help with cannibal jewel cichlid?

[Totty]

I have a young pair of breeding jewels that have bred four times now, first time the fry got to free swimming stage before the other cichlids (Orange blotch's, firemouths, dempsey, texas) picked them of one by one, next couple of times the eggs were eaten in the night perhaps by the pictus catfish.

But recently they bred, protected the fry until free swimming and after a couple of days they started lessening in numbers. Then i spotted the male jewel taking them one by one and rather than moving them, which i had seen him do before, he was eating them.

Is it just a case of letting them get on with it and they will eventually get it right or are there steps to help them a bit?

Thanks for any feedback.

Totty

 

[fisher12889]

It could be that they are worried about other fish in the tank eating their fry (it's better for the parents to eat them and gain the nutrition, than for another fish to come and steal the babies). If you really want the fry to survive, I suggest putting the parents in a seperate tank, and/or removing the fry when they are free swimming.