cichlid babies - this is so cool have a read - i need help

[Discusmadboy]

I decided to give my tank a good clean after discovery of a dead chilid in the tank. i tested the water and everything is fine.

Also one of the male electric chiclids seemed as if he had been chomped at as well, poor fellow has almost lost his tail.

and came across a tiny baby chiclid cowering in a crack in one of the rocks in my tank...

So the Hunt began, found 4 small electric yellow fry in the tank, i know the other cichlids would def eat them so created a makeshift holding area for the babies using some coat hangers and old stockings.

I then decided to do some more research and discoverd another cichlid had a very swollen mouth and suspected that it may be holding some fry in its mouth, so i caught the fish and stuck it in a bowl watched the youtube video about 100 times of the process to strip the babies out and what i need to do with it and used a small ear bud and massaged its mouth and it spat out 10 babies.

I am off to the petshop tommorow to get either another Tank to hold them or Split up my 5ft tank with tank dividers.

i dont know what to do next:

What do the fry eat coz they are so small ?

and can someone make out why i have a dead fish and a beaten up electric yellow cichlid ?

I can only presume that the fathers of these cute little chiclid fry i have have been very possesive and agro due to the females holding.

i have had no prior deaths in the tank and the tank is well established.

WOW what a day, having toilet bowl funerals to celebrating new babies in the tank !!!!

[ryanjury]

Firstly you should post this in the cichlid section..

Secondly you should tell us how big your tank is and what fish you have in it so we can try and figure out who did the killing? Was the fish healthy before it died...

Electric yellow's generally aren't that aggressive even when breeding I mean they will chase other fish off, if it was a male electric yellow he may have wasted it but they usually have somewhere to hide.

As for the babies are they free swimming yet? I just feed mine on decapsulated brine shrimp, microworms, crushed flake and whatever will fit in their mouths they're not fussy and are quite big as far as fry go.

If you do decide to divide your 5ft good luck making dividers that the fry wont get through I have had limited success doing this and have lost a few fry even using the hose around the edge technique..

Also congratulations and good luck let us know how you get on..

[Discusmadboy]

thanks for your reply, I purchased a small fry mini breading box that sits in the tank just under the water jets so the babies are getting decent filtration, they seem to play in it non stop which is good for now

There is a male cichlid in the tank who seems to be there personal bodyguard and chases away any fish that go anywhere near there enclosure so thats good too.

I am feeding them a liquid food that i got from hollywoods upon there advice so all is good.

I will Post some pics in the next few days...

[ryanjury]

All sounds good What size is your tank and what fish are in it?

[Discusmadboy]

I am sorting out my Digital Camera to get some pics of the ones that i dont know about to post on here.

I have learnt alot about them in the last view days haha, very intersting behavior:

The Female Cichlid that i stripped the babies out of is hanging around my "Breeding Pen" and chasing away any fish that come near it.

I have not lost any of the babies yet and they seem comfortable at the moment and the water conditions are perfect so that is good.

i have done further research adn now wondering if i should buy another tank and put the breeding pair into a new tank on there own and let them breed in piece as i think ihave figured out who the pair is:

However i read somewhere that the male fish that is responsible for all the fry tend to dominate the tank that they are in and breed with all the other females abit like a harem so dont want to break that up.

let me know your thoughts and esperience on this ?

[ryanjury]

Without knowing exactly what fish you have in your tank you could have problems..

Alot of african cichlids can cross breed and produce hybrids (these are usually destroyed because they are bad for the hobby and everyone in general really). So yeah if you could get some id's on your fish and a stocking list we can let you know what it is likely to have happened, where did you get your fish from and what did you buy them as?

The female will loose all maternal instinct as will the male as soon as the babies are out some holding females that spit naturally will still take babies into their mouths but I don't trust them with their own babies..