# Terns



## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

I plan on trying to breed my four terns and was wondering if there are any articals that someone could point me to that would help me induce breeding. I have found a few things about after they have started but nothing about the beforehand conditions. Any help would be great.

I plan on breeding them in a 125gallon tank, I also was wondering about wrapping the tank completely in black plastic bags for privacy then put little flaps so I can look in on them


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> HighOctane Posted Yesterday, 06:54 PM
> I plan on trying to breed my four terns and was wondering if there are any articals that someone could point me to that would help me induce breeding. I have found a few things about after they have started but nothing about the beforehand conditions. Any help would be great.
> 
> I plan on breeding them in a 125gallon tank, I also was wondering about wrapping the tank completely in black plastic bags for privacy then put little flaps so I can look in on them


The technique would be the same as in P. nattereri. Read those posts. Only thing to consider is that ternetzi are found in cooler water so modify the tank temperature by 2 to 3 degrees down from the posted temp for common red.


----------



## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

I was wondering if adding about 20 gallons of water from one of my tanks that currently has breeding cons might help to induce the breeding process in my pygos. Maybe some sort of hormone might transfer over? Anyone ever looked into this.

So far for breeding the terns I have taken the following notes.

I am going to completely wrap the sides of the tank for more privacy for the fish. Of course leaving flaps for me to look through occasionally.

To try to get the terns to breed I will lower the temp from 85 to 75-78 degrees.

Feeding will occur every 3 days and anything left over will be quickly taken out.

Right now the tank is only gravel and I will see how this goes. If nothing then I will slowly add more decor such as plants and driftwood

I plan on adding a large piece of wood in the middle of the tank to help distinguish if 2 fish pair off and seperate from the group.

Thats all I got so far. Anything I might want to add other then stimulating the Wet dry seasons?


----------



## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Simple water changes would likely be your best bet than getting into too complex of a system (as in wet/dry seasons). Majority of successful breeding of Pygocentrus has been leaving the fishes alone and just simple maintenance. There is NO HARD RULE other than basics and its entirely up to the fish if the conditions are correct or not. Normally takes a lot of conditioning and above all else, LUCK (for you). As for the hormone suggestion. In theory it MIGHT work, but nothing concrete on that. Again, you're dealing with a different species. If you had breeding P. nattereri, then I would say try it. I'm not sure if cichlid hormones would be of any value. Not discouraging you, just not sure. The other thing for you to concern yourself with is the possibility of disease/parasite transference from one species to another.

PS: Overall, your on the right track.


----------

