Texas Cichlids Had Babies :)

[cichlid_fantasia]

Hey everyone!
I'm new to this. Wanted to say hello first. Hi!

Ok so I have a 100 gallon tank with about 5 generations of beautiful Texas Cichlids. The tank was given to me about a month ago by one of my professors who knew I liked fish, and that I'd had several tanks in the past (I had taken one of his classes a few years back, where we did kind psychological experiments on fish... no extermination and no harm).

The tank is beautiful and the fish are amazing. I've been noticing spawning behaviour over the past few weeks and this morning there were about 30 tiny little baby cichlids in the tank. They seem well protected... both parents are swimming very close and chasing off any intruders.... and the family is staying in and around their nest. My professor has indicated to me that Texas Cichlids (and to my understanding, cichlids in general) tend to be very good parents. They have lots of hiding places in the tank, and I don't think I'll have to separate them. Does anyone have an opinion? Any helpful hints?

Thanks.

 

[yvez9]

Cichlids are usually good parents, sometimes even becoming agressive while protecting them.

I must ask though, do you have food available for the tiny ones like microworms or infusoria?

if you have some sort of live vegetation, infusoria will live in the tank and the fry will feed of them most likely until they are big enough for crushed flake foods or baby brine shrimp!

have a look in the species index and google for breeding texas'

good job there mate

forgot to mention, cichlids are sometimes terrible parents and eat their fry for various reasons, especially the first few times they have babies. so don't knock yourself if the babies disappear, it's somewhat normal behavior. they should breed again though!

 

[Joller]

so how many fish are in the tank? are they all texas?