Bluecan Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 I am trying to breed some Texas cichlids and I have read in several places that along with water changes varying and increasing the food supply will help a lot to trigger breeding and get the fish conditioned ....live foods have been heavily suggested as well, however I am not willing to risk introducing any unwanted pathogens nor am i in a position to grow my own worm cultures etc. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use, or even a known safe source of live food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 When I was feeding my flowerhorns live food, I had a 15gal tank that I kept feeder minnows in.(yes I did quarantine the minnows before feeding). Some people may think I was retarded, but I made sure they were well fed, healthy and the fish had to work to catch them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Live foods are not necessary, but if want to feed larger live foods not capable of introducing pathogens you can try some of the insect foods intended for reptiles, like crickets, superworms (large mealworms), etc. Another way to increase the protein and overall nutrition to your prospective breeders is to feed thawed frozen krill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 As Paul stated they don't require live foods to breed, but the examples he gave are clean sources of supplements if you choose to go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dipset Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Imo live foods haven't triggered breeding. Its more so based on how ready your fish are. I had a pair of Umbees do the dance for six months with no luck. Age and maturity of the fish plays a bigger role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluecan Posted January 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 alright thanks they just paired up anyways so hopefully they do there thing now over the next few weeks and i dont get stuck waiting 6 months for nothing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have had a large number of fish (cichlids, cats, livebearers, inverts, etc) breed with a diet of nothing more than NLS. When I wanted to make sure they were conditioned I increased how often I fed the fish (3+ small feedings as opposed to 1-2 normal feedings). WCs can help too. I am in the habit of doing 50% weekly WCs, but sometimes I'll do closer to 80% to induce spawning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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