What To Do With Convict Cichlid Eggs

Hello, I just saw today on of my convict cichlid pair laying eggs on the side of a rock that was part of a little cave. They dug out the sand in the cave and made a little nest and they are now laying eggs in the side of it. This is the first time they’ve done it but I’ve only been keeping convicts for a few months. I know they’ll hatch in a few days and that the parents are protective but I know that they’ll sometimes eat their eggs and I also have other cichlids in the tanks so I know the fry won’t survive in their. I want to remove the eggs but I don’t want to disturb their little nest and the eggs look very fragile like snail eggs so I don’t know if they would break if I try to scrape them out. Should I take the whole rock and put it in a different tank? Or could I scrape the eggs without damaging them? Will the cichlids stress too much if I destroy their nest? Please help! How do I remove the eggs causing the least damage.

 

Giving this a bump up for you

 

What do you mean?

 

Hi, this is such a busy forum that sometimes threads drop down the page & get missed, a bump brings the thread back up where hopefully you’ll get some responses

 

Thank you so much

 

I would leave them alone. Let the parents figure it out. When they hatch you’ll see little squiggly things in the hole they buried. If you want to try to feed them you could give them crushed fine foods.

Parents often try but lose them. Experienced keepers might be able to raise them up but leaving them up to Mother Nature is an option too.