Breeding aquarium fish is a process that requires both knowledge and experience, as well as patience and time. Each type of fish has its own characteristics, this also applies to "smart" astronotuses.
Astronotus are large fish of the cichlid family, which are distinguished by a highly developed intelligence for fish and reach a length of 35-40 cm. Despite the fact that the astronotus is not only a large, but also a predatory fish, many aquarists lovingly call it “astrochka”. Experienced breeders of this fish manage to teach pets to swim up to the owner's hand and get a treat right from his hands.
The body of astronotuses has an elliptical shape, compressed from the sides. These fish, reaching maturity, begin to form pairs. This is observed when the size of individuals is about 12 cm.
Matching a pair for breeding
For the reproduction of astronotuses, you need to purchase several young individuals, and when they reach puberty, they choose their own partners. If there are unmatched pairs, then males and females should be placed in different aquariums for about 2 weeks and fed in an enhanced mode.
To stimulate spawning, a varied feeding of the fish is recommended, it should also be abundant. Another stimulating parameter is an increase in water temperature by several degrees.
A spacious aquarium of about 400-500 liters is required for spawning. The water temperature should vary between 24-30 ° C.
For good spawning, several flat large stones are placed on the aquarium bottom, they act as a substrate, it is on them that the fish lay eggs. Immediately before spawning, the female Astronotus will thoroughly clean the stone she has chosen and lay out unclear white eggs in the amount of 300 to 2000 pieces. Then comes the turn of the male, he has to pour milk on the spawned eggs.
Astronotuses are caring parents, as a result of which the couple protects and looks after the eggs, fanns them with fins, removes dead eggs, and also drives away other fish.
If the couple spawned in a common aquarium, then it is better to transfer the clutch to another container that has good aeration. Methylene blue should be added to the spawning box to prevent the death of eggs.
Fry care
On the 4th - 8th day, fry hatch, which are attached to the parent body with the help of sticky threads, for some time they feed on the epithelial secretions (skin secretions) of the parents.
After the fry begin to swim freely, they need to be removed from their parents. After separation, the fry are fed with live dust, egg yolk, nematodes, chopped tubule, small cyclops.
Astronotus fry grow unevenly, as a result of which they need to be sorted, since large individuals will eat smaller ones. After all, astronotuses are predators from birth.
After about a month, the breeder pair is ready to spawn again.
