namehater

last night i found new fry in my tank! my pair of Chromidotilapia guentheri (west african eartheaters) had 50+ fry. when i saw them i thought that the eartheaters had just stirred up a mess and i had a dirty tank, but i looked closer and saw that they were fry swimming around like crazy. i went to get my camera, but i got back just in time to see the pappa open his mouth and all the fry swam in, hopefully the fry dont do the same trick with my frontosa lol!

im kinda torn on if i should try keeping them or not. i dont have room in my tank, but im thinking maybe i should raise them to sell, think it would be worthwhile?

bolivianbaby

I would say yes, try to raise them. They're not too common and if they don't have a large amount of "special requirements", you should be able to find good homes for the babies.

namehater

i haz pics!







and i uploaded a video to youtube!

Toddnbecka

I'd love to have some, how aggressive are they?

aquarist48

Hello NameHater. You have some beautiful fish. Congrats on the fry. Thanks for sharing the photos and the videos.
Ken

jana

Congrats on the babies!

peacemaker92

Congrats on the fry

namehater

thanks everybody! honestly i dont know how aggressive they are, ive had them about a month and they didnt seem to show any aggression at all, they seem to be pretty wicked now that they have the fry tho, i thought i about lost one of my acei juvies to them yesterday.

LauraJoe

namehater

well, i think im going to attempt to save as many of the fry as i can. gonna be a lot of work tho! i have a 75g that i need to get resealed and build a stand for, then i have to move everything from my 55g over to the 75g. then i have to move everything in my 29g over to the 55g. then move the eartheaters and their babies to the 29g. that way everybody gets a tank upgrade and the eartheaters get a 29g all to themselves.

bolivianbaby

Those pics are fabulous!

Please keep us posted! I'd love to have some if you're able to raise them sucessfully!

Toddnbecka

Keep a close eye on the fry; if you notice a reduction in numbers a divider may be necessary.

namehater

just an update-

the eartheatters stop holding the babies about oct. 29th. i cant find any around the tank, this may not mean they have all been eaten tho, theres tons of hiding spaces for small fry in the tank.

last night the eartheatters laid more eggs, i got some pics and a video of the eggs and of the papa gobbling the eggs up. ill try to post them later today.

Toddnbecka

If you want to save/raise fry it would be easier to siphon some fry out a few days after they're free-swimming. They don't need the parents to tend them after they reach that stage, and cichlids are notorious for eating their fry when they're preparing to spawn again. In the case of mouthbrooders you may have to strip the holding parent if the fry duck into a mouth for cover when the siphon appears.