ACEI CICHLIDS

Question
QUESTION: in my 90 gallon tank i have about 9 cichlids wich 2 of them are 1 male and 1 female acei do you know how to breed these? also how hard are they and i have a empty circled 30 gallon for plants.

and if you know what is the best plant for a malawi tank hard water ph above 7.0
7.4 -8.0
water temp 78-80

ANSWER: Hello Devin,
Acei Cichilds are beautiful fish.  They are fairly easy to breed.  Provide flats rocks, and hiding places for them.  The males dances in front of the female attracting her to him.  She lays her eggs on a flat rock.  He then sperms the eggs, and she follows behinds him picking up the eggs in her mouth.  She will keep the eggs in her mouth for 15-22 days.  Feed her, she may still eat a little while the eggs are in her mouth.  These fish should be well fed before the spawn.  
The PH should be 7.8 - 8.6 and the water temperature should be 78-82
Both male, and female have dummy eggs, so it is hard to see the difference between the male, and female.  The male is more robust, and a little bigger than the female.  A male should be kept with 3 or more females.  In their habitat these fish live in large groups.  They are not as aggressive as other fish from Lake Malawi.
I would remove the female towards the end of the spawn.  If you see that the male is harassing her, remove her, and the male is always ready to spawn which is why it is better to have three other females in a tank with the male.   Make sure that the water in your 30 gallon tank is the same as the water in your 90 gallon tank.  The best way to do this would be to fill your 30 gallon with water from your 90 gallon.  When the fry are free swimming you may leave the female in with her fry, and feed her well so she can regain her strength.  She will be very thin, and will need special care.  Feed her meaty flakes, frozen food, dry seaweeds, and pellets.  You will find good dry food for the fry at your Pet Store.  Once the fry are free swimming you will need to keep your water very clean, and make water changes almost everyday.  You must feed the fry 4 times a day.  Water changes keeps the fry healthy, and they will grow faster.  
Keeping algae in your water that grows in rocks is good for these fish.  However, I am not a plant expert, so cannot help you with plants.  Maybe another expert would be able to help you more on this subject.
Hope this helps
Lynda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: wow your great i will get some more females well i will try they are hard to tell but my male is 5 inches and fat and the female is about 4 and lean that is how i know i have small maybe 3 inch high slate rock caves i made about 18 inches long is that good for egg laying but it always gets covered with sand and also my male twitches a lot its either hes mest up in the head or he tries to clear away the sand because he only does it on the bottom.

Answer
Hi!
It is hard for me to tell why the male is twitching.  It could be that he is trying to clean the slate rock so that the female can lay her eggs.  I would add a few more flat rocks about 5 inches long, and 5 inches wide.  Try to position them so that not too much sand will go on them.  Sometimes when the male is twitching in front of the female is because she has already laid her eggs, and he wants her to follow him.  He does that so that she will pick up the eggs behind him, the ones that are fertilized.  It's lots of observation.  He is not twitching for nothing, there is a reason.  It is interesting to see these fish react, especially when there is more of them in a tank.  Make sure you get females as males will fight for the females.  They are aggressive, and territorial towards other males.  I don't know where you live, but where I live you get a good price for these fish when they are ready to put on the market.  Pet Stores usually like to buy from a breeder in the same town.  The reason for this is that there is no transportation, and the water is the same.  They have less problems.  They are beautiful fish, less aggressive than others from Lake Malawi, and easy to sell.
Observation is the key when breeding Cichlids.  Make little caves for them too.  Sometimes this helps.  Lake Malawi is rocky filled with caves.  If you look up Lake Malawi on the net, you will see how this lake looks like, it is really amazing.
Lynda