How I Bred Apistogramma Cacatuoides at Home

Watch the apistogramma breeding process in detail, including footage of spawns from inside the cave.

Here's a link to a great interview with an experienced apistogramma breeder. I highly recommend it.

[MakeMoreFish]

Thanks for watching! Feel free to leave questions in the comments if you have them, and If you enjoyed this video, consider subscribing to see future projects.

[laymensgrowing]

Just me? or was this the best, most informative breeding video ever.

[thomasmarquis]

I've been watching Dwarf Cichlid breeding videos here for over a month. Without a doubt, this is the best explained and informative video I've seen yet! Thanks, Lowell.

[hnremak]

The extent that you went to to make this video is truly appreciated. Thanks for posting this.

[JustAnotherAusGamer]

As someone whose only 3 months and two 3ft tanks into fishkeeping, id like to say thank you.

A male double red is one of the first fish i bought solely because he looked like a little hot rod. Since watching him grow from the size of a large grape to now being the size of my thumb with vibrant red and deep black colorations i've had the urge to by a few breeder tanks and a few females and another male to try and breed my own line.

This video was exactly what i needed to for that kick of motivation to act.

[neutron]

these are actual experiments with *almost* proper reports of results which I very much greatly appreciated and adore

[luisromo]

Thank you much for making these kind of videos. You have no idea have much I appreciate the content !! You are great at explaining and great at fish keeping. You rock!!

[kellycasperhanson]

I'm glad the YouTube algorithm "gods" sent your video in my direction.

Your videos are some of the best I've watched on fishkeeping subjects.

Your narration is very well prepared and succinct, your video footage is clear, never shaky, and, sometimes, downright amazing!

Lastly, your content is excellent! Your time spent on investigation, preparation, and hard work is obvious.

Thank you and, please, keep on making these wonderful gifts to the hobby👍.

[neutron]

You make some really great videos dude. These are informative, gets to the point, and it includes your personal experience, which I prefer. So I'll say it's a 10

[tjtotheb]

This is the best apisto breeding video on youtube. I’ve been searching many shops in the tri-state for the best possible healthy, vibrant males and females I could find, i’m noticing breeding behavior that I recognize thanks to this video. So excited, thank you for taking the time to make this!

[sludgemaiden]

There was a old local apisto breeder where I am, and he couldn't shut up about everything he knew xD
He had been breeding apistos for about 30 years or so (did also breed other fish, like tetras (his favorite was the black neon ^^) and danios), and one thing I remember he mentioned was how important it was to have a low ph and dimly lit tank, preferebly with tinted water. I think he focused on around 4-5.5 ph. Dad told me when I was little he, the fish enthusiast, came to our house to collect water from our well that had a natural ph at 4.1. He was so jealous and said we where drinking gold, haha 😆

I was lucky enough to visit that old enthusiast few years before he passed. He only had one aquarium then, because he had gotten terminal ill. At most he had had ~150 running at the same time! It was his life! But the aquarium he still had was so awesome! 750l, planted (like a jungle! :D), with tinted water, stocked with several pairs of apisto species, a huge school of black neons and some other species of fish that I can't remember.

Tech suff - He had two, homemade, wet sumps beside each side of the tank, each with a massive water volume, can't really recall how much, but it was impressive. He had also three floor(? outside?) filters, a few circulation pumps(slow), and several heaters scattered around the tank and in the sumps for an even temperature through the tank.
- End thech stuff.

He just kept talking and talking about everything he knew. Apparently really happy to have someone that was interested and really listened to what he had to say. It was, apparantly, years since he was on an convention to talk and meet other people in the hobby, and now was just pouring out all he had at me. It was so facinating everything he said!
The visit lasted about 2 and a half hour, my dad had long lost interest and just wanted out (he had thought it would be a quick visit lasting max 40 min. ..yeah, no, sorry dad. 😆). But when we ("finally", acording to dad) drove off of there, I had been gifted a full shoppingbag of plants, and a glass tank with wierd measurements, perfect for turning into my own, reasonable sized, wet sump, with detailed instructions on how to make said sump.

Before the visit it hadn't crossed my mind to ever have apistos in my aquariums, because I had only community tanks and I've herd that dwarfciklids is agressive toward other thankmates. But when I sat in the car, with a tired and sighing father beside me, on or way home, my mind was trying to figure out how a community tank with a pair of apistos would be possible. Because this man, ofc, had shown me all his apistos. His personal favorites was ones that had lots of red and orange in them. But in one corner of the tank I had seen something blue shine brightly, even in that tinted water. And when I got closer I fell in love. I knew then that someday I would have this fish in one of my aquariums! I usually am terrible at remembering latin names, it's close to impossible for me to remember latin names, everytime I order fish att the local zoostore I have to write them down. But this one time. When I asked the man what this stunning blue fish was called, I immediately put it in my long term memory banks. It was stuck in there as chewing gum in hair. And that fish was Apistogramma trifasciata.

Now when I think about it he is the indirect reason I'm in the hobby! It was because of him my dad tried to have a community tank when I was little, and it was because of that memory I got curious about aquariums in my teens. And it was then I asked my dad if he still had that tank, and he had. I got the old 64l all glass aquarium and fixed it up. Read up like crazy and changed the silicon, out on the balcony in the middle of the winter, and added decorative black painted aluminium ledges(don't know what's it's called in english), slowly acquired all the tech and stuff. And when I finally got to start it up..! I was so happy!! Sure I went modest and started with platys, but I loved it! I've had six tanks running at most at the same time and tried all kinds of fish! And it feels I've read almost everything about the hobby, which with certain I have NOT. Far far from.

Sorry, was not meant to write THIS much! Was only supposed to give a tip about the ph and lightning.. Got a bit bit carried away.. Ooops.. 😅

TL;DR
Tips about low ph and low lightning when breeding apistos.
Story about how I met an old enthusiastic apisto breeder that apparently was the indirect reason I got in to the hobby.
I love A. trifasciata now.

Cheers!

[jossefine]

Thank you for a great video! Love your closeup footage, great tips and explaining. We’ve had our very first cacatuoides spawn here and looking forward to seeing our 50 fry to grow up 😊

[paulbolton]

I've just watched your video on how you bred Apistogramma cacatuoides, and found it to be very interesting and will certainly watch it again, I've never kept Apistos before but do feel that doing some research this can help in producing some successful spawnings but also helps us to understand how to care for them correctly I have just liked and subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos on the Apistogramma cichlid Paul from the UK

[TheFishRoom]

This has to be the best Apistogramma spawn video of ALL TIME! Amazing thanks

[RoboBisty]

One of the most informative Apistogramma breeding videos I've seen. Just what I've been looking for!

[theorigionaldrew]

What a stimulating, well shot project. Experimenting with the cave and seeing the inside was so fascinating. I had a pair of Apistogramma Hongsloi. Beautiful pair, the male chased her around pretty aggressively and I thought she was going to die from stress but something I was doing want jiving with them. Full colors, cave, all that. The male ended up passing sadly and the female seems to be more content, but with much less vibrant colors. I'm going to add a male and female soon as apparently a harem is less stress.

[breedingbubbles]

That was an AWESOME video by someone who obviously loves what you're doing. Well done and thank you!

[tkorkunckaya]

Best breeding guide video I've ever seen. Thanks so much

[SlickNick]

Always great footage and info Lowell thank you! Very interesting that males can fertilize eggs from outside the cave! I love that you’re into breeding dwarf cichlids I learn a lot from you

[GrowMoreVeggies]

I love how they park around the base of the plant.