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I have been posting things on this site for the past few days about my new and frantic discovery, that my convicts have bred. Wonderful. Except that last night I noticed that I couldn't see the eggs anymore ....uh oh. Well, today, they are definately gone, and there aren't any fry in the tank, as far as I can see. The fish aren't protecting the "nest" anymore, and they seem to be going about their business as usual. What happened? where are those hundreds of eggs? and what about all that hard work to prepare for the lil' buggers? I checked in the filter, none, I checked in the plants...none. The convicts are "blue" convicts, cross bred with a honduran red point. Could this mean something I'm unaware of? Help!

It's not uncommon for fish who are spawning for the first time or are relatively new at the spawning process to eat the eggs the first couple of times they spawn. Hang in there with cons you have nothing to worry about they breed like bunnies.

ha, so I've heard. Thanks lilfishy, I'll try and keep that in mind

Don't give up yet. It could be that your convicts ate the fry or eggs. But convicts are generally good parents. After the eggs hatch (usually after three days), the fry are just wigglers. They still have their yolk sacks and cannot swim. The parents usually dig holes in the substrate and hide the fry till they become free swimming (usually about five days after hatching). During the wiggler stage, the parents move them from one spot to another in order to keep them hidden. They hide them pretty well, so don't give up for a few more days anyway.