I have convict cichlids and they laid eggs. How long til' they hatch?any info help. Should they B seperated?

Answer 1

Convicts are very good parents. You definitely want to keep them together. They do all the work of taking care of the eggs and guard the babies (fry) after hatching. It will take about 7 days for the eggs to become wigglers. The parents will then start moving them around to different spots. Once the fry become free swimming, the parents will herd them around the tank and scoop out nests for them to bed down during the night.

The other fish in the tank (if you have other fish in the tank) will be terrorized during all of this. A spawning pair of convicts is one of the meanest couple of fish in the business. They will take on and chase away fish that are much larger and usually more agressive than themselves.

If you want to separate them from the other fish in the tank, I usually do, move the other fish if you can, without disturbing the eggs and parents too much.

Another option is to move the eggs while they are still attached to whatever they laid them on and the parents to another tank. Use water from the tank they are in to fill the other tank. I usually put them in a 15 or 20 gallon. Also take the filter from the original tank and put it on the nursery tank. That will keep the water stable. Just put another filter on the community tank and it will be fine.

I have a group of pink convict fry right now that are approaching 1" in length. Some have already been sold at fish auctions and the rest (about 50) are going to go this weekend.

Answer 2

I also have a pair of cichlids that have bred an now have about 50,000 babies lol, hidden under a sponge bob decoration an the mother an father are very protective an aggressive! how ever I started to move the sponge bob out because I was sure this is what was happening, so as I was pulling the sponge bob out of my 55 gallon tank, I see the eggs! I freaked lmbo! I then lowered the sponge bob back in to the water so that the fish would calm down because at this point the mother an father was attacking my hand an the sponge bob! I noticed this started on like Wednesday 8/13/2014 an it is now 8/18/2014 when should I except this little eggs to hatch an become fish?

Answer 3

They don't keep their eggs in their mouth- as suggested above- they do however move fry around in their mouths. First time parents may acidently eat some of the fry, they figure it out though.

Some things I didn't see mentioned-
The will bury the fry at night especially if you have sand. So if they all disappear- no worries- they'll be back.

Convicts spawn like crazy and aren't worth 2 cents. If you intend on seperating them and letting them grow to adulthood then make sure you have a petstore that will take them. Most stores won't even consider it.

My pair spawn every 6 weeks or so. Once the new eggs are fertilized the parents see the old fry as predators and begin to eat them. Normally 1 or 2 fry from each spawning find a great hiding place and you will see them darting around. Once they get to be an inch and a half we bring them in to a store. It is a lot easier to get someone to take one medium sized, beautiful fish then 150 1/2" babies.

We have a fifty five with a pair as well as a 8" Dempsey. Of course their are smaller fish of varying sizes and a new set of fry from about a week ago. The Parents do become really aggressive but as long as Ms.Dempsey stays on her half of the tank they are fine.

Answer 4

Cichlid Eggs

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
I have convict cichlids and they laid eggs. How long til' they hatch?any info help. Should they B seperated?

Answer 6

I read on a website that it takes 3 to 4 days for the eggs to hatch, it also said that the cichlids are wonderful parents so I would let nature do its thing

Answer 7

they will hatch in like 2 weeks or less........ i have over 1 thousand Cichlids from just 4 about 2 years ago! dont mess with the eggs or parents..... they are very territorial....... remove only other fish if tank is too crowded

Answer 8

for the first time in a year I noticed eggs. I put my hand in the tank and my convicts attacked, I was so excited to see that they are so protective. I love the coloring and hope to have several that I can trade at my local for a few other types for my other tanks. thank you dewey.. you are right they are territorial and they seem to love their eggs... I have about 7 more days to go before mine hatch out.

Answer 9

A couple days and you should start seeing them if everything went right, but do not worry these fish reproduce like rabbits and they are very good parents. They are classified as mouth brooders and keep the eggs in their mouth and once the fry can swim freely you will see the mother with a big swarm of fry trying to heard them, she will suck them in her mouth and spit them back out were she wants them to stay. It is pretty fun to watch. Also if she starts getting really aggressive you should probably try to do something, I had one that killed her mate. My advice do not separate them, or you will end up with hundreds of fish that you cannot get rid of and will not have room for. I once had about 300 little convicts, it was fun at first, but I could not get rid of them, I was able to give away 10, but soon they started getting deceased and dying so I had to make the decision to kill all of them. Just let nature take it's course (ha natural selection right in front of you, sorry I was just in the religion section)and hopefully you will only end up with 1 or 2 new fish that are healthy and best suited for life in an aquarium. Good luck, but like I said this will not be the last time, so do not worry if you don’t see any

Answer 10

no, dont seperate the parents from the eggs. cichlids are great parents. the parents are needed to fan the eggs with their fins. your local fish store will have books on the subject or go to the library ,wont cost you a penny.