Last night I noticed my female Cockatoo cichlid was overly protective of her favorite spot, A flower pot I put in the corner of my 20 g tank. When I looked inside I realized she was guarding eggs inside and at the top of the "cave". Not being adequately prepared for such a scenario, I hoped for the best until today when I planned get something to separate the eggs from the rest of the community. When I came home from work today the eggs were gone. There were plenty of culprits as to how they disapeared. My question is do I have to keep the female cichlid away from the eggs as well. It looked like she might have enjoyed some as well. Any suggestions?
Cockatoo Cichlid question.
- Thread starter bigo44
- Start date
Cichlids are notorius for eating there first spawns (or more). Its quite possible the parents ate the eggs. If a fish feels threatened, they will eat their own eggs - it makes sense, in the fish world. If there are other fish that i, as a fish, cannot defend against, and think will definately be able to eat my eggs, better to have the nourishment myself and be healthier for the next spawning, hopefully in safer conditions.
Well, just to play the devil's advocate, do you have a male in there with her? They do pair up and both parents protect the eggs and fry. If you only have a female, you won't have fry.
Make sure the cave has a hole just big enough for the female to squeeze in. This will make it easier to defend. Eggs should appear some shade of red/pink if they are fertile. They take about two days to hatch, at which point they drop to the substrate and remain "wigglers" for about five-seven days.(They might have been there and you just didn't notice them) Do not remove the eggs. The female is capable of defending the young just fine. It may take her a few tries to get it right, but I have found that cacatuoides seem to learn very fast (usually by the second or third spawning). If the eggs are gone, don't worry she will spawn again in about three-five weeks. Feed her a variety of frozen and dry food. Use the next few weeks to practice hatching live baby brine shrimp (a google search should produce numerous sites on how to do this).
What else do you have in the tank? If you really want to raise some babies consider getting the cacs thier own 10g or removing some of the more obvious fry predators.
What else do you have in the tank? If you really want to raise some babies consider getting the cacs thier own 10g or removing some of the more obvious fry predators.
NatakuTseng- yes there is a male in there. He pretty much left her alone to fend for herself and the eggs.
Mooman- I have 9 tetras 4 hatchets 3 cories the male and another female cuckatoo. the female has totally vacated the cave. the eggs appeared white, maybe light pink. Perhaps they weren't fertile. So baby brine shrimp is the way way to go to feed the young?
yofishboy- Yeah I suspect the female did eat them. She was picking at them a lot for sure.
Thanks for the info.
Mooman- I have 9 tetras 4 hatchets 3 cories the male and another female cuckatoo. the female has totally vacated the cave. the eggs appeared white, maybe light pink. Perhaps they weren't fertile. So baby brine shrimp is the way way to go to feed the young?
yofishboy- Yeah I suspect the female did eat them. She was picking at them a lot for sure.
Thanks for the info.
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My guess is that the tetras ate the fry when they became free-swimming or she brought out the wrigglers. Cories and tetras don't make good tankmates in a breeding tank, they're notorious fry eaters, especially tetras, cories more go for the wrigglers.
If you want dither fish then pencilfish are a better choice.
bigo44 : When the female is picking at the eggs or fry she is cleaning them , not eating them. Apistos are excellent parents and I've not heard many instances where the female or male eats the eggs. It usually happens after the eggs hatch and other tankmates are the culprits behind the disappearance of fry.
If you want dither fish then pencilfish are a better choice.
bigo44 : When the female is picking at the eggs or fry she is cleaning them , not eating them. Apistos are excellent parents and I've not heard many instances where the female or male eats the eggs. It usually happens after the eggs hatch and other tankmates are the culprits behind the disappearance of fry.
CD, usually the first couple spawnings the parents won't get things right and end up eating the eggs or fry, even Discus who are excellent parents for the most part don't always get it right the first time, some pairs take 10 spawnings to figure it out.
NatakuTseng said:
I've been breeding apistos for years and have never experienced this, they're not like angels or discus, for the most part even the tank bred specimen are left with the parents until they're free swimming. I've had the dad eat fry, but it's never been an issue of the female eating eggs or fry.
cdawson said:
Thanks for the insight. I will consider getting a 10g. tank to serve as a breeding tank. The 20 g tank is basically a commuity tank. I might get a tank divider in the meantime if she does spawn again before i get the new tank up and running. It was neat to see while it lasted.