Paratilapia Polleni

[FishRfine]

4 those of u that dont know, this fish, also known as the black diamond cichlid, is critacly endangered. I have 2 tanks of them. THEY ARE BREEDING! But don't get too excited. This happens a lot. NO BABY HAS SURVIVED. AFTER 3 DAYS THEY LITERALLY DISAPPEAR. Thought u might have some ideas on how to help.

 

[Ferris]

Are there any other fish in the breeding tanks?

If not i'm guessing the parents are eating the fry - is that's the case, transfer the fry to a breeding net or another tank as soon as you can when they have the next batch. Cichlids eating their fry during the 1st couple of spawns is not uncommon, if you/they persevere - i'm sure you'll get a good healthy batch.

 

[FishRfine]

nope, its probally a comb of lots of things but im sure there is no cannibalism. Anyway, I guarentee you I wont get a batch to live,only one person has ever gotten a single batch to live, and that was only one survivor, after 20 years.

 

[adambrum]

given the right conditions i thought some would survive ?

Are you aware of how the parents and other fish in the tank will behave with fry around, most of the species kept in this forum would eat the fry within minutes.

I can imagine how frustrating it must be, i have some rare lake Victorian cichlids that will not breed yet i have wild caught fish breeding all around them.

Good luck with it

 

[Ferris]

I guarentee you I wont get a batch to live

Don't be so negative - think positive and you never know.........

 

[denis coghlan]

Here is an in-depth article about raising them! The author really goes into detail about what needs to be done and how to look after them. But unfortunately they don't mention the stage just before and after hatching!
link

My recommendations would be to remove the eggs once they have been laid and fertilised. Use a very fine net so as not to damage them. If the eggs are laid onto an removable feature in the tank even better. Remove the whole thing and place it in another tank. Due to the fact that the parents wont be in the tank to tend the eggs (remove/eat unfertilised eggs) you will have to add some sort of anti fungal treatment such as myth blue to stop the spread of fungus on the eggs.

For filtration I would only use air powered sponge filters as using a motor driven filter could also lead to high mortality (this is what might have happened to your previous batches). Once the fry are hatched you are going to have to spend some money and time on making adequate foods (see article above for details). The fry are apparently tiny so the food size is going to have to match.

Hope this info is some help!

Good luck with the breeding and make sure to keep us informed of future events.

Regards