CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

hey!! I'm new & had my last oscar for 8 years. I have a pair that's a year old now & they laid eggs this morning. Now what??
I wasn't planning on eggs. How long does it take them to hatch? Do I separate the parents? Do I add some grass or weeds for the fry? I don't have any cause the parents just pulled them up anyways and they were always floating on top of the tank. I removed the pleco I had with them cause they really didn't like him in there. Please help. Thanx, Brenda

Hi Brenda, welcome to the forums. They should hatch in 3-5 days. Then they go from "wrigglers" to freeswimming. First couple times it's recommended you try and let the parents take care of them. You would just need to keep water clean etc...good luck
keep us posted

Thanx alot!!! I've increased the temperature in the tank a bit...heard that works for Mollies. The male (I think - he's bigger) seems to be doing most of the guarding of the nest. The female is keeping the area around it nice & clean. I'll let you know how things go! Thanx again... Brenda

Increasing temp will help trigger spawning in cichlids and may help eggs hatch faster but make sure you have enough aeration going, ie good airstone+pump to get water well oxygenated. Warmer water holds less oxygen...in 'stagnant' ill-oxygenated warm water you'll liable to get fungus on the eggs, especially if water isn't very clean.

Hi there!!! They hatched!!! So how big are wrigglers supposed to be? I heard it can take a couple of weeks before I'll be able to actually determine what are fish & what is just floating debris. I haven't cleaned the tank cause I'm nervous to end up throwing out fish. We'll see. This is a new experience for me.

I now have bunches of wrigglers!!! I put an aerating stone in with them & cleaned the filter. I put some panyhose on the end of the filter so the babies wouldn't go up...whatever works, right? I haven't suctioned the bottom of the tank, yet...but I'll probably do that tomorrow. The babies stay pretty much to the top of the tank. They are very tiny and look like little tadpoles. I'll keep them in the tank with their parents for now, but I guess when they get a little bigger I can move them to their own aquarium. Thank you so much for your help. I think it's great that there is a forum such as this to help people with their fish. I have always loved oscars, but this is the first time I've had a mating pair. They are extremely intelligent and are always entertaining.
Thanx again, have a great day!!!