Peacock Cichlid babies?????

[JayK1320]

So I am sitting in front of my tank last night, I don't get a lot of time to do this lately. Unfortunately in the place I just moved into there is literally no room in the living room for my tank until I get a flat panel wall mount for my TV, so it is shoved in the corner of my bedroom . Anyway, I am sitting there just watching and checking everyone out, when I notice my Red Peacock's mouth is looking very weird. Like deformed or something, of course in major concern I spent a few hours there while the Red Sox game was on.

It looks like it has something in its mouth, the bottom of its mouth is all big and its gills are sticking out a big. It looks pretty skinny, and I didn't see it eat anything all night. I got a few pics, but my camera is a piece of junk and the batteries were dieing, I will try again tonight with new batteries. I am wondering if these are classic signs of it holding babies???

I saw no eggs in the tank anywhere and I actually just did a huge change on the tank from gravel to sand about 3 weeks ago give or take a few days. Is that enough time for eggs and it to be holding? In the tank are some fish that are just waiting to be relocated, 2 yellow labs, a blue Mnuba and a Jewel. Along with my 2 peacocks. I set up the HOB filter I got last night for my little 10g, which is not setup right now, I am wondering if I should fill this and get it running and put the Red in there in case it is holding? Is there anything else I should do for it? I tried like hell to see inside its mouth to see if I could see anything, but I could not. It is still pretty small, maybe 2-2.5", can they breed at this size?

I am trying to get ride of the other fish in order to keep all peacocks, so this would actually be great if I got some fry.

I have zero experience with fish breeding through, what do I do? How do I know for sure? If I put it in its own tank do I still feed it? Do I wait for it to spit and then take it out right away? Any advice would be huuuuuuge. I am like freaking out!

I will attach the pics I got, they might be worthless but maybe someone can tell something.

HELLLLP!!!

 

[JayK1320]

First 4 pics are of the Red Peacock, I was not even 100% sure if it is female, but if its holding I guess that answers that question.

The last is of the Blue Peacock, does this fish look male? It doesn't spend all its time with the Red, but a pretty good amount, they are at least usually on the same side together. If this is male and they paired, what can I expect from a Red and Blue like this? Could they be any color?

Again, any help or suggestions would be massive!

 

[Frostyone]

Yup, she's definately holding and that's definately a male. Any other Peacocks in the tank?

 

[JayK1320]

Yup, she's definately holding and that's definately a male. Any other Peacocks in the tank?

No, just the two...I am hoping it is between them...don't really want a Hybrid...any advice on what to do?

 

[mike dunagan]

That is a new mommy there bud!!!!!!!!! Congrats, your water change is likely the cause of the spawn... Goood luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JayK1320]

That is a new mommy there bud!!!!!!!!! Congrats, your water change is likely the cause of the spawn... Goood luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you sir!

I am surprised to tell you that she has already spit the babies out. They are tiny, wicked tiny. I see 2 at least, not sure if there are more. The mother is eating, swimming around like normal again.

Should I remove her now from the 10g and put her back in with everyone else?

Do I need to worry about her eating the babies?

Do I need to do anything special for the babies?

Should the father and mother be together in the 10g?

I got the temp at 82-84 degress right now, doing a 3g water change a day, feeding flakes 2 times a day. Is there anything else I should be doing for the babies?

This is the first time I have ever done anything with babies, so I have a lot of questions....

 

[JayK1320]

bump

 

[Frostyone]

You can leave her in with the fry until they are a little bigger, no need to worry about her eating them unless she gets really stressed. Do the fry still have the yolk sacks? If not you're going to have to start feeding them. Use crushed pellets (I use crushed Cichlid Gold and Omega One Kelp pellets for their veggies) I wouldn't go so crazy on the water changes, especially once you remove the mother, as the fry don't poop that much.

 

[JayK1320]

You can leave her in with the fry until they are a little bigger, no need to worry about her eating them unless she gets really stressed. Do the fry still have the yolk sacks? If not you're going to have to start feeding them. Use crushed pellets (I use crushed Cichlid Gold and Omega One Kelp pellets for their veggies) I wouldn't go so crazy on the water changes, especially once you remove the mother, as the fry don't poop that much.

Not sure if they still have a yolk sacks, I was trying to figure it out last night but they hardly come out of their hiding spot and the tank is not really well light. I have been grinding up some flake food right now, I saw maybe 1 or 2 come out to check things out last night, not sure if they ate anything or not. They seem to be different colors, some are darker than others, its very cool to see just how small they are.

How fast do they grow into a reasonable size?

How long should I give the mother before I toss her back in the other tank? I know its good to give them a rest and build back up some strength from not eating and all. Is it just a couple days, or is it like a month?

 

[Frostyone]

It'd be pretty obvious if they still had their yolk sacks, it'll be a yellow ball about 2/3 the size of the fry attached to the bottom of the rear of the fish. I'd give the mother at least a week or two to get back in shape before returning to your main tank.

They don't grow real fast, I'd expect them to be about 1/2" within a month. After that the growth rate seems to increase a little bit, especially once they start eating more.


Edit, after some more research, big water changes will help the growth too, 70-80% a week