Question about Breeding Cichlids

[tyson5711]

So I picked up a 55 gallon relatively cheap and I wanted to try my hand at raising and breeding some sajicas.

I've never tried breeding cichlids before but I know (or have been told) sajicas are very good parents. But my question is what, if any, other fish should I put in there? I have a couple of hoplo cats in a 75 I had planned on putting in there with them. But I wasn't sure if I should put more hoplos, or maybe a small school of corydoras? Tetras?

Any advice you could give would be great!

Thank you

 

[duanes]

Sajica's are substrate spawners.
Most catfish love to eat substrate spawning cichlid eggs (especially the nocturnal cats, that eat when cichlids are sleeping).
Putting them in the same breeding tank usually leads to one of two ends.
No cichlid fry, or in the case of good cichlid parenting skills, dead catfish.
My sajica's have spawned, and if I had any other fish in tank at all, during spawning, they kill those fish when protecting eggs and fry.

 

[tyson5711]

Sajica's are substrate spawners.
Most catfish love to eat substrate spawning cichlid eggs (especially the nocturnal cats, that eat when cichlids are sleeping).
Putting them in the same breeding tank usually leads to one of two ends.
No cichlid fry, or in the case of good cichlid parenting skills, dead catfish.
My sajica's have spawned, and if I had any other fish in tank at all, during spawning, they kill those fish when protecting eggs and fry.

Wow good to know. Thank you for the heads up. Would something like large bodied tetras be ok?

 

[Hendre]

Wow good to know. Thank you for the heads up. Would something like large bodied tetras be ok?

Could be at risk. Im not entirely sure but cichlids can be murderous

 

[tyson5711]

Thank you. I know the sajicas can be aggressive during spawning. But didn't know if there were any fish that would be ok in there with them or if folks on here that breed cichlids usually kept target/dither fish with spawning cichlids.

 

[dan518]

Alot can depend on the individual fish, some might be happy with 2 Sq ft other might want 5 Sq ft of territory while spawning, trial and error

 

[duanes]

Tetras are also cichlid fry predators.
To me if you want to breed and keep fry, no other tank mates should be added.

 

[Athletic_Amph]

as stated above, everything depends on the individual fishes temperament. When I purchased my Blue Gene JD breeding group, I just put all 7 juvenile JD's in a tank alone, with no other tank mates, and allowed them to grow up and pair off naturally. I did the same with my F1 A. Citrinellus breeding group... I don't see a need for target/dither fish when raising a group of juveniles

 

[tyson5711]

Understood. I'll be getting about 6 small sajicas for the 55 (probably around an inch or so). Any tips any of you can provide? What to watch for? For someone that has never done anything like this before.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

Lots of hiding spots to make them feel comfortable and keep up with your water changes. I have a pair of sajica myself and I read through a lot of sexing threads on here and my male has a lot of red on his fins and are more pointed, and female has a lot of yellow in the fins with more rounded body and fins.