CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I have a 55 g tank that is home to my 6 cic's

Well I have babies.. I have a bunch of holy rock and the bottom is small river rock with a coconut shells and lots of clay pots and slate so  they seem to be hiding very well...right now...  how can I keep them alive??

How do I tell which fish are the parents ?
this is the second batch, they are a bluish color the other was Orange, I was lucky to catch  one of the orange ones last month and put it in another tank. (its growing like a fish  LOL) All the others are gone...

Thanks
~~mer

sound like africans (not my best area)

But , you can strip babies from the females mouth.
Once you can tell they're actually babies and put them in their own tank so no adults eat them 


Good luck with the fry

Thanks SL

not to sound like the blonde I am    but how can I tell when the female has babies in her mouth I can see where they are hiding in the rocks.... tonite I am going to try to use my phython on low to see if I can "suck some up" very carefully. stop the flow and transfer them to another tank.

ahh the wonderful nite life I lead. home on a sat. nite playing with the wrong kind of phython   

Female Africans hold eggs then the fry in their mouths and DON'T EAT.. I feed mine and watch on who eats and stays hidden, OR at the top of the tank.. This is a female who should have a lump in her lower jaw on week ONE,  showing she is holding, as time goes on, this gets bigger and her mouth is moving all the time as the fry are moving too.. SHE will NOT eat and it is best to get her out on week 2 as they don't' spit out the fry at this late term..
I get a bucket or container and fill it half full of tank water Or enough to cover the net.. USE two nets to get her maneuvered/ trapped in, best to set up a cave and set one net over one opening, facing to you, and use the other one to scare her into the net.. I tyred to do the chase catch other ways but this does not work.. I leave one small cave and gently maneuver her to it.. works for me.. LEAVE her in the net so if she spits them OUT before you can place her in the new tank, they are all in the net, gently place them in the new tank.. MOM should pick them back up OR they Will scatter into the rocks you have placed in the tank.. Feed them Hikari first bites for a good 2 weeks, then change over to finely crushed flakes ONCE MOM spits them out and they are swimming around.. ..3x daily or morn/nite... Feed MOM first so she don't' eat the food.. I have 4 tanks now with African fry.. Kenyi's are my last bunch, just yesterday.. 20+ miniature kenyi fry!! They are in a 15 gal for now..
IF you feel they are hybrids, two different species of fish, then best to leave them in the main tank.. Some Will survive but most won't.. BEST to keep hybrids in your TANKS ONLY and not sell them.. This brings down the species and most hybrids are sterile, but some do spawn successfully.. Most species wil spawn with others IF NO males of the same are in the tank.. BEST to get some males,, they keep all the others away from THEIR females, interesting to watch....

WOW  thanks that is great info.

BTW  the "suck up didnt work"      not that I thought it really would....  The fry are still hiding well..

I will watch my females closely now.  And try to do what you suggested 

Thanks!

oh one more thing... how long should I keep the female in the transfer tank?

They are fast little guys aren't they?? I have seen them in my 125 gal tank out smart/swim the big guys trying to eat them.. Sometimes you can syphor them up IF you dont' have a lot of rocks, but then before you can get them the adults eat them.. Bummer IF you are raising them.. Most wil survive just feed crushed flake foods to where they are at and make sure it sinks to them.. I feed the adults first then take a pinch and sink my hand in and release it to where they are.. Sometimes they are in different places so watch for that..  I keep mine with the fry for about 2 weeks.. This gives her time to regain her strength and then she goes back into the main tank.. Make places the fry can go as she is very protected of them and may eat them later if they can't get away.. MINE are like avoiding mom and eating good on Hikari first bites...IF I come near the tank, she trys to take them back into her mouth.. they do this for a few days then won't let them back in.. watching them do this is neat..

lol    you are so right about them being fast

I really hope the little ones make it and I am going to do all I can to help.  I also cant what to do what you said, and see the mom with the babbies, that sounds so cool

Big splashes~~~~mer

I have some pics of the Kenyi and my Midas are hatching out tonite too.. here are some pics.. This is the female Kenyi in a 15 gal tank she spit the fry out yesterday..

