Brooder tank

[johnnymax]

I am hit or miss when it comes to saving the babies when the female cichlid finally releases the babies from her mouth. If I am there when she releases them I can get her out before she eats them. 9 times out of 10 I only get a couple. Once I was there and got over 100. I ordered a piece of 1/4" stainless mesh and set it on a bunch of plastic plants. I set two rocks to compress the plants. I have a mouth brooding female in there now. I hope the babies drop below the screen and hide until I remove the momma. This is a 20g tank.

 

[fishdance]

the mother won't eat her babies. And when released the babies will always return to her mouth albeit slower and less often as they get bigger over time.

It is very easy to rob eggs or young fish fry from a mouth broader. Heads & tails after 5 days age, 2 weeks are fully formed fish. The longer you wait, the less babies you get since her buccal (&,stomach ) capacity is the same size but all fry are rapidly growing. Bigger sized eggs are harder to artificially incubate than small but even Frontosa can be reliably incubated at day 1 (with some experience)

If a mother drops new fry, a very easy way to collect them is a siphon hose to bucket. Wrap some black tape around hose end and run the hose 2 cm over tank gravel. The hiding fry will actively swim over /into /seek the black hose opening (they want mum's mouth).

 

[johnnymax]

the mother won't eat her babies. And when released the babies will always return to her mouth albeit slower and less often as they get bigger over time....

That has not been the case with my Tilapia....