newbie with Africian cichlid fry!!

15 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


chichi_08
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:24 pm

newbie with Africian cichlid fry!!

by chichi_08

I had no idea that my African cichlid fish were expecting, but came home from a weekend away to find a few fry swimming around. Should I separate the few fry that survived? What about the mommy? any suggestions for a newbie with fry?


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

Depends on a few things.....

1. What kind of species do you have and what are the ratios of male/female?
2. Are you trying to breed your fish?

The thing with Africans is that they will breed constantly regardless of species due to being mouthbroders. Most "purists" frown on the idea of breeding and keeping fry unless you're 100% positive on what the fry are (are the hybrid or pure?) if they are not hybrid keep you want to keep them in a "grow out" tank with heater/light/etc. seperate from the parents (the parents will eat them eventually unless you have a lot of hiding spots) and feed them crushed flakes 3-5 times a day. You also want to keep the water conditions excellent to optimize growth. It sounds like a lot of maintenance but if you know what you're doing it's not so bad :).

If you were not prepared for expecting fry, I would let nature take it's course and prepare for the next batch of fry. If you have a healthy tank, you're Africans will breed almost every month.........alright, enough of me talking, lol, let us know the answers to the questions above


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

I know that Angelfish are in the cichlid family. My three are about 1 year old, and they haven't breed yet. How often do angelfish breed ?


chichi_08
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:24 pm

by chichi_08

I have several types of Cichlid but from looking at the fry I think it might have been the bumblebee and the red zebra. If I were to guess how many males I have it would have to be 8 out of the 12 that are in the tank. I wasn't planning on breeding them, but was hoping that they might. I have moved the four fry that survived to an "incubator" in the tank seeing as I was not prepared and did not have another tank ready for them. I hate to have "nature take its course" but understand it may have to. After finding the fry I have spent the afternoon observing the rest of the fish and am wondering if I may have some more on the way.. Possibly these fry were not born this weekend. Any idea how quickly they grow? The fry are about 1 cm long.


tanganyika1
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:56 am

by tanganyika1

Hi there,

I have a lot of cichlids myself and have bred a few times. My suggestion would be to let nature take its course. what happens is when you separate the fry, the fish will breed again. My first time, i separated them and they bred maybe 3 times more after that because i kept separating them. I now let things be and there are still fry swimming around unharmed in my community tank. Its tough to not do anything but thats just what you have to do sometimes.


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

chichi,

How big is you're tank? When you say bumblebee, are you talking about a crabro?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=845

Next thing you need to do is get your M/F ratio different. The more males you have, the more your females will get harrased. You want to spread the aggresion of the males by giving each of them 3-4 females. I you have a tank smaller than 48in/55 gallon, I would suggest to get rid of the crabro (if that's what you have) and possibly go another route. Do you have any other species in the tank with the bumblebees and Red Zebras?


tekneb
 
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:45 am

by tekneb

Nicholas to answer your question, Angelfish are cichlids, but they are South American. The people who posted on this forum are referring to African cichlids and may not know about South Americans (although that may be a fatal assumption on my part). I have a limited experience with angels, but from what I've heard its tough to get them to breed the first time, but once they do it will happen so frequently that you will be overwhelmed with fry lol. I know that keeping them in a large, high tank helps, and that you have to keep the water conditions absolutely pristine. Angels like having a lot of broad leafed plants (anubias and swords) around to lay their eggs on. I have also heard that increasing feeding helps, and doing a large water change helps (something about mimiking the rainy season in their natural environment?) but I don't know how much truth there is to those statements. Can't hurt to try though :) Unfortunately, a problem that occurs a lot of the time, and that might have happened to you, is that a person only buys a few angels and since its impossible to tell the difference between the male and female they all wind up being the same sex.


rottos
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2010 3:46 pm

by rottos

Once you get a little more familiar with your fish, you'll definately notice when they're carrying. Because if they've done it once, that means they're happy and will continue to do it. Of the females I have in my tank I'd say they have a new batch every 6-8 weeks from each one. They will carry the eggs-turned frye for about 14-17 days. I wouldn't worry about the batch that flew in under the radar. they are really hard to catch and by the time you've moved everything around in your tank, they've likely already been eaten. If you plan on breeding, you're going to need to get yourself another tank.

good luck.


chichi_08
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:24 pm

by chichi_08

my tank is 47 gallons. I have a few different types of cichlids in the tank: the bumblebee (crabro), red zebra, kenyi, yellow blaze lithobates, mumbo yellow, kingsizei. I had planned on getting a few more but now with the new ones, I'm not sure if the tank will be able to support much more. why would you suggest getting rid of the crabro?


chichi_08
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:24 pm

by chichi_08

thanks for the info. and you are right, now that I'm paying closer attention to them I wondering if I might have some more on the way. Not sure if I'm ready to breed them just yet but it looks like they may have made the decision for me.

newbie with Africian cichlid fry!!

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