Why did my convicts eat their babies?

Question

hi my convict pair recently had babies and they got to prbly a week old and i woke up this mornign and they were gone and before the female was always in the cave with them and just yesterday they venture dout of the cave and the female wouldnt let the male come into like a 4 inch radius of the cave the whole week and when i woke up they were gone and the male was like swimming all vigourous and the female wa sout of the cave her color faded and she looked sad:S

Answer 1

This is not uncommon for Cichlid parents,and probably indicates they "thought" that something was wrong with the spawn. You will find that if conditions are just right that both parents will care for the fry. Some things that you can do to help are keep the area around the tank quiet,don't use excessive light to look for the fry(no flashlights),cut back on feedings to minimize disturbances, make sure the tank is large enough to support the fish's normal territory size and be patient,they may eat several hatches,then become the best parents you've ever seen.
This behavior is also common in Angelfish.

Answer 2

That's a problem I had with my guppies. Most fish do eat their babies :(

It's because if a fish was in a wide body of water, eg a lake, the fish wouldn't get fed regularly. And the fry would be able to swim away. So, to the parents, the fry are like live food, and since the tank isn't a bottomless lake, the poor fry have nowhere to hide. Ever-hungry fish are bound to eat their babies!

And, some might have been sucked up by the filter :( This also happened to me :(

Answer 3

with any animal the father will get very jealous of the babys cuz they are spending all the time with the mother instead of him.so he will eat them sohe can have his wife back

Answer 4

maybe they were hungry