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D-Diddy Fingerling Posts: 21 Kudos: 14 Votes: 2 Registered: 02-Nov-2005 | I am a Grandpa. My tank with 2 electric yellow cichlids have a baby . I was looking under the rock where my male hides and I saw a new tiny fish under there. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had to tell you guys. The baby is just hiding out under the rock with my male cichlid. But now I am worried because I have another African Cichlid (blue with vertical dark stripes) in the tank. He is agressive towards small fish and will eat the baby if he gets a chance. Fortunatly the blue guy hangs out at the top of the tank and in the plants. He stays out from under the rock 95% of the time. I am worried about that other 5% though. Will my male Electric yellow protect the baby? I don't have any other tank to move the Blue guy to. Thaks. |
Posted 20-Nov-2006 20:06 | |
TW Fish Master * * *Fish Slave* * * Posts: 1947 Kudos: 278 Votes: 338 Registered: 14-Jan-2006 | Congratulations Grandpa. I haven't had experience with Africans, but most cichlids are good parents who do protect their fry. I hope your electric yellows prove the same. Even so, given the chance, the other cichlids in there will see him as a nice snack. Is there only the one fry? I expect there were more to start with, so that may mean someone has already been snacking. Good luck with the fry, Grandpa Cheers TW |
Posted 20-Nov-2006 23:27 | |
D-Diddy Fingerling Posts: 21 Kudos: 14 Votes: 2 Registered: 02-Nov-2005 | My Daughter has a tank in her room with some Tetras. I guess I could take the Fry out of my Cichlid Tank and put him in my Daughters tank untill he is bigger. Would this be OK? |
Posted 21-Nov-2006 00:30 | |
D-Diddy Fingerling Posts: 21 Kudos: 14 Votes: 2 Registered: 02-Nov-2005 | OK. Now I see 2 fry. They are so small and are good at hiding. I think I need to get my Blue Cichlid out of there. |
Posted 21-Nov-2006 01:30 | |
D-Diddy Fingerling Posts: 21 Kudos: 14 Votes: 2 Registered: 02-Nov-2005 | I have a temporary solution. Looks like I am going to the pet store tonight. I am going to buy a Fry holder that hangs on the side of your tank. Then I just have to catch the little buggers. |
Posted 21-Nov-2006 02:06 | |
WiseIves Enthusiast MbunaMbunaMbuna Posts: 237 Kudos: 180 Votes: 85 Registered: 24-Nov-2004 | good luck catching them. If you have the right amount of cover they will ineviatably grow out on their own. I saved my 1st batch(22) of labs then had no idea what to do with them and no LFS wanted them. I gave some to my JD's as feeders and put some back in the main tank. In a few months I will have to fish them out and check again with the LFS. Also I hhave some greshakei(redtop zebras) that are always breeding and there are a # of survivng fry from them as well. I would see if you can trade em in 1st otherwise I would only save 1 or 2 unless your willing to get more and bigger tanks. What size tank do you have and what's in it? No, labs will not protect their young in fact they will eat them including mama. The other fish sounds like possibly a hap. Also just to let you know, its possible that you can encounter anywhere from 15-25 babies. By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. Socrates- I happen to have become a philosopher |
Posted 21-Nov-2006 02:16 | |
TW Fish Master * * *Fish Slave* * * Posts: 1947 Kudos: 278 Votes: 338 Registered: 14-Jan-2006 | Good luck catching them. If you only have 2, it should be fun to watch them grow out for you, without overcrowding your tank. If you find 15 or 20, that may be different. LFS here in AUS only take them when they're big enough to sell, so you have to grow them out for some time. Maybe the easiest way to catch them is buy using a suitably wide air pipe & carefully suck / siphon them out that way. Good luck & have fun. Your first surviving fry is always lots of fun. Cheers TW |
Posted 21-Nov-2006 23:58 | |
D-Diddy Fingerling Posts: 21 Kudos: 14 Votes: 2 Registered: 02-Nov-2005 | Ok. Update. It turned out that there are 7 in all. I actually saw one of them in moms mouth. I guess she carries them in her mouth until they are they are ready to come out. This may be why I only saw 2 at the start. I put them in my daughters tank with her tetras and they seem to leave the fry alone. |
Posted 27-Nov-2006 04:18 | |
TW Fish Master * * *Fish Slave* * * Posts: 1947 Kudos: 278 Votes: 338 Registered: 14-Jan-2006 | congratulations. I know some african cichlids are mouth brooders, but I don't know enought about yours to know if they are or not. Check out the profile or google on line to find out more. It doesn't always mean they are mouth brooders though. My female krib sometimes moves her stray fry around that way. I've seen her, when the odd one or two haven't followed her as she's moving the others around the tank. First, she goes back to them & trys to get them to follow & if they don't, she scoops them up in her mouth, swims back to the rest of the bunch & spits them out. Gave me a fright first time she did it - I thought she was having a snack. Last night, I was giving her a meal of live brine shrimp. The fry are still smaller than some of the shrimp, but they are trying to join in the meal. Last night one was too close to mum's mouth & she took in a fry with her shrimp. Clever girl, she realised her mistake & spat out the fry. These are my longest surviving cichlid fry, so I know just how excited you are. Good luck with them. Cheers TW |
Posted 27-Nov-2006 23:33 | |
Calilasseia *Ultimate Fish Guru* Panda Funster Posts: 5496 Kudos: 2828 Votes: 731 Registered: 10-Feb-2003 | Electric Yellows, Labidochromis coeruleus, are maternal mouthbrooders. Female assumes sole responsibility for brood care. If you have put the Cichlid fry in an aquarium containing Tetras, and that aquarium does not have hard, alkaline water, then you could be in for trouble with fry survival. Electric Yellows, like ALL Cichlids from Lake Malawi, need hard, alkaline water, and if placed in soft, acidic water, will keel over and die in fairly short order. Check the water chemistry of the Tetra tank, and if the water in there is soft and acidic, remove the Cichlid fry ASAP and put them in an aquarium with Malawi-style hard, alkaline water! The fry would actually be safer in their original aquarium, as the mother would only release the fry when she deemed it safe to do so, and the fry would be able to rush back to the safety of the mother's buccal pouches until they were too big to fit in there, at which point they would be large enough to transfer to an independent rearing nursery containing water whose chemistry resembled that of the main aquarium housing the parents. Cichlid fry survival rates tend to be fairly high if left with the parents precisely because the parents are so good at the job! |
Posted 28-Nov-2006 00:11 | |
Dangerous Dave Hobbyist Posts: 144 Kudos: 179 Votes: 3 Registered: 15-Jul-2002 | Agreed. I would either get the fry net that you have talked of previously, or add a few more rocks to make sure there are plenty of hiding spots for the fry. Now that your yellows are breeding you will find that they breed all the time and you will have plenty of e.yellows within a few months. Good luck |
Posted 28-Nov-2006 07:24 |
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