Butterfly

I thought I just posted but maybe not... If it shows up twice we'll all know for sure I'm lossing my mind LOL.
Isabella I re-read thethread and noticed you were worried about disapointing me, Please don't for you listen very well and do your best for all your fishes and thats all anyone could ask.
Mike the vids were really good. Thanks for sharing. The vids I have of my angel fish caring for their eggs is too big and I don't know how to shorten it
Carol

chickadee

Isabella-

I am sorry to hear about your angels. I hope you will have good luck the next time. It sounds like you are getting prepared!

Thank you, Mike for that lovely film. I don't get to watch other fish in motion much and it was a real treat. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to realize just how tender they are with their young.

Shalom to all,

Rose

Butterfly

It's really neat to watch them. They will take their fry in their mouths and make a chewing motion and then spit them back where they want them. Now like all children angel fry don't always want to stay where mom and dad want them to stay, so mom or dad will chase them down, take them in their mouth and spit them where they want them to stay. Sometimes very roughly if they've had to do this alot. eventually the fry are swimming very good and mom and dad get exhausted chasing them down. Thats when I seperate them, at about 4 days.
Most cichlids display such parental care, and its really amazing.
Carol

Isabella

Thanks Chickadee, I am really OK - just a little sad that the eggs didn't make it. But the angels will probably breed again, so I'll try again as well. Just wondering how long it will take them to spawn again.

Carol, yes, that is amazing what they do. Could one keep the parents longer with the babies than four days?

I have read that some cichilds (don't remember their name) take all of their eggs into their mouths and hold them there for as long as the fry become too large to fit inside the mouth. This is how they protect the young. They will not eat during that time, of course because they have mouths full of babies, lol. That may take as long as a month. This is a very interesting behavior - I think the most extreme form of protection of the young among fish!

Butterfly

Those types of cichlids are called mouth brooders and there are a large variety of them.
You could probably keep your angels and fry together more than four days after free swimming, mine always seem to get really tired chasing babies and have had them eat them after that period of time. Guess they get to looking more like snacks than babies. Don't know. Each pair is different, you could always try it.
carol