They ate 200 of their own fry!
- Thread starter Kayzee
- Start date
If this was their first batch its not surprising. Some cichlid parents will get better with time. Next time if you are concerned about this happening again siphon a few out but have a seeded sponge filter ready. Also the parents will move them in different areas in the aquarium.
Hello; While I do not have direct experience with rainbow cichlids. I have had spawns from several different species. A few species are known to be parents safe to be left with their fry. Kirbensis (sp?) are an example.
However many do eat their own eggs and fry. Zebra dainoes (sp?) are an example. When I raised zebras a special trap had to be used to keep the adults away from the eggs and the adults have to be removed to keep them from eating the fry.
Even with species known to care for eggs and fry I have heard of this sort of thing. If this was the first spawn of the parents they may do better another time.
Have you looked up the spawning requirements for the species?
However many do eat their own eggs and fry. Zebra dainoes (sp?) are an example. When I raised zebras a special trap had to be used to keep the adults away from the eggs and the adults have to be removed to keep them from eating the fry.
Even with species known to care for eggs and fry I have heard of this sort of thing. If this was the first spawn of the parents they may do better another time.
Have you looked up the spawning requirements for the species?
Thanks for the info,yes this was their first spawn, I knew i should of siphoned most of them out when I had a chance but they were really fragile at day 4 even still. From what i heard and read Rainbow Cichlids are good parents and they were trying their best but the swarm started getting a bit out of control for them to handle it felt like. Still so shocking they would eat so many babies.
Was this the first spawn? I think it's pretty common for cichlid males to eat the fry from the first couple of spawns. I had a JD pair spawn Oct 19th, the fry were eaten and the fish have already spawned again. The eggs should hatch within the next 24hrs. You may be surprised how quickly you have fry again.
Some cichlids are egg/fry eaters. It's often down to the personality of the fish. They could do it because they're inexperienced, or because they're scared/stressed, or because the desire to spawn again causes them to eliminate the previous fry. Sometimes they get it right after a few tries, sometimes they become habitual spawn-eaters. Sometimes pairs get into a disagreement with one trying to eat the fry and the other trying to protect the fry, and you end up with one parent mauling/killing the other.
I would not worry about them eating their fry the first time. I know it is hard to wait, but you will have another spawn soon if everything is too the pairs liking. I always chalk the first spawn up as a trial run.
One thing to make sure of is that you don't have the temperature of the tank above 80 after the fish spawn. The warmer waters will trigger the fish to spawn sooner. Once they are ready to spawn again, they eat the current batch of fry. A. multispinossa (Rainbow cichlid) have been known to be able to spawn in 10-14 days after their last spawn!
Rainbows are good parents in that they try, but they do not have as much control over their fry as say Cryptoheros. In the wild, they spawn where there are not many fry predators present. So what you have observed (a big uncoordinated cloud of fry) is the norm for A. multispinossa.
Finally, I would be tempted to add another pair. The drama that unfolds with a group of rainbows is so fun to watch. There is an awesome article written by Paul V Loiselle that details some of the behaviors if you are interested.
Sorry for the long post, I love this species.
One thing to make sure of is that you don't have the temperature of the tank above 80 after the fish spawn. The warmer waters will trigger the fish to spawn sooner. Once they are ready to spawn again, they eat the current batch of fry. A. multispinossa (Rainbow cichlid) have been known to be able to spawn in 10-14 days after their last spawn!
Rainbows are good parents in that they try, but they do not have as much control over their fry as say Cryptoheros. In the wild, they spawn where there are not many fry predators present. So what you have observed (a big uncoordinated cloud of fry) is the norm for A. multispinossa.
Finally, I would be tempted to add another pair. The drama that unfolds with a group of rainbows is so fun to watch. There is an awesome article written by Paul V Loiselle that details some of the behaviors if you are interested.
Sorry for the long post, I love this species.