jesp Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 I've never found a cichlid holding till the other day. I put the female, who is not all the big, in a separate tank and put some sponge material over the filter intake. Today I got home and there were 8 peacock fry chillin on the bottom. I put the female back in the 67gallon. NOW WHAT? Do they need to stay in their own tank? Should I get a fry net thing? I have some fry food that was laying around, but I feel like if I put it in the water then they are not going to be able to get at it in such a large tank. (It is only 10 gallons). Soooo.......if anyone wants to give me some pointers I would be happy to listen. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 I'm no expert but my pecocks after they were spit out were fine snacking on parental leftovers aka 1mm NLS pellets BUT they grabbed them with their mouths and nibbled on them in a hiding spot. Keep in mind My fry were and still are in the same tank as the parents and all the other fish(pebbles make great hiding spots) Once the fry have been spat out i'm sure you should be fine with the NLS grow formula if they have a .5mm formula. The only thing is if you do a substrate in that tank do a light layer (dusting) of sand or the fry might not get the pellets in time plus it's easier to keep clean. What you have done so far is fine but personally i'd have left the mother in the tank with the fry for longer. Check out the cichlid forum library for some articles on the topic. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 quote name='jesp' date='Sep 11 2009, 04:28 PM' post='2199184'] I've never found a cichlid holding till the other day. I put the female, who is not all the big, in a separate tank and put some sponge material over the filter intake. Today I got home and there were 8 peacock fry chillin on the bottom. I put the female back in the 67gallon. NOW WHAT? Do they need to stay in their own tank? Should I get a fry net thing? I have some fry food that was laying around, but I feel like if I put it in the water then they are not going to be able to get at it in such a large tank. (It is only 10 gallons). Soooo.......if anyone wants to give me some pointers I would be happy to listen. Cheers. If you want to keep the fry they need to be in their own tank or they'll get eaten. Once they have a couple feedings they catch on and are very eager to eat, a 10 gal is great. The only reason to leave the mother in the tank is if there were still more babies in her mouth, as long as she has some hiding spots and is eating well she'll be fine in the 67. With regular water changes and feeding 2 or 3 times a day, the'll grow pretty fast. Congrats and Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 If you are going to use one of those net breeder deals that hang on the side of a tank I recommend putting two or three nets on it. Otherwise the bigger fish suck the babies right through the netting and eat them. I experienced that when I had fry and it was a horrible thing to watch. Congrats on the babies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesp Posted September 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Thanks for the responses. Turns out there were 15! in that little ladies mouth at final count. Wow. I am keeping them in the 10 gallon and feeding them crushed up flake food a couple times a day. Hopefully they all make it in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Thanks for the responses. Turns out there were 15! in that little ladies mouth at final count. Wow.I am keeping them in the 10 gallon and feeding them crushed up flake food a couple times a day. Hopefully they all make it in the end. We also keep a few established sponge filters in other tanks and extra Java moss ready to go into tanks with the new fry. It seems the really little ones graze on the sponge (microflora and fauna no doubt) and then use First Bites or Ken's Golden Pearls and move up to NLS Grow. Best of luck. It is pretty awesome. Theresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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