The fry:


The Midas with the eggs and the wigglers as they are called at this stage, she is waiting to pluck them as they wiggle out of the eggs:

See those specks in the bottom?? those are wigglers.. They will eat their egg sacks for one week then become free swim..

IT is interesting to see the differences in them when they lay/hold eggs/fry.. Americans lay eggs and in 3 days,the start to hatch, wigglers as they are called, eat the egg sack for a week, then go free swim..Africans on the other hand, hold the eggs and the fry in their mouths for 2 weeks or more.. I guess it is natures way of protecting the species in different ways.. The Americans are big enough to protect the fry from others, the african are not.. So mother nature has played a big roll here in protecting both species.. Interesting indeed.. 

OMG THATS CRAZY! Barb Okla thas excatlly what my female looks like, Blue with the black strips and her first batch looks like the babies you also posted. Now she has more frys inside her mouth. But we do not have another tank. So I was wondering when will she spit them out, they have been in there for awhile now. The first batch we didn't even know that she had, had babies til one day we saw little fishes swimming around, Then when I started to read these forms is when I relized that she had some more in her mouth. I don't know how to post pics but I can e-mail them.

TexasLove915@hotmail.com

There is my e-mail adress.

wow Barb 

Those pictures are great!    Your awsome! thanks so much

Do you keep all your babies?

I am thinking I am going to be having tanks all over my home, as I wont be able to let mine leave ....    lol

I have to many tanks really!! 13 but only 11 running right now..  IF you get serious in keeping cichlids and you have a way to get them gone at 1"+,  then IT is a great hobby.. BUT finding homes for most of the bigger Americans can be a problem.. I do have one fish store that takes my juvenile Midas, BUT you have to keep them fro 5 months to get them to turn to the orange or white, as mine are both, so they go either way to a combo in each spawn.. I dotn' keep them all.. MOM Midas has a way of eating them most times.. So I watch and I usually have to get them out if I want to rasie any.. 30 is a good number to raise up.. 20 may survive to adult..
NOW the Africans , they are always in demand.. I dont have any problem getting them gone.. BUT you stil have to have tanks for 5 to 8 mos depending on the species to get then to a nice size.. the Kenyi, which it seems you have, are very popular as the males are a bright golden color, the females stay this blue black stripe.. DO YOU have a male Kenyi?? PIC BELOW of mine.. This female stays the blue/black colors, so I keep her fry.. The last fry she had was in July.. they are almost at 1" and are growing out in a 55gal tank with some others..About 30 I would say..  IF you dont have the extra tanks , just lots of small rocks work in the bottom of the tank helps them survive very well.. out of 30+ they release, 5 to 10 should survive.. That is plenty really in a main tank..

MY male Kenyi:

LOL okay Barb your scaring me, Cause I have that exact fish also, who I think is the daddy of my babies.
I'm glade you can at least put the names of the fish I have casue we never knew the names of them. Wow to have that many tanks thats crazy we have a hard enought time taking care of our one 55 gallon tank.

IF you really get serious in keeping Any kind of cichlid, and have the room in your home, the best size tank is a 75 gal.. I wish all my 55 gal where that size.. BUT a 55 is a great tank for starting fish keeping and growing out the fry/juveniles as they are called later.. WE have convered a 10x10 bedroom in to a tank room.. As there are 10 tanks going. Most are on double stand my hubby made... So get ready.. You can always make room for another tank!!
My 4 55gal tanks

My 29 gal and 75 doubles ..

Old pics but you get the idea.. AND yes, it can be work..and you stay pretty wet!!  :toothy9:  

Nice fish room and tanks Barb, unfortunatley I have to wait to get rid of one of the kids before I can go that way !!