cichlids cichlids cichlids!! but what are they?

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wow jrp u are right she is lookin a little thin. have u thought of seperating her and watching untill she spits them out then returning her back to the main tank? sometimes they need a little persuasion to release them but it is for there own good so they eat again. thnaks for the comments about the pics. it is only a 2 megapixel camera and i can only take pics on the smallest setting becasue i dont know how to resize them. your pics seems fuzzy, do you have the macro turned on on your camera? i was having the same problem with my pictures untill i found out about macro
 
for jrp...

If you think she's suffering, seperate her into a small container and feed her by herself.
She should get hungry and will spit them, just try to nab her out before she scoops them up again.
 
i am very quick with my respnoses if i am near the computer becasue i always love to read what epople are saying in my threads. espically when it is a thread that i started i try to keep posted as much as possible so the thread doesnt die. i have manged to keep all my threads going at least 2 pages or more. another good way to do it is to put more tempting foods in front of her like blood worms or brine shrimp. she may turn down flakes and pellets but live foods are always tempting. hope that helps.
 
By small...what do you mean? My 15gal currently doesn't have a hood and I'm leery about putting such an active fish in an open tank...not to mention the lack of light. It's got all the other necessary gear though...and i suppose I could sorta just set the old wire mesh cover from when it was a frog tank on the top...and put the old light from the 30gallon on it. It wouldn't be pretty but I think It could work.
 
that would be more than good enough for her to simply release the fry. if she is seperated she would feel more secure and be far more likely to let the fry out. try to give her a good place to hide and good cover but not to much or u wont be able to catch her again lol. i hope u get tons of fry :)
 
Yup, she's about to POP....err....spit! :D I'd QT her asap in a tank with water used from the main tank. That way you don't have to acclimate. For a top, the mesh is perfectly fine.
 
jrp, Cover the top with a peice of lexan. You can buy a peice at the lhs. Most cut to fit for free. You can cut/drill holes for the heater, etc. Remeber, "measure twice. cut once."
 
ya i was going to suggeat that but with a peice of plexiglass. i made a custom cover for my 35 gallon hex tank but your will me much easier. then if u want it to be more permanent get a set of hinges and cut a a little door on the top so u can feed. it is also good to do this becasue it will keep the lights away from the water.
 
eh, this is really just a temporary solution. momma's in the 15gal btw, looking good. She's a fighter I tell ya. Had to tear down all my decor to catch her!
 
I just use a 2L Ice cream container with the sides cut out and flyscreen glued over the holes.
glue some foam around the edges and presto, instant fry saver / maternity cage.
You might also find if she has the freedom to swim to much, she will hang onto them longer. plus if you drop food in front of her in such a small area, it's more tempting to her.

Lol @ the turn this thread has taken.

Matt.
 
thanks toddnbecka i just might do that. as much as i trust the aa people i might have to turn to the experts in this area lol. i am quite confident though that these are cobalts its just those other 2 trickey buggers that i cant figure out. unfortunatl i think i have to bring the other 2 back though becasue they are being to agressive toward there tankmates. now all i need to do is catch them. is there anyway to do this without tearing my tank appart?
 
the female still hasn't spit....I do have a 1gallon betta hex tank if they prefer confined spaces for this. Worth a try?
 
Yes, I am 100% sure that they are cobalts, not a doubt in my mind. One of the other two has been identified, forgot the name off the top of my head :oops: and the other one is defiantely a mixed specie. The color pattern and un-uniform stripes are an indicator. Don't get me wrong, it's ok to check other sources, but cichlid-forum is not exactly a good place to check out. I've seen them try to ID fish before, and lets just say that you're better off taking a shot in the dark. I posted a pic once and asked for an ID and was told it was a fish that didn't even look similar to what it actually was. www.malawimayhem.com is a much better site if you're stuck. I'm pretty good at IDing Africans but when I find one that I can not ID, that's the only place that I go. They definately know their stuff.

To get them out, slowly put the net in the tank. You'll have to kind of sneak up on them. OR, take out all the decor and start the fish chase. LOL

Jase- I'd keep her in the 15 gal. The 1 gal is too small for her. She probably just isn't ready to spit yet. Give it a week or so and if she still hasn't spit you may have to strip her. We had to do that when our Peacock was holding for over 4 weeks.
 
She had not eaten in a month and was looking pretty thin. When I netted her out of the 150 she had no fight in her. It wasn't a difficult choice. Even while she was spitting she seemed calm and relaxed. Stripping by holding open the mouth in the water is definately a better way to go instead of sticking airtubing in their mouth. That just seems unusual. I am definately not against stripping a mother with fry as long as she has held long enough and she starts to look thin and weak.
 
I can understand that.
The idea is not to milk if it's not needed.
especially for a first time mouthbrooder they tend to go over the time "limit" and produce less fry until they are more experienced.
How long has she been holding again jrp?
I forget when the post was made.

Matthew
 
i think all my fish are to small right now for breeding anyway but i am looking foreward to it when they get bigger. how big are they usually before they start to breed? i have a good few hours ahead of me for catching those 2 fish so i had better get to it. i am really not in the mood to take out all the rocks i have in there. i will just have to try a sneak attack lol.
 
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