Good beginning mouthbrooders?

Figure8

Hey! I want to breed mouthbrooders- any suggestions on what species I should get? I want something easy to breed, doesn't cost a lot of money, and I can find at my LFS instead of ordering them online.

klim123

I think yellow labs are the best and easiest. I have a 265 gallon full of all kinds of Africans and they seem to be the ones who breed the most and easiest. I think its important to have a lot of hiding spaces good luck

Figure8

Thanks! I will have to give those a shot. Anything special that I should know about them?
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klim123

make sure you get a few of them so you are guaranteed to get a couple of females. I believe males and females are distinguished by the amount of spots on their lower fins. I don't know offhand which is which. I hae also found with Africans that even though I have a huge tank and many hiding spots with ideal water conditions, there are unexplained deaths which I believe come from fighting and dominance. Watching the babies is a lot of fun.

AndrewM21

Peacock cichlids are very willing to breed in the home aquarium (personal experience). I would recommend a 1/3 male to female ratio when it comes to breeding them. Some will recommend more, but a 1/3 ratio is what I would call the "bare minimum".

On average they are about $3~$5/ea depending on where you get them from, most will come as juveniles and thus making it more difficult to sex them.