# female holding eggs for the first time.. please help!!!



## blueairy

so my problem is this: i have a what *** learned over the net to be a sunset peacock, wich is i guess some kind of hybrid cichlid,, took me forever to identify it, always thought it was a female but never was sure about it untill today when i fould her holding eggs in her mouth! ohh the exitment i felt was unbelieveable! But then it dawned on me that i dont know the sex of my other cichlids since when i bout them it just said "mixed " now i have a yellow lab that has been playing around with Peachy,( thats her name) but never quite doing the T dance..anyhow my question i guess is can a female hold unfertilized eggs in her mouth or does she only picks them up when they have been fertilized? im kinda confused cause *** heard both theories and i dont want to get my hopes up.. i kinda wanna run to the store and buy a male sunset if i could only make sure that he will fertilize the eggs for poor peachy.. and if they arent fertilized would she just spit them out? how long can she hold them in waiting for sperm?? i know im asking a lot.. like i said this is my first time in this situation and i dont know what tho do.. not that i can do much anyways...
thanks for readyng.
:fish: 
20 gal tank
all water levels are normal


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## DJRansome

The female can lay eggs and pick them up herself without them being fertilized. If that happens she will spit them out or swallow them in about a week.

Once she is holding the eggs, they are either fertilized or they aren't...unless you see the pair of fish still spawning. Buying a male after the fact won't work.

The male fertilizes the eggs as they are laid and picked up. They swim in a circle and she deposits an egg. They swim in another circle, she tries to pick up the egg spots on his anal fin, picking up milt as she does this. Another circle, another egg. Another circle, more milt.

Fry are very exciting. Bummer to find out they are hybrids. So...this time maybe she will be holding unfertilized eggs, and next time maybe you want to fix the stocking of your tank so you can raise the babies!

You probably need a bigger tank for a lab and a peacock. :thumb:


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## blueairy

wow thank you so much for your prompt and honest response.. i will keep a close eye on my poor baby and we'lll see.. i guess in about a week..


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## marvo

first i would ID the other fish. all the above is true unless you have another peacock then the fun begins..IMHO i would do this soon as if you do get live fry the lab will make quick meals out of them. she may hold 20 days what is the worst that can happen if you move her. peacocks obvously have no genius respect or there wouldnt be so many different sub species. who knows how it all started..


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## crisquet

good to know I have a young adult OB female holding but the proplem is that i beleive me dragon blood males are still to young they are just coloring up and i never seen my sunshine adult male messing with any of the females yet as a matter of fact I never even seen him chasing any of them


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## DJRansome

All peacocks can crossbreed...this is why it is recommended if you have females in the tank...stick to one peacock species per tank.


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## crisquet

It turn out that I was not paying attention! now I have 3 females holding, 2 dragon bloods and the 1 OB, they are all 1st timers. I did catch the sunshine messing with them I won't separate the dragon females so if any of the fry survives they deserve to live and will keep the males for show if they are pretty, I have other plans for those females. still waiting for the dragon Bloods to mature a little more.


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