Jewels laid their first eggs

[Elisabeth83]

I posted in another thread in African cichlids yesterday how my female jewel cichlid was really fat and that I was sure she was full of eggs but I didnt know for how long she would be like that. Well......I guess not for too long because I woke up this morning to a skinny girl and about 100+ eggs laid on top of a clay pot I've got in there

I was searching around the tank after I saw she was thinner and I saw like sand color over one of the pots and I thought to myself "thats odd how did sand get up there ") then I took a closer look and a huge grin came over my face Eggs!!!!

I've got a pair so I'm sure they should be fertile?? I've only had these guys for about 2 weeks now.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Here's a pic of the eggs and you can see moms head on the left side

 

[Sky042]

wow I'm happy for you.
I'm also surprised they've mated after being in your tank for only 2 weeks...them some horny fish.

 

[dwarfgourami]

ooh, congratulations!

 

[Elisabeth83]

wow I'm happy for you.
I'm also surprised they've mated after being in your tank for only 2 weeks...them some horny fish.

Well I bought 4 from my LFS with hopes of getting a pair within a month or two but as soon as I put them in my tank they were swimming with eachother chasing the other 2 away. I returned the other 2 last week before they got hurt. I actually thought they might of been a pair when I saw them in the shop because they were hanging out with eachother there as well.

Maybe I'm just lucky because I hear it's hard to get a compatible pair of jewels

 

[Elisabeth83]

Mom and Dad are doing a great job. They both keep taking turns guarding the eggs as well as fanning them. I'm really excited..I've never kept egg laying fish before so this is all new to me

I've got a batch of baby brine shrimp going so if the eggs hatch in a couple of days I've got something live and small to feed them

 

[tttnjfttt]

Congratulations!!!! B)

 

[Polardbear]

Cool! Your back in the "fry raising" game! (Chuckles to self...) Hope these guys are less work than swordies. Do Mom and Dad take care of them and stay a happy family or does one of the parents drive the other one off?

Congrats and post more pictures!

 

[Elisabeth83]

Well that was short lived. I guess they decided to eat the eggs Were they infertile?? Mom and dad just not experienced enough?? scared so they ate them??

Maybe all 3?

Polardbear - Mom and dad are supposed to take care of them together but usually it takes a few tries before they get things right. Next time if the eggs do hatch I'll probably net most out and feed them to my bettas. I'll let the parents take care of maybe 10-20. I think your supposed to remove the fry after a month.

Oh well now they have 1 time under their belt..maybe next time it will be more of a sucess

 

[glolite]

Oh bad luck!!! If it makes you feel any better my dwarf peacocks ate their first batch too. Silly female mouthbrooded for 3 weeks, didn't eat of course so got really skinny, then went and ate them. Guess she just got too hungry.
Maybe next time?