[CichliBAE]

Awesome and exciting! I just found out my Blotched Red Zebra cichlid is holding eggs! I held her up, put a flashlight in and saw give or take 10 eggs and more from the seconds I looked. Now I don't know if they're fertilized or not, but her stomach is pretty shallow or noticeably and not plump. I am keeping her in one of those small cage/transport aquariums afloat in my cichlid tank. How do I know they're fertilized and how long will it take? This is my first time actually seeing a holding female!

Update on my 2nd finding of cichlid fry, it seems like they have 5 stripes, but they're more tannish than a Kenyi blue, and they seem to have yellow fins (but their bodies are tannish). Is it possible an acei mated with a kenyi?

 

[CichliBAE]

Hey I just checked again and I see 2 black dots on all the eggs! Fertilized they are! Any estimations on how old these eggs are and how much longer till I can strip her and feed the fry fry food?

 

[DJRansome]

The fish hold an average of 28 days but it's hard to tell how old the eggs are if you don't notice day one when she stops eating. It's always good to check each fish daily when you feed them.

 

[CichliBAE]

Thank you! I have push her in a small breeding cage so that the babies are safe as soon as she spits them out. If I do strip her and there is some water movement, will the fry still live?

 

[noki]

Thank you! I have push her in a small breeding cage so that the babies are safe as soon as she spits them out. If I do strip her and there is some water movement, will the fry still live?

If you mean you have put the mother in a small cage in the tank, this will stress out the female and fry may still get eaten or escape if the holes are big enough.

You are not even sure what the babies are, don't try to strip. If you don't have a separate tank, just let the mother stay in the tank free and let her release when you wants. Some fry may make it. I know you are excited about the first babies, but you shouldn't overreact with what you have.

 

[CichliBAE]

Successfully stripped the holding mother...all the fry were 95% free swimming! Are there any tips on when I can feed them or take them out of the egg tumbler? All of them seem to be swimming near the top of the tumbler where I can't really see them. They are amazing. Some of them have the blotched red zebra markings as the mother. I'm almost positives these (and non of my previous fry) were hybrids. The other two I found are showing purple and yellow fins ---> acei. I vented the yellow lab (one in my tank) and is a female. Are blotched red zebras unique?

 

[DJRansome]

No blotched red zebras are not unique.

 

[CichliBAE]

So they aren't more rare than a regular Red Zebra?

 

[DJRansome]

No. Actually in the lake they are more common. Most of the zebras you see at the fish store are line-bred to be the solid orange color.

 

[CichliBAE]

Ooh that's neat. So they're like the wild/natural type.