I was doing a cleaning and water exchange today and noticed there are about 90-100 eggs in my aquarium. I wasn't expecting the eggs so soon as the fish were not showing any signs of pairing off.
"The female can lay up to 500-1000 eggs on the spawning surface and the male will follow after her and fertilize them. The eggs are around 1.7 mm in size and will be tended to by the female while the male guards the territory. During this period, both sexes are highly aggressive and the male can even attack the female. It is advisable to keep them with at least a few fast fishes that can serve as targets for the male; if he has no one to chase he can become very aggressive towards the female. Another solution is to install a divider that will keep the female and male Texas cichlid separated from each other.
The eggs will hatch after 3-5 days and the female fish will help the young one out. Before the eggs hatch, the parents will have dug out a small pit in the substrate to serve as a home for the newly hatched fry. The Texas cichlid fry will stay in this pit for 5-8 days before becoming free swimming. To begin with, the fry will feed off organic matter. Roughly a week after becoming free swimming they are normally big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp and crushed flake food.
Texas cichlids sometimes get confused and eat their own offspring instead of rearing them. Hopefully, they will be more successful with the next batch."
I'm trying to find a divider now so I can seperate the male from the female and eggs.
Nobody has a divider for my size tank. I saw a post not to long ago about building your own divider but I can't find it now. It wad made from clear presentation binder clips and some plastic mesh. I can't find the plastic mesh or anything that would work as I've looked at walmart and homedepot.
Any ideas guys?
And I can't tell which is male and which is female right now as they are both guessing and tending the eggs. One is vastly bigger than the other though if that helps any.....
They sell mosquito screen at the home stores, also sold as a dog screen, in the diy window section. The screen is made of plastic and is safe to use in your tank. Lots of people use it to make moss walls.
That's what I've been looking for with no luck. I tried to swing by hobby lobby after school, but they close at 8pm.
I'll try again as soon as they open in the morning
I know walmart has the plastic canvas in the craft section.
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