Setting up breeding rack after losing all fish

[ZanaZoola14]

Hello, due to my water company changing what they put in the tap, I've lost my apistos and rams. So I'll be completely starting anew. So it means I can now go with what would be best for the fish (also going RO with discus minerals (I am not going back to tap, I don't want to face losing everything again)).

What would people recommend?
How to set up the breeding rack?
What sort of foods have people found work really well?
Flow rate?
Planted, non-planted?
Substrate, no substrate, small amount of substrate underneath the cave/flat(s)?
Multiple breeding locations, or only one per pair?
Is there anything further you'd recommend to do with the water?
(10/12"x15"x15")

I'll set up a tank for breeding rams and another for breeding apistos. I am probably going to go lf german blues, and maybe one other (previously had gold pair bred from a black pair) - with a more significant segment in the middle to raise the fry (same with the apistos until I get a third and fourth tank to raise them fully set up).

Now that I've lost the apistos, I am unsure what way to go. I love the cockatoo orange flash/sunburst; however, local to me have lots of health issues (females surviving well, males not doing so good). I was also going to breed the A. Gephyra I had, after sourcing a female, but now that I don't have Chopstick anymore, I'm not sure that I want to go down that route now - not many people near me that are big on apistos and would like them more for their "flashiness". I'm interested in them further, in a way that is increasing daily - just I'll likely need to be able to sell to afford to keep them running - I've started shipping fish, but I still don't know a lot of people who own them near me to sell to - as my lfs that I work at don't take from non-suppliers for anything, they only rehome them, and the only other close is pah.

England, UK

[BigBen]

I've been meaning to set a rack up for the last month, but life has very much been getting in the way. My plan is to have a large air pump (pond air pump) with sponge filters. How you connect them would depend how many tanks you are planning.

Love foods work well for breeding, but you could easily set your own brine shrimp factory up if you're going done the air pump route.

Plants might provide the fish a bit of security cover, and also a place to lay eggs (maybe not for dwarf cichlids, but other species will use them).

Have a sand substrate as apistos and rams dig, so they can behave naturally.

Cheers,
Ben.

[black ghost]

Love foods work well for breeding,

They certainly do.

[ZanaZoola14]

I've been meaning to set a rack up for the last month, but life has very much been getting in the way. My plan is to have a large air pump (pond air pump) with sponge filters. How you connect them would depend how many tanks you are planning.

I was going to be running them through sponge filters powered by one large pump. With the tank dividers also being sponge for more surface area.

[black ghost]

A ring main is the way to go with an air pump. 1.5” or 2” pipe.

I’ve found the small cichlids breed more readily if they’re ‘private’ with areas of the tank where they can’t be seen, and no other cichlids. A few small dithers up top too may make all the difference to some of them.

My first food for all cichlid fry is frozen lobster eggs, then the ‘usual’ frozen foods, grated while still frozen (I use a small serrated knife).

[BigBen]

A ring main is the way to go with an air pump. 1.5” or 2” pipe.

I’ve found the small cichlids breed more readily if they’re ‘private’ with areas of the tank where they can’t be seen, and no other cichlids. A few small dithers up top too may make all the difference to some of them.

My first food for all cichlid fry is frozen lobster eggs, then the ‘usual’ frozen foods, grated while still frozen (I use a small serrated knife).

I assume you mean having a hose drilled into a pvc pipe loop, with air lines tapping off to each filter?

[fr499y]

Pvc pipe with barbed taps fitted is the way most fish rooms with air pumps are setup. You then use hose from the taps to the tanks.

[black ghost]

A ring main is the way to go with an air pump. 1.5” or 2” pipe.

I’ve found the small cichlids breed more readily if they’re ‘private’ with areas of the tank where they can’t be seen, and no other cichlids. A few small dithers up top too may make all the difference to some of them.

My first food for all cichlid fry is frozen lobster eggs, then the ‘usual’ frozen foods, grated while still frozen (I use a small serrated knife).

I assume you mean having a hose drilled into a pvc pipe loop, with air lines tapping off to each filter?

Yep.

[BigBen]

I couldn't decide whether that would be overkill for what I'm planning with just 3/4 40l tanks. My intention was to use a set up a bit like on this pump: https://www.swelluk.com/blagdon-pond-ox ... r-air-pump

[black ghost]

I couldn't decide whether that would be overkill for what I'm planning with just 3/4 40l tanks. My intention was to use a set up a bit like on this pump: https://www.swelluk.com/blagdon-pond-ox ... r-air-pump

That’ll do the job and then some. You’ll be getting half a litre of air every second (that’s the smallest one). You won’t need a ring main.