what happens if a parrot fish hatches eggs?

Question

my two parrot fishes hatched eggs, and i dont know what to do..
how do i get them to hatch?
what do i do to get them to hatch?
well i need all the info i can get..
so just tell me all you know and that will help alot..
please and thank you..

Answer 1

A parrot fish is a hybrid, from a south American Severum and a African red terror. I was told that this crossbred is sterile like a mule. If these hatch out, please let us know. If the eggs are fertile, let the parents take care of them. If they hatch, you will need to get infusia. (I don't know how to spell it, but it a tiny food that you hatch out for small egglayer babies to eat.)
Make sure that you remove all of the other fish in the tank without disturbing the parents.

Answer 2

Parrot Fish Breeding Eggs

Answer 3

As Dana said if it is the parrot Cichlid you have then they are always sterile but still go through the process of producing the eggs and the males have even been known to try and fertilize them. The parrots realize that it hasn't worked after a few days and try again unfortunately, presuming the first batch of eggs have passed on. It's a shame really that they keep acting out this cycle, but it's the way they have been bred.

Answer 4

Blood parrots will attempt to breed in an aquarium and some pairs attempt to breed very frequently (every few weeks). What most people find is that a pair will court, clean a nest site and then lay eggs. However, the eggs don't hatch in many cases. The parents will continue to care for the eggs for several days until the eggs turn white with fungus and then the parents will likely eat the eggs.

Interestingly, recently more and more people report that their blood parrot cichlids are successfully breeding.

Breeding in General

Breeding Pair. click to EnlargeBreeding in an aquarium is considered by most to be the ultimate goal in fish keeping. If your fish are breeding, then you must be doing something correctly. For most species of fish, the proper environment must be provided for the pair to produce offspring. A combination of the correct foods, temperatures, and water chemistry are essential. On this page I'll attempt to provide you with what I have learned in respect to breeding the parrot cichlid.
Can Parrot Cichlids Produce Offspring?

Until recently, it has been though that Parrot Cichlids could not breed because the male was sterile. The pair go through the normal courtship but the eggs would never hatch. There has been rumors lately, that the fish farms are now introducing males that ARE able to fertilize the eggs. They are doing this by injecting them with a hormone that makes them fertile. At azoo.com there is a news page that will sometimes put out information pertaining to this very subject. Check there frequently for the latest updates on what they call a "man-breed."

If you are the owner of a Bubblegum or Jellybean parrot I would refer to the breeding habits of convicts also. Although they will breed in a similar manner to the true parrot cichlids, they are half convict so a little investigation on your part is in order. There has been many reported cases of these types raising fry. These are easy fish to breed if the right conditions are present. Since this page is dedicated mostly to the true parrot cichlid, I am not going to go into any further detail on the the jellybeans and the bubblegums.

Sexing

As with some other species, it's difficult to tell the difference between males and the females unless they are about to spawn. Because there is so many variations in the types of parrots, it's almost impossible to distinguish the sexes by finnage or coloration.

When I first got my parrots, I thought I could sex them by the the anal and dorsal fins being pointed on males and rounded on the females. I have found this to be untrue. I assumed that our largest fish was a male, since the female he had paired up with had rounded fins and he had pointed. However, the male has since left this female and paired up with a new one and they have dug a hole and are guarding it. The female he's with now has pointed, not rounded anal and dorsal fins. Rounded fins can indicate a female, but pointed fins do not necessarily indicate male. Confusing huh? I thought so.

One way to identify the male is when he pairs up and is ready to breed, he will get pinkish coloration on his throat and behind his gill cover. This the best indication of male I have found thus far. In general, males are also larger than females. Identifying the females is almost impossible until her egg tube is showing during pre-spawn.
Propagating Spawing in the Aquarium

Conditions must be right in the aquarium for you parrot cichlids to spawn, and even then, it's not guaranteed that after the female lays eggs they will hatch. I've heard of several ways to encourage Spawning. They are as follows:

Raise the temperature in the tank 2-3º (do not exceed 84º)
Do a 10-15% water change using R/O or distilled water
Feed Live brine shrimp a couple times a week

PH for spawning should be no higher than 7.2. Optimally you should shoot for a 6.6-6.8 PH. Anything higher than 7.2 the birth rate will be low to nonexistent, because the covering on the egg will become to "tough" due to excess calcium in the water and the sperm will not be able to penetrate the egg to fertilize it. At an excessively low PH, the acidic water will damage the sperm and suffer the same fertilization problems. PH should me monitored closely and never changed more than .2 in a 24 hour period or you risk stressing your fish.
Spawing Characteristics

It is pretty easy to recognize spawning behavior. Two fish will pair up and spend alot of time together. You will notice the male doing what I call "The Sex Dance". He will move up to the female, turn his body sideways and shimmy his body making rapid tail and fin movements. This behavior can go on for days. Eventually they will build some sort of nest, usually a pit in the substrate under a rock or driftwood. They will then defend the area from other fish in the tank. In my case, the male seems to do most of the digging while the female defends the area. I'm thinking roles will reverse once the female lays eggs. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: My female laid eggs and the roles did indeed reverse. The female is guarding the eggs in the cave and doesn't come out unless she wants to eat. The male has been guarding the area around their cave. (Which he thinks is 3/4 of the 65 gallon tank.) He will occassionally join the female in the cave, but she will nudge him out after a few minutes.

