Syno's in with mine since they know how to stay out of the way and they're about the oldest fish I have right now.

 

[hrd2gt]

My fish guy told me that the 55 was to small for them, he said they do better in a short wide tank vs tall narrow tanks. the tanks do great for them, they can really swim around. And as of late they been pretty low maintenance, thank goodness! lol! for a while there i was really struggling with the water here.m One day i will finish the trim on the stand...

 

[hrd2gt]

oh man... now my peacock cichlid had babies!! she has a crap load in her mouth she wont spit out... got to be at least like 30!! then another one of my red zebras has babies in her mouth too... good lord... but i am excited to see what the peacock puts out!

 

[JanS]

Wow, Peacocks aren't "that" easy to breed - good job! I can't remember how many days they hold before they spit them, but it's something like 30 or 45 so I always wonder how they don't starve.

Are you sure you don't want to come to the Cichlid convention in Indy?

 

[Rits]

Are you sure you don't want to come to the Cichlid convention in Indy?

Yeah, then you could pimp out your cichlid peacock babies there and sell them like a true BYB, LOL I know it's not the same in the fish world.

 

[hrd2gt]

actually rits... i think it is the same... LOL

Really jan?? I put her in the baby tank seperated, since i dont want the 2 month olders to pick on the newbies... she wouldnt spit them out so i shook them out (per the fish guy!! but that was for 2nd litter) and soooooo many came out... they looked to small, like their rear ends were big enough, and they were clamoring to get back in her mouth. she eventually picked them all back up. been in there a week now and still got them in their mouth.

Meanwhile, the ONE from my first litter is such a brave guy, he never hides and always comes out when i come to feed him, even the 2nd litter, of 15 all get excited and come to the glass when i sit on the doggy bed to feed them and look at them. they are such good lil kids, lol

btw jan, i only have one peacock in there... so .... whose the daddy??