HELP - Krib eggs - can I move them?

[Ricochet]

I'm trying to replant my 90g, which has my kribs that have layed eggs. Unfortunately, today is the only day for a while where I'll have the opportunity to do it (plus I have my plants sitting in a bag).

Has anyone moved Kribs and their eggs?

I have a spare 10g tank that I can move them to, but ufortunately they layed eggs on a large piece of driftwood that won't fit in the 10g. I was thinking of sweeping the eggs in a cup with some water, and transferring them that way.

My biggest worry is that with the new surroundings, the parents might eat the eggs or ignore them altogether. I've heard that when stressed, cichlids eat their eggs/young.

I was also thinking of keeping the eggs in the original water, then after I'm done setting up the flourite and plants and refilling the tank (probably in about 5 hours), I can return the eggs close to their original location and put the kribs and other fish back in.

Any suggestions or past experience?

[firetank]

hiya;

ive found if you disturb the eggs\laying area then they dissaper very quickly..

be positive; at least if you do lose this spawn, you have a very good chance of further attempts....

hth.
:)

[Ricochet]

thanks for the info.

Will the eggs survive and hatch on their own if I remove them from the parents?

[firetank]

the parents do a lot of unseen work; fanning the eggs to keep them aerated and so on....

if you can locate an airstone\liberal water flow nearby to the eggs, and with the addition of a little methylene blue to prevent fungus; its not impossible...

you'd need to make sure there were literally no other tankmates and that you had a suitable food source available too..liquifry\brineshrimp\cyclops(?)

[Tim Bo]

You can rear the fry without the parents though their chances are much better when they are with their parents IMHE. Make sure the eggs are not subjected to the air - I have taken the entire cave or wood piece, scooped it into a large container that can sourround the entire piece in water and moved it into water that pretty much had the same pH and Kh values with success. Too bad you didn't but the plants later..!