Breeding
When it comes to breeding this species of fish, there is no rocket science behind it. Anyone with any experience owning fish can breed the Amphilophus. When small, it is difficult to sex the fish, but as they mature you will see that they will begin to pair off. It is recommended that you take the pair out of the community tank and house them in their own individual tank. This way they do not kill any of the other fish. Water temperatures should be on the warm side, I prefer keeping my tanks at 78 deg that way the fish build tolerances to slight temperature changes. I have also noticed that the fish do not seem to get sick as do other fish in warmer water. To get the fish to breed, it is recommended to feed the female food with high protein, this way she has a greater chance of producing more eggs which will equal in more babies. During this process, I would keep a close eye on the pair because the female might not be ready to breed but the male is. This can cause the male to turn on the female and kill her. If you are worried about this problem then a divider can be used to separate the pair. When getting a divider, it would be best to choose one that will allow movement of water from one side to the other. This will allow the sperm to travel to the other side and fertilize the eggs. It usually takes about 3 days for the eggs to become wigglers and about another 3 days for them to become free swimming. Breeding these fish is as easy as one two three. I would not encourage breeding cross species because as a fish keeper, we would like to keep original stains.
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