# URGENT! Will my mbuna fry get eaten?



## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

I have a tank with maingano, albino socolofi, yellow tail acei, yellow lab, taiwan reef and they are all 2.5-3", I read they are all herbivores, will they eat my demasoni fry? The fry are about 1/4"-1/2". Any danger of being eaten? I have tons of rocks and caves but I doubt the fry can swim faster than fish that many times bigger, will these fry survive?


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

yeah, I'm afraid the "herbivores" will not miss an opportunity to snack on some small fry.


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## esparzar1 (Jun 14, 2009)

If you have lots of rocks and hiding places, you might have a few fry survive...but In most cases they will get eaten. If they can last a few days in the tank, chances are they might survive however, they probably won't get the proper nutrition needed for optimal growth. If you're really planning on saving the fry, it would be best for them to be in a seperate grow-out tank.


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## toume (Oct 7, 2010)

I wouldn't release anything smaller than 1.5-2" in your tank, mainly b/c the smaller newcomers will get picked on by the current big ones.

Fry...even with hiding spots, probably won't survive. The mom might protect them as best she can but Mbuna aren't known to be great guarders (not like Convicts anyway).

Do you want to keep them then? I'd put them in a 10g grow-out tank by themselves or with other fry.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

I'll give the fry a little more credit. Some will survive. The smart ones anyway. As long as you have plenty of small cracks and crevices in your rocks a few will find a niche they can survive in. In my old aggressive Mbuna tank I had prolific breeders and culling out the small fish that survived became a bi-monthly chore.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

Some will survive, yes. But likely many will be eaten.


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