anyone ever bred small african cichlids?

[tscharf]

ive got a 55gal tank, with gravel substrate and numerous artificial plants and larger rocks. there are 6 small african cichlids(about 1.5-2in) , 1 rainbow shark, 3 feeder guppies(which i tried to get out but couldnt) 2 black mollies, and 1 random fish. im wondering if the cichlids will breed, or if their is a way to get them to breed. i dont know how to tell the sex.
heres 1 of them, theyre all different colors but were housed in the same tank when i bought them so im assuming their the same species.

 

[greenearthlawns]

can you get pics of the other ones? that one looks like a kenyi at that size though it is hard to tell if it is m/f but blue kenyi are female and the males turn yellow at around 3-4 in I would say.... the others are not necessarily this type so you dont want to have them breeding unless you are sure and with that tank mix i'm not so sure if they would spawn but even if they do the fry most likely wont survive unless you have a seperate tank for them? I can help you out on how to get them to spawn when they are ready though it's not too hard because african cichlids are prolific breeders!!

 

[tscharf]

i bought 2 thet were originally blue with black stripes, looked like the one in the pic. one of them has turned a yellow now so im assuming that the male like you said. the other 3 in the tank are solid orange, solid white, and bright yellow with black horizontal stripes. i can get pics right now cuz theirs a glare on the tank from the sun.

 

[greenearthlawns]

So the white one could be albino of some sort does it have pink eyes? the bright yellow with black stripes hmmmmm could be a cynotilapia or a crabro aka bumble bee cichlid... try and get pics when you can...the solid orange is probably a red zebra... So the only 2 that you have that can breed are the kenyis and they will when they are ready...

 

[tscharf]

ok yea, ill try n get pics when i can, and ur right the other one is an albino of some sort.

 

[crisgaston]

Hi. Dwarf African cichlids aka mbunas are prolific mouth brooders. A ratio of four females for every male should be okay. You must have shelters for the females cuz males can become too aggressive. Eggs are brooded in the female's buccal cavity until they hatch and when the fry are free swimming, they can be stripped from the mother's mouth and placed in another tank. Eggs may also be stripped provided that you have an artificial hatching jar. Good luck.

 

[tscharf]

thanks man, im thinking it might just be best to wait and see what happens with the pair i have now. if they diont breed in a month i might run out and get summore to try and increase the number of females because i know i have atleast 1 male