# Freshwater Aquariums > Freshwater Aquarium Livestock > Various Other Cichlids >  Getting Your Cichlids To Breed

## Reddevil

Cichlids in general are prolific spawners, but they don't always  cooperate.  Below, some comments about breeding cichlids  and included some tips for getting your cichlids to spawn.  These are  some methods used and that seem to work pretty well for.  I hope  they help!

   Breeding Tips  Perhaps the best piece of advice I can give you to get your Cichlids  to breed is to keep them healthy. A good filtering system, with regular  water changes, with the water chemistry matching their requirements,  will keep them in good spirits. Only healthy fish will be interested in  mating. Because females will be required to incubate the eggs for up to  four weeks, she will need to be strong and healthy before she will be  able to go without eating for that period of time.

  It is also a good idea to have  several females to one male of each species you keep. This way, not just  one female takes the aggression of the male. Having at least 2 females  will spread the damage an aggressive male will dish out. And, if he is  not ripping their fins too often, they will be stronger and healthier,  and hence more likely to mate.
  Diet is also important. I raise my Victorians and Malawi Cichlids on  spirulina flake, with supplements of brine shrimp, blood worms, krill,  and plankton. It is important to go light on the latter in order to  prevent them from getting "Malawi Bloat." But feeding them frozen food once a week (and  only what they can consume in about 30 seconds) seems to get them in the  mood. I have noticed that most of my Cichlids have spawned within a few  hours after I feed them one of these frozen foods. The most plausible  explanation for this is that when a fish is going to breed, it has a  certain amount of energy and materials (e.g., proteins, fats, etc.) that  it can spare from the resources it needs to survive and grow. These  materials will be put into the eggs. And so by feeding your Cichlids  protein-rich foods they then have more resources to put into making  eggs. The more resources they have available, the more eggs they'll  make.

The last thing that I know has helped me and many others in getting  their fish to spawn are caves. I use holey rock (limestone) with its  many tunnels and caves. I know some people use clay pots. What's  important is that they have a place they can hide, and call their own.  This is especially important for mouthbrooders because they will need  extra protection from enemies while they are holding because they can  get pretty thin and weak.



Just a word of encouragement for  any first-timers: The first time mating for a female is the biggest  milestone. Once she has reached maturity and learned how to mate, she  will continue to spawn with surprising regularity. Also note, I have  noticed that the first time a female gets pregnant is often  unsuccessful. They tend to be finicky and don't carry the eggs full term  (either swallowing or spitting them out after a week). All of my  females have had some sort of trouble the first time they conceived. But  by the second time, they usually figure it out. 
   Still Can't get them to spawn,  huh?   One problem people often experience is that their fish are overfed.  What you can do, if they are sexually mature, is to separate mating  pairs (you could do this with dividers, separate tanks, etc.) and starve  them for a week. It is important to separate them because Cichlids get  more aggressive with hunger. You should notice males digging a lot,  making nests, and preparing to spawn. After a day or two of this  behavior, reintroduce the females and wha-la! -- they should spawn.
  Some supposedly easy-to-breed species can often be finicky. Make sure  they have personal nooks, males have ample female selection (ratios of  at least 2 females to one male), and keep water temps around 76F or  78F, with alkaline, hard water.
  I would just encourage you to be patient. Some species, like _Auloncara_  and _nyererei_ are very slow to reach reproductive levels.

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