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I just noticed that a Convict Cichlid, which I just purchased on
Friday, is laying eggs on the side of a boat that I have in my tank. What should I do to make sure that they are safe from the other fish in my tank? Also, what do I do when they hatch? I had another Cichlid have babies last week and I put them in a floating net to keep them safe from the other fish, but I know that the mother spit them out. In this case with the Convict's the babies are not in her mouth. What should I do?

Welcome to the forum.

I see your new here, but next time if you'll post your thread in the appropriate section you'll probably get more responses quickly;). There is a designated breeding section, and this thread would probably do better there. Its not any real problem, but a little organization helps.

What size of tank are your convicts in? What other inhabitants, etc... The more information you give us, the more able we will be to help you.

What type of mouthbrooder do you have? (Just out of curiosity) I assume that the cichlid that had babies earlier was an african cichlid. Generally, convicts take really good care of their babies, and will pick them up once in a while to move/clean them (not really sure which), but do not always hold them in their mouth, which is what mouthbrooders typically do.

Chances are, your convicts will be able to take care of the fry on their own, unless there are some particularly aggressive fish in the tank. If you wish to raise them seperate, you could remove the boat that the eggs are stuck to to a seperate 10 or 15 gallon tank (smaller is actually preferable-it makes the food easier for the fry to find). It is often easier to let the parents take care of the babies on their own, and its a lot of fun to watch.

Frequent water changes are important at this stage. You really don't want to let nitrates get above 15 or 20 ppm while you have eggs or fry, so you will probably have to change your water much more often than usuall, depending on what else inhabits the tank.

If it isn't really important to you to keep the fry, you could let them take their chances in the aquarium. If you do this, you may not raise as many fry, but chances are you will be able to raise some.

We can offer a lot more advice if you give us a bit more information.

Good luck with the fry, and again, welcome to the forum. There are a lot of people who are really informed about fish.

Truly I'd be worried about the other fish in the tank. Convicts have been known to kill any other fish in the tank while spawning. :violent: They will even try to attack you if they think you pose a threat. They are very good parent though. :baby: My Convicts had about 200 babies about 4 months ago (in a 30 gallon tank). (n/) I did end up moving them (about 100 of them) to a 75 Gallon. The other 100 ended up becoming feeder for my Africans.
I guess you also need to ask yourself if you want or need 200 fish. Pet stores hardly ever need Convicts because of the Convict great urge to reproduce, so it's: Make room or turn the babies into feeders. It may sound bad but it is nature.
Good luck,
Dannyboy

Originally posted by cichlid_crazie
I just noticed that a Convict Cichlid, which I just purchased on
Friday, is laying eggs on the side of a boat that I have in my tank. What should I do to make sure that they are safe from the other fish in my tank? Also, what do I do when they hatch? I had another Cichlid have babies last week and I put them in a floating net to keep them safe from the other fish, but I know that the mother spit them out. In this case with the Convict's the babies are not in her mouth. What should I do?

Hi Cichlid Crazie, Welcome to the forum! I moved your thread over to the Breeding Discussion forum so more of the breeding-types can see your question and enter the discussion:thumbsup: --Meanwhile, once again, welcome aboard!

--Mark:cool:

the parents will take care of there young no need to worry:(

lol. Check your post dates, esmit...

The fry could conceivably be bearing their own young by now...

Its cool though. Someone with the same question might come a long and have it answered by you...so I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

what!? do you mean

esmit, Hi and welcome to the forums.

If you look in the lower left portion of the thread box, under the posters name , registration, location,post,bookmarks: you will see the date the post was entered into the thread.
This thread was started in january of 2005. Thats is what Deepsea was refering to.

Thanks Fuzzy:yesmaster