My Cichlids Just Had Babies!

[ElectricY]

It's been 7 months since I bought my red zebras and yellow labs when they were about 1". My situation now is that the little guys have had babies and I did not notice this until my little brother pointed it out. The babies do look like red zebras, but aside from that I can only find 3 that are hiding in little crevices. As of right now my fish look safe so is it a good idea to move them anytime soon? I also think that the babies may be hybrids because I have a yellow lab that may be holding. Not sure though because it usually eats so much that it can swallow it's food. So what should I do with the babies? I may move them and the holding lab to a 10 gal. Please offer advice thanks!

 

[dthoffsett]

Well, you need to decide if you want to keep the babies or leave them in the tank and see if they survive. Since you have L.caeruleus & M.estherae in the same tank, I highly recommend you not sell or give them away as those species are notorious for producing hybrids. If you want to raise and keep them in your own tanks, I say go for it.

Fry can be kept in the 10gal until they are big enough not to be eating (around 1" to 1 1/2"), they can be fed the same food as the adults, just crushed for their little mouths. You can also feed them baby brine shrimp which they will love you for.