Cichlid not opening mouth.

[Maingano]

Hello

Today, I've noticed my female Orange Ob Peacock with her mouth closed as if holding something inside it. She's normally one of the most aggressive and dominant in the aquarium, however, she didn't eat today at all.

It could be that she has eggs in her mouth as cichlids are mouthbrooders, but I havent seen any signs of mating in the tank, let alone with her.

She also seems to have changed her behaviour of which she seems less aggressive towards her tank mates.

As I said, she is (well, was) one of the most dominant in the aquarium and therefore eats the most, so could it be she ate too much?

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Ps, its hard to take pictures without other fish getting on the way as she is swimming at the further back. This is the best I could do, sorry for the bad quality

 

[GaryE]

Yup, she has a brood. She is quite young looking.

 

[Maingano]

Yup, she has a brood. She is quite young looking.

Are you certain? Wow I haven't noticed a single sign of mating from them yet (asides from digging on gravel). Must have slipped from me. I wonder who the father is.

 

[GaryE]

One of the reasons I don't like Malawis is they mate weithout pairing, with almoist no "ritual". There's no nest (one of the partners becomes the nest) and no continued connection. Then the female releases the larvae, and provides no continued broodcare. SA and riverine African mouthbrooders care for their young post release - Malawis just carry and dump. In so doing, the females never get time between broods to recover from not eating unless you get them into a recovery tank and then rescape the entire main tank every time you reintroduce them. They tend to die young from constant mouthbrooding.

 

[Maingano]

One of the reasons I don't like Malawis is they mate weithout pairing, with almoist no "ritual". There's no nest (one of the partners becomes the nest) and no continued connection. Then the female releases the larvae, and provides no continued broodcare. SA and riverine African mouthbrooders care for their young post release - Malawis just carry and dump. In so doing, the females never get time between broods to recover from not eating unless you get them into a recovery tank and then rescape the entire main tank every time you reintroduce them. They tend to die young from constant mouthbrooding.

I see. How long intil the eggs in her mouth hatch? (Im assuming the eggs were fertilized 1 - 2 days ago maximum)
Can I remove the babies from her as soon as they hatch? Or should I wait a few days?

 

[GaryE]

It's been a while. Timings? I can't recall but you can find it for the species. They can differ.

The eggs hatch to become larvae, completely incapabl;e. She keeps them rolling in her throat, then as they become fry, she spits them out and wanders off. You could look up stripping eggs on youtube. There must be a pile of them, and egg stripping is the term Malawi keepers use. If you take eggs, you need a "tumbler". And you would need a tank to raise them in.

 

[Maingano]

It's been a while. Timings? I can't recall but you can find it for the species. They can differ.

The eggs hatch to become larvae, completely incapabl;e. She keeps them rolling in her throat, then as they become fry, she spits them out and wanders off. You could look up stripping eggs on youtube. There must be a pile of them, and egg stripping is the term Malawi keepers use. If you take eggs, you need a "tumbler". And you would need a tank to raise them in.

Thank you

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I see. How long intil the eggs in her mouth hatch? (Im assuming the eggs were fertilized 1 - 2 days ago maximum)
Can I remove the babies from her as soon as they hatch? Or should I wait a few days?

I guess most eggs will hatch within 2-3 weeks time. It is recommended to remove the fry from the mother at week 2 (14 days).
You don't want the female to hold too long as she will become too skinny due to not eating.

I used a soft cotton bud to open the mother's mouth and let the fry out.
Keep the fry in a separate tank for higher chances of survival and return the mother to the tank.
For optimum growth, feed them with food that has higher Protein (more than 40% or preferably 50%).
You can feed the fry with Hikari First bite.

For optimum fertility, in the future, feed the mother with fish food that have higher Fat(minimum 10%).

Dry Fish Food in depth

Almost all dry fish food is quite acceptable food for virtually all fish.

aquariumscience.org

I like the following food for breeding fish:
1)Dr Bassleer Biofish Food Regular or Green (Fat:16%)
2)Hikari Discus Bio-gold (Fat:12%)
3)Discusfood - Day by Day (Fat:14.5%)

Some info:

Bassleer Biofish Food | The best fish food for your tropical fish on the market

www.bassleer.com

Discus Bio-Gold® - Hikari Sales USA

Scientifically formulated for discus, taking into account their need for higher protein levels. Additionally, discus are known to be finicky eaters by nature. The Discus Bio-Gold granule has been manufactured to reduce the mess caused by a discus' normal eating routine and formulated with lots...

www.hikariusa.com

Granulate für Diskusfische - Discusfood

www.discusfood.com

Here are some videos on how to remove the fry.