having babies

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skippy2

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My son's african cichlid and his texas flowerhorn just had babies. He told me he came home to 100s of eggs in the tank. 1 of these fish killed a jack dempsey because he got to close to the eggs. Tonite he called and said there are fry swimming in the tank. My question is, is this even possible for 2 different speceis to mate? And what do you think the chances are of the fry to reach maturity?
I have 2 saltwater tanks but that doesn't nesecarily mean I know what I am doing.:D
 

valerie

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Are you trying to say that his african cichlid and his flowerhorn mated and produced fry?

Are these the only 2 fish in the tank? What sort of african cichlid is it?

I know africans cross breed quite easily amonst themselves but i have never heard of them breeding with somethign else.

I"m having a hard time thinking that an african(most get 4-6") spanwed with a flowerhorn.

A little mroe info would help.
 
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mome rath

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Originally posted by meangene714
Isn't a flower horn nothing more than a hybridized cichlid? If so, this wouldn't be too far fetched.

Not likely. A number of factors make this extremely far-fetched. Most notably, the geographical distance that would separate these fish in the wild (assuming we decide that the flowerhorn is of western "origin").

The phylogenetic distance separating these two fish (again, making an assumption that the "african cichlid" is a rift-lake cichlid) is also of a magnitude that interbreeding between the two is very, very unlikely. That's like mating a gorilla with a human and producing something in between.
 

meangene714

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Hi mome, do you mean it's not likely that a flower horn is a hybridized cichlid, or that it's not likely that a flower horn would mate with an african cichlid?
 

peifc

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Well, I don't know much about African cichilds, but aren't most African cichlid mouthbrooders?

As for FH, if it is western origin, uhmm...I do believe they lay and fertilize eggs on flat surface. How the heck these 2 species breed successfully? I will need to ask a few people in another forum who is more into FH to find out are there many FH with African and American heritage.
 

skippy2

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I talked to my son this morning. Maybe I had the names wrong last nite. I am totaly out of my element here. He says it is a Texas cichlid (jack dempsey) and a flowerhorn cichlid. He got bit last nite when he seperated the fry from the other fish that are in there.
You got a question about saltwater fish and I could answer to the best of my ability but I am totaly lost about freshwater. He has been doing his fw tanks for years and this is the first time there are any fry involved. I know for babies the water must be of pristine quality so he must be doing something right:D
 

yonderway

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I smell a troll.

Flowerhorn, Jack Dempseys and Texas Cichlids are all different species. Texas Cichlids and Jack Dempseys are from different continents.

African cichlids are too distantly related to have any hope of producing live young. It would even be a stretch to think that a male of a new world guapote would even try to fertilize the eggs of an african mbuna.

Anyone who believes this fantastic story is being taken for a ride.
 

ChiefXP

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isnt the breeding of jack dempsies extremely hard?
 
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