# Jewel Cichlids Eggs



## ramsay458 (Jun 3, 2017)

Hi
My Jewel cichlids lade eggs in the corner of my tank, the male and female were protecting the eggs for around 24 hours. I have now noticed the male and female scooping up the eggs into there mouths looked like they were basically eaten them. Could they have moved them to another location in my tank ? I cant seem to see where they have moved them to ? Do Jewel Cichlids eat there own eggs ? 
Thanks


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## avonlady34473 (Jul 12, 2017)

Hi Ramsay,

Jewel Cichlids, like many other cichlids, are mouth brooders. So most likely your jewel should be doing what we call "holding." Usually they will hold for about 18-21 days, sometimes more or sometimes less. You might want to do some research online. I'm new to cichlids myself but have learned a lot just by searching the internet and watch YouTube videos. Do you have a separate tank that you can scoop the female up and put her into to keep her and the eggs safe? If you look at your cichlid female you should notice that the area under her mouth where her "chin" might be - I think this is called her bucchal cavity, this should look like its swollen when you compare it to the males. If so, she is definitely holding. If you allow her to spit in the tank, you might get lucky and have a few survive. But if you want to increase the chance of survival for the fry, the best bet would either strip the eggs from the female and use a tumbler, or wait until you can look her her mouth and see fish in there (their eyes might be the first thing you would see as they are almost bigger than their body), then you would strip the fry and hope they are free swimming enough to survive. Or you could just put momma in a separate tank by herself and let her spit them out naturally then.

Being new to cichlids myself I just had a holding female for about 3 weeks. When I finally moved her to a new tank she spit about 10 fry naturally. But then I was worried she might eat them and I was afraid to strip her as it was my first time. But a lot of people on here and other boards told me to just "Man Up!" and do it. So I did but when I went to strip her I found out that she had no more fry in her mouth. So I just put her back in the main tank so she wouldn't eat her babies. After all, she will not eat while holding so basically my poor girl went over 3 weeks without eating. Good news is that once back in the main tank she fatten right up. And so far 8 of my fry have survived for about 10 days now and are doing just fine. Now if you let her spit in the tank, there is a chance that some will survive if you have a lot of very small hiding spaces where no other larger fish can get to them. But it's a **** shoot really. You could not see them for what seems like forever and then all of a sudden they are brave enough and big enough to venture out of hiding and you'll wonder, now where did THAT fish come from. The choice is yours, but either way, good luck.

As I stated I'm a Newbie myself, but since no one else has responded to your thread I thought I'd at least share what I've learned so far.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Jewel Cichlids are NOT mouthbrooders, they are substrate spawners. Is it possible that you missed seeing the eggs for a couple of days? Normally they hatch in about 72 hours and the parents will move the wiggler larvae. If the eggs were infertile, they may have simply eaten them. 24 hours is about right for them to start turning white, which indicates infertile eggs.

If you can't find the larvae in a pit somewhere, they were likely eaten.


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