Cichlid breeding

[Ana flores]

:? I am new to the forum, I have a question and i hope someone can help me. I have a 80 gallon fully established cichlid tank, the issue is i have 2 convic's and they had babies, i do not know how i knew something was up because they stuck to one specific little cave in the rocks and when any of the other cichlids tried to go near they would get very mad and just attack them. Well now i have like a million little babies that swim around the pair, which is amazing to watch but the issue is the convict's are soooo crabby that they have the other fish terrorized on the other side of the tank and I am scared that between them they will start dying because this is all causing alot of stress and aggression between them all. I love the miracle of watching the babies but I want to keep the other guys happy and healthy too...what do i do get rid of the babies, the convic's or buy a divider(if there is such thing) I do not know...HELP????

 

[triazole]

welcome ana.
you've just witnessed the amazing phenomenon that happens when you gently add water to a pair of convicts. bad news is that, if kept in a pair, the convicts will indeed continue to terrorize the rest of your tank. they are very very good parents.
in the long term, you have to decide if you are attached to both of them. it is very much possible to keep a single con without any major aggression issues. in that case, take the one you don't like to your local store.
to get rid of the babies, take the parents out of the tank into a holding bucket for about a couple of hours. based on what you have in the tank (a list of other tankmates would help), the fry will magically vanish.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Triazole is exactly right. You wouldn't have any problems keeping a single con, but a male and a female WILL make many thousands of babies, not to mention terrorizing other tankmates in the pursuit of parental duties.

 

[Ana flores]

Thank you very much for the help. I have decided to take the con. out of the tank and put them in a quarantine smaller tank for the couple of hours, then separate them and try to see how it goes with just one conv. !!!! Thanx