My Malawi cichlids got fry in her mouth?

Question

How long will she keep them in her mouth it has been over 5 weeks now and she hasnt released them or eaten in that time. Im worried she wont survive much longer? We have caves for her to go in. Should I be worried?

Im not sure what type she is but she is yellow with black and white stripes from head to tail?? She definately has fry in her mouth I can see them when she opens her mouth. Her colour has really faded the past 2 days she is very pale thats why Im worried..

Answer 1

This does seem to be a rather long time to be holding fry. Most mouthbrooders will take eggs, from when they spawn, and hold for about three weeks. Once spit, usually they stay out on their own. A few things that may factor into this would be other population in your tank, and the size of your tank as well. If you have other adult fish and mixed species in their, the fry may not feel safe and going back to hide in mom's mouth. I wouldn't worry too much however. Mom will decide when she's had enough of that. I'd reccomend you get a small fry tank like a 10, 15 or 20 gallon tank. I use them myself for my mouthbrooding fry, and let the female just spit her fry there. I isolate my females after a week that I've found them to be holding eggs.

Make sure you keep the water quality high too. Fry need different type of food for one, and getting the right amount of food is tricky as well. Fry need to be fed more times then adults if you want them to grow faster as well. I think that's great though. I was really excited the first time my mouth brooders spawned, and now I've had three different species spawn in my main tank.

Answer 2

She will be fine and most likely has released them to eat. More then likely the reason they are not released more often is because of other fish in the tank. So it would be a good idea to move her and the fry to an isolation tank. This is not a must but does allow her security enough to release the fry. Once released you can move her back into the community tank and raise the fry until they are large enough to compete with the adult fish.

Good luck.

PK

Answer 3

malawi cichlids are actually not a particular breed of fish yet particularly a trademark of the place they are from. this is they arrive from Lake Malawi in Africa. they like temps of around 80 levels F and a PH between 7.6 to eight.0. they are egg layers or mouth brooders. while paying for for african cichlids attempt to maintain all of them from the comparable lake. they seem to be a gressive fish which like alot of hidding spots in the tank and a sandy mattress. they're going to up root plant life and opt to dig. while stocking the tank that's maximum suitable to maintain the fish all on the subject of the comparable length. A tank length of 30 gal or greater is very pronounced. in my opinion i might initiate with a 50 gal tank and stay away from over stocking if achieveable. sometime you are able to over inventory a tank to cut back somewhat some the agressiveness. yet that would not continuously artwork. The fish length will variety from approximately 2.5 inches to approximately 12 if I keep in mind proper. that's maximum basic to discover breeds that variety from 3 to 5 inches with some that strengthen to approximately 8 inches pay attention in the U. S.. they seem to be a chilled fish to shield and are farely hardy. They consume almost something. I feed mine dried flake foodstuff and blood worms. good success PK

Answer 4

No worries. You may never see her eating, but she'll be OK. Get a small flashlight and start looking around in the crevasses and tiny hiding places in the tank. Also think about filter intakes that might "inhale" the fry. Sponge prefilters might help.