Surprise Babies...help!

[spartagus]

So I guess I'm a negligent fish mother because I didn't realize what was going on in front of my very eyes!
I was sold an odd combo of cichlids, they fought and fought but finally they have something figured out. I've had the tank for about 6 or 7 months and there seems to be order and peace now. The other day I did a massive overhaul(I have about 7 fish in a 55 galleon, tons of hides) and pulled out a lot of the over-grown plant that was taking over. The next day I noticed a few little fish swimming around. I thought they must have been guppies that were hiding (the plant came with a few guppies that I figured were long gone) however this morning I see that they are baby cichlids! They were breeding without me knowing! I didn't even think I had two of the same breed in there, go figure..WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE??
so, ah....what do I do? do they need special food? care? temperature? There are TONS of hides in there, and no way I can get them out of there. I don't know how many there are. I see two or three so far but who knows? Will they get eaten? I wasn't trying to breed! I guess I must be doing something right then...hah?

Possibly the mama?

other candidate for mother?

almost 100% sure he's the father, he's the dominant fish, and they have the same stripe pattern

one of the tots

 

[Fish Guy]

Hard ot say who could be the parents, but by looking at those pics, the second one looks like a female to me. In most cichlid speices females tend to be a bit less colorful. Also many african cichlids have been known to crossbreed so you may not have two of the same species. But I'm sure someone else can give you certain examples. By the fry pic they seem to be doing ok, I wouldn't change a thing really. I have bred africans in the past in community tanks with over 40 africans in it and I have had a good fry survival rate. In terms of food you could use some frozen Daphina or baby brine shrimp ( i know you can get the frozen stuff here ). Adult brine shrimp and blood worms would be fine to depending on the actual size of the fry. Other then that I wouldn't do much more.