Raising African Cichlids?

Question

My African Cichlid keeps producing eggs, but then puts them in her mouth and eats them!! What do i do?

Answer 1

Please add what kind of Africans you have. If you aren't sure possibly you could add a photo of them or even find a photo on the web that looks like yours.

Odds are good you have a mouth brooder on your hands, but without additional info it's impossible to say.

MM

Answer 2

Sounds like you have Mouth Brooders; I have some too, I cut and paste an article for you that explains it pretty clearly, I too had to get a bigger tank for the adults and keep my 20g for my fry, which I am raising now:

The spawning routine starts with fin flaring and lip locking between the male and female. This is their way of flirting and finding the right mate. The male cichlid, if he has found the female to his liking, will sneak off and dig a spawning pit in the gravel at the bottom of the tank The male will start flaring his fins and swimming closely to the female in order to excite and entice the female. Then the male and female will start swimming in circles with the male taking the lead over to the spawning pit.

As they are swimming around in circles above the spawning pit, the female drops her eggs in the pit. Then she immediately goes back and picks up the eggs in her mouth. The male has egg spots on his anal fin that makes the female think there are eggs she has missed. She approaches the male tries to pick the egg spots off the anal fin. At this moment, the male releases sperm into the female’s mouth, thus fertilizing the eggs. The female holds the fertilized eggs in her mouth until the gestational period is over. Depending on the species, gestation periods can range from 18 to 25 days.

You can tell the female is pregnant because she will develop a bruise on the throat due to the babies inside her mouth growing bigger. She will also stop eating until the eggs are hatched. This requires you to pay close attention to the female fish in your tank.

You must have a smaller tank in order to isolate the pregnant female. Place the mother in this solitary tank two weeks after discovering she is pregnant. This will allow a lead time of 4 to 7 days before the eggs are hatched.

Keep looking in the smaller tank and see if you can detect the babies swimming around. If you cannot see any babies at first, don’t worry. Try observing the tank in the middle of the night by using a low level light. Be sure not to startle the mother because she will take every baby back into her mouth until she thinks that the danger has passed.

Do not leave the mother in with the babies for any longer than 4 days. She will start to eat the babies, thinking this is her food source. Don’t worry about the babies eating; they are very capable of eating fish food as soon as they are let out of the mother’s mouth. In order to be humane, feed the female well before putting her back into the community tank. Females can starve to death if they have successive pregnancies. Having an additional small tank for the mother’s recuperation is a good idea.

Do not put the babies into a community tank until they are at least 3 to 4 inches long. Depending on the number of babies, you may need to put them in a larger tank as they continue to grow.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FRY!

Answer 3

i'm also going with the odds that you have a mouth brooder, but is she truly is eating the eggs she is probably suverly stressed about something. watch the tank carefully see if you can figure out what. try adding more decorations and plants or you might want to seperate her from the other fish once she is holding eggs

Answer 4

Here is some info about breeding cichlids, I think you have a mouthbreeder

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/cichlids_african/cichlids_african_mbunas_p1.htm
http://africancichlids.org/articles/breeding-african-cichlids
http://www.fishpost.com/afcichlids.html

I hope these sites help you find some answers to you questions


Good luck



EB

Answer 5

She's not eating them, that is how they raise their babies. Google breeding african cichlids and enjoy!