Cichlids have very diverse types of breeding and hatching methods that vary from species to species. Yet, one common thread among all cichlids is their amazing parental care. In some instances, the mother, either alone or with the father, will fervently guard over their young as they grow from the fry stage to young adulthood. If the aquarium is properly stocked and adequate in size, the vast majority of fry will survive.
Some species of cichlids, such as the South/Central American apistogramma or Discus fish, work as a team and lay their eggs on the substrate or on other surfaces (cave wall, rock-face, etc). If the tank is large enough, it may be possible to leave your pair in the main tank. However, many cichlid keepers will suggest that you have the pair alone in their own breeding tank. Depending on the species, most substrate spawning pairs can be expected to care for their brood for quite some time, or at least, until their next spawning cycle.
In some instances though, such as in the case of the mouth brooding mbuna, competition is fierce. Eating the fry of their own species, or even eating their own fry, will almost always occur in captivity if the fry are left unattended to. Therefore, often the female is "stripped" of her eggs, or is placed in a quarantine tank until she decides to spit her young out. When this occurs, the female may be removed and placed back into the main tank, or left in to tend to her young. This of course depends on the species of cichild.
Timing is also crucial when considering striping a female of her eggs. If done too early, and a hobbyists isn't prepared, the eggs could quickly develop a fungus and die. To combat this, some products that have recently hit the market mimic the constant egg shifting that the mother performs with her mouth while brooding them. The product does this by placing the eggs in a small unit whereby they are kept in a state of constant movement either by water stream or air. This constant aeration will ensure that the eggs don't develop necroses and develop bacterial infections.
Quarantine Tanks
In most cases, it's a good idea to move the female quickly to a hospital or quartine tank so that she isn't harassed by her tank mates. It is best to use water from the main aquarium to fill this one, in order to reduce the amount of shock to the fish when adjusting to their new environment. Make sure its easy to clean and clear out. A simple, substrateless, minimally decorated tank is recommended. Depending on how small the fry of the specific species your keeping is, you may want to stick to sponge filtration methods, simply because you don't want any filtration accidents (Ever see Finding Nemo?), or if available in your area, find a sponge prefilter to fit onto your filter intake tube.
The quarantine/breeding tank can be anywhere from 5-15 gallons, again, depending on the size of the species. Lighting is not an issue for the most part, though you may want to have a cover of some time simply to reduce the amount of evaporation. Make sure to clean it weekly. Some keepers perform small siphons every three days. This will depend on how many fry inhabit the tank, the size of the tank, and weather you tend to overfeed or not.
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| Growout tanks should have sufficient decor to provide shelter and reduce aggression. |
Some keepers leave their fry in the quarantine tank to raise their fish to adulthood. This growout tank is usually equipped and decorated to a greater extent since it's view as a more permanent setup rather then a temporary one. Filtration for a growout tank should be much heartier then a fry tank since the fish waste will increase as they grow, and the tank will obviously be overcrowded. Hiding spaces will be needed for the more rambunctious species of fish. So make sure you have rocks, caves, or in some cases, plants.
Stripping Mouthbrooders
Mouthbrooding species of cichlids may involve a much more "hands-on" approach when caring for their fry. As mentioned previously, a holding mother (a term used to describe a mother brooding eggs in her bucal pouch) may need to be moved into a quarantine tank in order to protect her from harassment. However, she too can prove to be a danger to her fry after after the incubation period. That's why many choose to strip a female of her eggs. This though must be calculated carefully to coincide with free-swimming stage of the egg's life, unless a keeper is prepared and has access to an "egg tumbling" device to continue the incubation period.
The free-swimming stage usually occurs 21-30 days after a female spawns. Since spawning is very difficult to observe (cichlids like their privacy), that means a keeper needs to keep a careful eye on his fish stock and make note when he/she notices a female with a bulging throat. I find it helpful to mark it on a calender when I first noticed her, and mark when I believe the eggs will reach the free-swimming stage.
Things get complex though, when you have more then one female ready to spawn. Some keepers respond by removing all holding females to a quarantine tank (depending on size of fish and tank), while other keepers concentrate on raising only one spawn at a time, and allow "nature" to take its course with the other spawn. As harsh as that sounds, surprisingly, some keepers have found that some fry do survive in larger and more heavily decorated tanks. In reality, that is how survival of the fittest works in nature; only a small percentage of the fry survive to adulthood in the wild.
Now, stripping a female of her eggs can either be an amazing experience that allows you to be one with nature, or the slimiest, dirtiest thing you've ever done; it all depends how squeamish you are. Stripping eggs from a female can be tricky, especially with the smaller species of cichlids. If stripping a larger species, a finger could be used to open the mouth of the holding female, but with smaller cichlids, a pen or pencil may be needed to gently open her mouth. Be careful because it is possible to cause permanent damage if one is careless.
When handling the fish, make sure your hands are already wet, so that your dry hands don't remove too much of the protective slime coat. Make sure your grip is firm, but gentle when holding her. Place her over the desired destination of the fry (container, breeder box, growout tank, net, etc), gently open her mouth and tip her facing downwards. In order to encourage the fry to swim or roll out, gently plunge the mothers head in and out of the water. The fry should come out on their own. The amount of fry will vary from species to species, and some fry will be less developed.
Feeding
This topic was discussed to a certain extent in the "Feeding" section of this site, however, since the nutrition the fry receive at the early stages of life are so important, we'll discuss a little further here. Once you have the fry, depending on how early or late you stripped the eggs, the fry will most likely still have a yoke sack attached to their bellies. This sack will provide them enough food until it disappears, however, it is a good idea to slowly begin to introduce to them the food on which they will be raised for the first few weeks.
The staple fry food for decades has been baby brine shrimp (BBS) grown out of a hatchery. Hatchery boxes can be found in almost all local fish stores, and even in some pet stores. The process isn't really that difficult, as much as it is smelly, messy, and time consuming. Some keepers though, insist that the nutrition that the fry receive from these invertebrates the first week or two is crucial to healthy development.
As of late however, there have been some advances in the technology used to produce fry foods. Many powdered and liquid foods have improved dramatically, and many keepers have successfully raised dozens of fry these foods. In the end though, much like many of these debates, it comes down to your own personal research and what you feel works best for your situation.
