# Mozambique mouthbrooders don't eat their fry??



## the_evil_dickfeldi (Feb 17, 2006)

Hello, I currently work at a public aquarium part time  Not much freshwater fish, but the fact I can work at such a place is...well :lol:

Anyway, one of the tanks houses a spectacled caiman, who usually sleeps out of the water. The water part of the tank is estimated to be about 300 or so gallons, and houses 7 red-eared sliders and 8 Oreochromis mossambicus, 4 M 4 F. The fish are in great color and build, and the two dominant males each have their own massive spawning pits and spend their time trying to entice females, push turtles out, or just chasing the other fish 

O. mossambicus being themselves, the males are always courting, and on the last count there were two females holding. And looking at the enclosure one day, I saw a few small fry(visible due to their shadow refelcted in the male's pit) swimming around. I thought,"Oh well, they're gonna disappear soon..."

But they didn't! Now there are around 50 fry swimming freely around the enclosure, with the foot-long adults and nearly-as-big turtles! And the turtles and adults don't pay them any attention! The diminant males pushes all others out of his pit, but the fry swim around, and he doesn't even look at them!

When I saw them, I thought it was amazing! I thought they were a very invasive species, and noted for their ability to eat almost anything! But here, they don't harm their fry, when like 12 could fit in a single gulp.

Just my experiences :wink: Or are fish in large setups less inclined to eat much smaller(Bite-sized) fish?


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

The fact that they eat everything except their own fry is what makes them such an invasive species. The fact is that most fish, if well fed, will not eat their own species; it's usually other species that are the culprits. There are exceptions, but cichlids in particular, probably due to their reproductive methods, are very unlikely to eat their own young _given adequate food and space_. Many of these fish provide much more extended care in the wild than in a home aquarium. A large public aquarium is closer to their natural environment.


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## the_evil_dickfeldi (Feb 17, 2006)

Wow I didn't know that!! I though fish were really canabalistic, from personal experience(Mbuna fry killing their younger siblings) an from fact sheets, such s though great white shark and pike!

Yes, and since they don't eat their own fry....they _are_ dangerous!!


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