OT: anyone breed cichlids

[john37]

It was kind of spur of the moment but i saw some red jewel cichlids at a LFS and had a 40gal laying around so i picked up a few and two of them ended pairing up and laying eggs.

i was wondering if anyone could give me info on how to keep them alive.

also, since she laid eggs does it mean that the male fertilized them already?

any help would be great thanks.

here are a couple shots just for fun...beautiful fish.

 

[Sk8r]

Leave her alone: her fanning the eggs will keep fungus off, and that is their greatest enemy. If she stops tending them, it's a probable indication they weren't fertilized.
The aquarium looks pretty bare of hiding places: when I bred angelfish, they liked plants about, generally picked a corner in the weeds, but it wasn't as clean-looking as your area...don't know, but some do a little parental care, keeping other fish away. The biggest danger to the young besides other fish is the filtration system, which will sweep the fry away. It's a challenge to both keep it clean and not suck up the young.

 

[john37]

i used eggrate to separate them from the other fish and the filter intake is as far away from them as possible.
the tank is 3ft and on the very right corner is where the eggs are and i put the eggrate about 10"from that wall. the intake is in the opposite corner. not sure if that'll be enough.

 

[afelder]

They are pretty hard to kill. The jewels will defend their young for a while at least. It really depends on the behavior of the other fish. When I had my pairs the jewels only protected the fry from my pair of texas cichlids. The Texas on the other hand would chaparone the cloud of fry around the tank and beat the crap out of any fish that got anywhere near their fry. Water changes make a huge difference in survival and growth rates


Good luck
Ariel

 

[KWoo008]

From the looks of the second pic, you should have a decent batch of fry real soon. The couple of white spots are eggs that are most likely unfertilized and dead (Mom or Dad will pick those off to keep them from infecting the others). The eggs should hatch in a few days and you will see a bunch of squiggling fry. They will take to most foods you are feeding the adults as long as it is small enough to fit in their mouths. Be careful not to overfeed as you don't want to foul up your water. As with most babies, more frequent small meals are better than one big one. Most people will just crush up flakes or any other dried food and mix it with some tank water to feed. If you want faster growth, pick up some frozen (or live) baby brine shrimp. Your jewels, as with most cichlids, are great parents and will guard their brood with their lives. Once the fry are free-swimming (about a few days after the hatch), you can siphon them out into another tank or just let the parents raise them. I highly recommend you let the parents raise them for a few weeks as it is really fun to watch the parents chase after the brave ones who stray too far from home. You will run the risk of losing a few if other fish are in the tank, but there will be plenty more to come (they breed like crazy). If only saltwater fish were as easy to breed!!! Have fun!!

 

[john37]

man i'm getting so excited. thanks everyone. if there's anything else i should know please feel free.

 

[viveros1231]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8142025#post8142025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KWoo008
From the looks of the second pic, you should have a decent batch of fry real soon. The couple of white spots are eggs that are most likely unfertilized and dead (Mom or Dad will pick those off to keep them from infecting the others). The eggs should hatch in a few days and you will see a bunch of squiggling fry. They will take to most foods you are feeding the adults as long as it is small enough to fit in their mouths. Be careful not to overfeed as you don't want to foul up your water. As with most babies, more frequent small meals are better than one big one. Most people will just crush up flakes or any other dried food and mix it with some tank water to feed. If you want faster growth, pick up some frozen (or live) baby brine shrimp. Your jewels, as with most cichlids, are great parents and will guard their brood with their lives. Once the fry are free-swimming (about a few days after the hatch), you can siphon them out into another tank or just let the parents raise them. I highly recommend you let the parents raise them for a few weeks as it is really fun to watch the parents chase after the brave ones who stray too far from home. You will run the risk of losing a few if other fish are in the tank, but there will be plenty more to come (they breed like crazy). If only saltwater fish were as easy to breed!!! Have fun!!

haha this quote sounds like it was taken striaght from dr axelrodi's cichlid books lol. i am just playin. they where definately fertalized though. so cool, congrats!

 

[KWoo008]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8142397#post8142397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SOREVIV476
haha this quote sounds like it was taken striaght from dr axelrodi's cichlid books lol. i am just playin. they where definately fertalized though. so cool, congrats!

Haha... Soreviv - I'll take that as a compliment. I swear I compose that all by myself... Or maybe years and years of reading all his books have finally sunken in, and now I recite his writing w/o thinking about it!

 

[viveros1231]

that was what it was intended as. that was great info!

 

[KWoo008]

Thanks, Soreviv. And your avatar is crazy!! I can't even imagine watching something like that go down. But then again, there's not much you can do but watch.

 

[john37]

Dang it...all the eggs are gone. I dont know what happened. The other day i could see eyes in the eggs but today they're all gone. does anyone know what probably happened or what i can do next time?

 

[KWoo008]

Hmmm... Best case scenario - The eggs hatched and the parents moved the fry to another location. Worst case scenario - The parents may have eaten the brood due for one reason or another. I've heard that inexperienced parents will sometimes do this although I've never experienced it. Don't sweat it. Be patient and keep the pair well-fed, and they will breed again real soon. Some people recommend feeding the parents a high protein diet to stimulate more frequent, larger broods. I feed my Leleupi and Brichardi pairs a mixture of frozen blood worms and various dried foods, which keeps them breeding all the time (so long as I remove the fry). BTW, if you saw eyes a few days ago, it means that both parents are fertile. I had a pair of Gold Severums who would lay eggs at least once a month, but the eggs never hatched. Guess the male was shootin' blanks!!

 

[afelder]

Have you seen the parents hanging around a specific area with a pit or indent in the gravel? The fry go through a kind of wriggler stage where they tend to bury themselves until they are ready to eat real food. It usually last about 3-4 days right after they hatch. Cichlids are ridiculously easy to breed and as long as both parents are fertile even if this batch didn't make it you will have more.

 

[john37]

Yay! they're alive

Yay! they're alive

i guess they were in the sand or something cuz i just saw them today. i was so happy!....but, what do i feed them and what do i do now to keep them alive?

thanks for your help guys.

 

[KWoo008]

I guess my first response was a little too lengthy and Axelrod-ish for you to read. Haha. Smash up some flakes (or whatever dried food you are feeding the adults), mix it with tank water and pour it within the vicinity of the fry. If you want to take it a step further, get some frozen baby brine shrimp and perform the same feeding procedure. Have fun!

 

[afelder]

I always had good luck with the hikari bottom feeder tabs just drop them near the mass of fry and they will swarm and pick off bits.