New to Cichlid as well as breeding

[wflorence]

Hello Everyone. It is an honor to be part of a large Cichlid community. I am brand new to the fish world. I started with a 5 gallon tank 3 months ago and now i am at a 20 gallon! I have to admit, this is very addictive!!!! I have 4 fish in my tank, 2 blue, 1 yellow and a small one, with no idea what he/she is. Anyways, 3 days ago i noticed the largest one had a swollen mouth and didnt want to eat. I check these forums and relized she had either eggs or fry in her mouth. I have put here in a mesh seperation tank with in the original tank. They male does the dance around the holding tank as well now with the gold/orange female. I need some guidence on the best approach to making sure the fry survive as well as keeping mamma happy alone in the holding tank. Again, i have been reading everyones post and i am a little confused. Thanks.

Wayne

[wflorence]

I will get the correct names of my fish as soon as possible. Side note. The female is larger then all the others. She controls the tank. All seem to get along fairly well except for the casual chases once in a while. Since i put big mamma in the holding tank the smaller blue and gold have been doing a circle dance.

[wflorence]

Here is the yellow ones name i have.

LABIDOCHROMIS CAERULEUS

[wflorence]

My blue ones have black on the tips of the fins. I dont have the name of them yet. They are a very blue/electric looking.

[Glennda 2k5]

Hi welcome to the community as long as the mesh is big enough to house the female she will be fine.Wait around 25to35 days until the eggs will develop into fry if you want to strip the female to save the fry you will have to ask someone else on what to do,as im only 14 yrs old and not that exsperianced enough to give out info.ive done it myself before and its quit eaisy hope all is fine.

[wflorence]

Thanks! I appreciate the info

[robles9861]

lots of africans live close to rocks, take your female and put her and her male in holding tank and maybr a flower pot so she can release her babies when she is readyto let them out. she will do that let them out and put them back in her mouth until they can fend for themselves.


Peter

[chahala]

I have stripped many cichlids. Even if you strip them and they still have egg sacks you can get the mother to put them back in her mouth and wait. It is best to let her spit them out. Just don't have the father in there or he will eat them all. If this is her first time she might just swallow them. They usually take a few times till they get it right. I usually strip the mother and put them in the 10 gallon to grow them up. Feed the mother as soon as she has them as she has not eaten for weeks and will be hungry. As well, make sure that you are not producing Hybrids.