I have an african cichlid that's holding fry in her mouth right now. She spit about five of them out yesterday and she was chasing them around and now I can't find them. It looks like she still has even more fry to spit out because her jaw still looks big. I bought a fish tank seperator to keep the pregnant cichlid alone. When she spits all of the fry out, will she eat them all?
What can I do to prevent her from eating them. I'm not a very advanced fish owner so nothing to difficult please. Also, does anyone know how many fry she may be holding, just a range?
Finally, how do I successfully care for the fry after she releases them?
Thanks!
Answers:
African Cichlids do keep their fry in their mouths to protect them, but they also DO have a tendency to eat each other's fry.
Safest thing would be to separate them to make absolutely sure mom doesn't lose her maternal instincts at some point.
If you want to keep them together, I'd just make sure to keep her well fed to avoid her looking for alternative food sources.
Just keep checking the water to make sure you're not building up too much ammonia with the extra food. If you want to separate them, the babies should be fine by themselves. They can get nourishment out of the water and really only need mom for protection from other fish.
Try crushing a bit of the regular fish food to a powder so the little ones can have a go at it.
Good luck!
cichlid's are very aggressive in nature, all fish eat their young, but they are more likely to. The only way to prevent it is to seperate mom from the fry.
That's how they protect their babies. They hide them in their mouths.
hmm, i have some cichlids as well, ny favorite one, being my tiger oscar, but i have some of the smaller ones in a different tank, that are yellow, and one is white. i love cichlids. i dont really know what to do about your fry problem, however, i have a question of my own. how do you get them to mate? i wish i could raise some cichlids.
i would just keep the one that had the babies sepparated for now, so the other fish dont eat them. but, i guess i would just leave the fish to do what ever she is doing with her fry in her mouth. she probably is just protecting them. they probably do the same thing in the wild, so i wouldnt worry too much about it; just let nature take its course. could you tell me how you got them to mate, please? thanks, hope everything works out.
Fish don't know there there're frys
Like everyone has said, There are some cichlids that will protect their fry by putting them in their mouths. If these are wild caught cichlids, then the mother will not eat the fry, she will only protect them. But, if they are captivity bred, which all
are that aren't specially ordered, then research suggests a higher rate of eating the fry. Who knows why? Another possibility is other fish may be eating the fry as well.
The way to prevent this is to milk the fry yourself into a separate tank, or on the separated half of the tank. The way you milk ( i am not making up the name, read it in a book) the mother is to count 14 days from when the eggs are fertilized and catch the mom and gently, while in the water of the safe tank, press on the corners of her mouth. This will cause her to spit the fry out and will not hurt her. (Do it to early and the fry will die. Wait to long and they will be eaten by the mom or others.) Return the mother back to the other side or tank.
The best food to raise the fry on is frozen shrimp you find at any pets store in the freezers. It it even better than blood worms. The shrimp also cause the fry to grow rapidly.
Good Luck