Parrot Cichlids are substrate-spawners, meaning that they lay their eggs on the ground or on a hard surface like the leaf of a plant or on driftwood. Eggs that are not fertilized will turn white with fungus. It's the job of the parents to eat the fungused eggs so it does not spread to the fertilized eggs. It's a common occurrence for all the eggs to be eaten because most males are sterile and the eggs are never fertilized.

Parental care then consists of guarding the eggs, fanning them to provide oxygenated water, then caring for the hatchlings (called wrigglers) which eventually become free swimming fry. Parrot cichlids are often devoted parents and the length of parental care may extend for weeks or even months. They are biparental, meaning both parents take care of the fry, though their exact roles may vary. In some South American species, there is a mixture of substrate spawning and mouthbrooding. We call these delayed mouthbrooders: they lay the eggs on the substrate, guard them for a while, and then pick up the young and mouthbrood them. This is exactly what Parrot Cichlids do.
Caring for the Fry

Once the fry have hatched, you should leave them with the parents. If possible, removing the tankmates will reduce stress on the parents and allow more of the fry to develop. The fry will feed on their attached yolk sacks for about two days, then you will needs to provide them newly hatched brine shrimp. These can be purchased at most fish stores. After you notice the parents are no longer tending to the fry, you should remove the fry from the tank and put them in a 10 gallon aquarium to finish raising them. If you do not remove the fry, most of them will get eaten when parents are ready to spawn again.
Hatching the Eggs and Raising the Fry Yourself

This article was posted by Christine on the message forum, it was so informative I felt I had to include it on this page.
Thanks Christine!

An easy an safe way to transfer eggs is with a regular turkey baster. So now you won't have to worry about where they lay them:) For the entire process I have three different sized droppers. One baster, one med size (a childrens medicine dropper) and one that is very small and narrow (drug store find) to where only one or two eggs can pass through at a time. After the fist 24 hours any unfertilized eggs will turn white which are very noticeable. You'll want to remove these immediatley to prevent the fungus from spreading. This is where the med sized dropper helps. After the first 24-36 hours you'll notice some tissues surrounding a few of the eggs. This is what keeps the eggs stuck together and to the surface of an object. You'll want to remove this or the eggs will clump together making it hard for them to survive hatching, and bad egg removal. I used the turkey baster sucked the clumped eggs out and gently released the in a small clear cup. Then I would carefully clean them under a bright light using the small dropper and very sharp narrow tweezers to grab the tissue. Since I have never seen parrot fry I don't know what size their yolk sac is. At first the fry might look like a little worm with a yellow bubbble on their stomach. The yellow bubble will be their primary food source for the first 3-5 days. You will see it shrink as it's being used.

If there isn't one you will have to start feeding right away. You will need to feed them freshly hatched brine shrimp for as long as possible. At the very least two weeks. The worst part is the brine shrimp lose all of their nutrients after 6 hours. So you will need to buy a hatchery or set up several aerated jars. The temp will determine how fast they hatch. 80degrees=25-30 hours, 75degrees=36hrs+ San francisco bay brand seems to have the smallest eggs. Which may be best considering the parrots mouths. I sucked the free swimming shrimp out with the turkey baster and sprayed it over a net with a black nylon stocking over it, then rinsed it with tank water to remove the salt. I've been told the fry may be reluctant to eat if the salt isn't rinsed off. After two weeks you can try feeding Nutrafin fry food. I had excellent results using this.

Ok, once your fry are all free swimming in the jar after about a week they can be released into the grow out tank. I've found the longer you wait the better, even two weeks is fine. If you release them too soon the won't be strong enough to withstand the bigger tank, or get enough food and many will die.

Water changes are very important. This will insure your fish are developing correctly. Change 25-50% of the water in the jar every day. It's recommended 25-50% of the tank water also. I think this might be a little harsh for the grow out tank, I feel changes should be regulated to the amount of fry and how much your feeding. Some may disagree but I've found too many large water changes cause undue stress and a higher losses. Always siphon out any left over food immediately with an air hose. Literally use your hand and wipe the inside of glass clean to rid any bacteria accumulating on the sides. (you'll feel slimy build up) There should be nothing in the tank but an airstone and sponge filter. I've always kept the tank at 80 degrees to keep their metabolism running high for faster growth rates. You should place an extra sponge in your main tank and set up a fry tank now to avoid any cycling problems. A friend told me his parrots will lay eggs every two weeks if the eggs are removed and five or more weeks if they a left with the parents. He has successfully been raising fry from true parrots for three years. His fry were chubby and pink and their size and shape varied.