# How to save cichlid fry in main tank?



## MahaB

Running a 36' 50 gallon tank for around 10 months and recently giving away all my peacocks after the post response from DJR.

Now i've 5 yellow labs and 5 socolofi.

My yellow labs were holding twice. 
First time, i stripped after 4 weeks of holding. As i don't have any other tank, put those fries in a breeder box inside the main tank itself. All the fries are disappeared(eaten by others) within an hour. I couldn't save a single fry.
Next time, i left the holding female without stripping in the tank itself by thinking that it can save the fry from other cichlids. Filled my tanks with full of rocks, but nothing was survived.

I read somewhere, tank bred cichlids do not have protective instinct. My greediness is to raise and see the entire life span of a fry atleast. 
How to save and raise a fry in the main tank??


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## DJRansome

This is not a realistic expectation. The mother will eat the fry herself after a couple of days. If you want to save fry you will need a separate tank.

You can increase the likelihood of getting a rare survivor by making a pile of small pebbles for them to hide in. Make sure there are no catfish in the tank.


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## MahaB

Thanks for your response. 
Re-creating nature is nearly impossible.

Bigger tank is not possible, so i can reduce my stock to single species tank and give a try with our suggestions.

Can i add some more yellow labs.?


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## iluvmud

I've been leaving my holding labs in my main tank and letting the fty fend for themselves, they usually find a hiding spot, well at least one or two out of the lot will. My female just spit out another batch and I see a few hanging out under my sponge filter or any other crevice they can find. At around .25" they'll start peeling out in the open.... at least that's been my experience.


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## PfunMo

In the past, I have bred and sold yellow labs but now the market in my area is pretty well flooded so I no longer try to save fry form them. However several do survive out of each group. If you have easy access to the right type rocks, I would suggest rearranging some. 
I find the best hiding for tiny fry is not simply lots of rocks but the "correct" type of hiding. Looking at how fish eat may help. They can simply chase and catch but at the same time, they often are sucking water into their mouth. So giving the fry spaces where they can get far enough in to not be sucked out, seems to help. 
A good way to provide this deep cover is flat rocks. Not so flat that they stack tight but those which leave space between them. Limestone is my handy local rock. 
This is my 125 gallon which is gradually being overrun with yellow labs which still survive.
In one corner, there is a pile of rocks for cover. The lab fry are able to squeeze in between the layers of rock and can't be sucked out! About a 1/8 inch gap is plenty.


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## DJRansome

Stocking a single species does not increase the chances of adults not eating fry. Hiding places impossible for adults to get into might allow a couple of survivors as suggested.


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## nodima

I had lots of issues with the net style breeder boxes sitting inside a tank. Could not figure out how all the fry were being lost. Eventually caught on to the big fish simply sucking the fry through the netting. Better solution which I got from a Tropheus breeder was to use a rubbermaid style food storage container where small holes were drilled around the sides, but only on the top 1/2 of the sides. So that the bottom half of the sides were solid. Then float this inside the tank. My fry survival rates increased significantly over the net style using this. Now when I want to save fry, I've gone to a grow out tank.

While they are not the same, my tropheus colony has grown from ~23 individuals to about 50 without ever removing or stripping a holding female. The tank is chock full of rocks, with many small crevices between them which are often occupied by fry. The adults cannot get into them. This is also despite the ~9 Synodontis Lucipinnis cats in there.

It can be done.


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## MahaB

My breeder box is BOYU FH-101 with vertical cuts in both the sides. Big fishes would have sucked using those gaps.

My 50 gallon tank is already loaded with around 70 pounds of riverstone and it is seated in a metal stand. Now I'm worrying, whether the stand can hold some more weight or not?. I can pile up more rocks and small pebbles, if the stand is capable of holding 800 pounds.


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## MahaB

Everyone is hiding in the backside of rocks, coz i switched on the lights to take a snap.

Can i add some more rocks in the tank??


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## Lildragoness

I would suggest more rocks, the stacked ones as previously stated. I had a plastic breeder plant in my main tank, had a holding female spit in my maternity tank, but still had one in her mouth, and it was obvious, no mistaking. Fear of her eating the others caused me to move her back to the 75 with the one in her mouth, basically a free meal for her or another fish. Well a month later I found him while feeding the big guys, he poked his head out for food. The plastic breeder plant did him some good. I would suggest one of those stacked in with some rocks, and I did have catfish in there at the time.


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## PfunMo

Two points to keep in mind on rocks. One is that adding rock will not increase the total as much as expected as the rock is only a bit more dense than the water is displaces. Some, yes, but not a huge amount? 
Second suggestion might be to switch out some of the rocks for flat rocks to go with the rounded so that more variety in open spaces is created. You have a nice pile that I might call a "jumble" and that is good. Far better than the unnatural stack that we often see but then flat rocks will lie closer along the other rock to give those tiny spaces far better than the rounded. It is those tiny cracks that only the fry can get into that will help them survive. 
They can do it but they do better with a bit of help?


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## MahaB

I have stones, pebbles in stocks and ready to stack in my tank.
It is a 10mm thick glass tank and seating in two layer of 3/4 inch styrofoam above the metal stand.

My worries are whether the tank can hold the additional load or not


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## MahaB

One of my yellow lab is holding now. i'm gonna dump more rocks as per the recommendation.
Let see how things are going to be :thumb:


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## MahaB

I stopped trying to strip or separate the mother completely. Both Yellow lab, socolofi was holding and spitted in the tank itself. Now i can see some fries hiding in the rocks. Sometimes coming while feeding the adult cichlids.

Feeling happy, bcoz i'm getting some stronger fries which survives from chasing adults and growing without any pampering.

Thanq moderators.


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## joselepiu

congrats...

:fish: :thumb: :dancing: =D> :fish:


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