New to the community, but not necessarily new to the hobby...
So, last year my dad gave me his 29 gallon tank, and my boyfriend being the fish enthusiast that he is, took it over. In the end, as far as cichlids go, we bought two pink convicts (Thing 1 and Thing 2), a parrot (Arnold), and three "black" convicts (Big Momma, Lil' Momma, and Elvis). The two pink ones are both male, and there are two female blacks and one male black. About a month and a half ago, one of the female cichlids and the one black cichlid (for easier reference, I'll use their names... Big Momma and Elvis) bred and now we have fry that are a few weeks old. Well, as we all know cichlids can be down right mean, and the both of them made a power tag team and were abusing the rest of the cichlids along with the other fish we had in there. We decided that until the fry got bigger, we would move the other cichlids into my 14 gallon tank with the rest of the fish we have (3 tiger barbs, a guppy, a male sword tail, an an African frog) to leave room for Elvis, Bib Momma, and their babies. Now, Arnold has kind-of become the household favorite among the group (anyone else noticed the fish you pay the most for and spend the most on for medical care, etc. starts to hold that rank?), and has his own personality (such a grouchy old man, comparable to Carl from Up! !!!). He even has his own house to hide in, an old ceramic cylinder my dad made in college. Anyway, too late, but to make a longer story shorter, Lil Mama and one of the pink convicts have taken over Arnold's house (and followed suit as far as being a power tag team and abusing the rest of the fish) and she laid eggs in there and before we realized he had done it, Thing 1 spawned. Obviously, as crowded as the tank already seems to be, I don't think we have enough room to host a whole new batch of fry.
What should I do? Should I let the fry stay alive until the other batch (Big Momma and Elvis's) of fry are more dependent (and/or big enough to give away) and move the other fish back into the 29 gallon so that Lil Momma and Thing 1's batch can get big enough to give away? Any other ideas? As much as I would love to, I simply can't afford to buy another tank. I would hate to kill the youngest batch, but I would hate to keep them alive and put my other fish through anymore abuse!!
Cross posted to one or two other forums in the site... (Sorry if you see it around, I wanted as many positive opinions as possible!)
So, last year my dad gave me his 29 gallon tank, and my boyfriend being the fish enthusiast that he is, took it over. In the end, as far as cichlids go, we bought two pink convicts (Thing 1 and Thing 2), a parrot (Arnold), and three "black" convicts (Big Momma, Lil' Momma, and Elvis). The two pink ones are both male, and there are two female blacks and one male black. About a month and a half ago, one of the female cichlids and the one black cichlid (for easier reference, I'll use their names... Big Momma and Elvis) bred and now we have fry that are a few weeks old. Well, as we all know cichlids can be down right mean, and the both of them made a power tag team and were abusing the rest of the cichlids along with the other fish we had in there. We decided that until the fry got bigger, we would move the other cichlids into my 14 gallon tank with the rest of the fish we have (3 tiger barbs, a guppy, a male sword tail, an an African frog) to leave room for Elvis, Bib Momma, and their babies. Now, Arnold has kind-of become the household favorite among the group (anyone else noticed the fish you pay the most for and spend the most on for medical care, etc. starts to hold that rank?), and has his own personality (such a grouchy old man, comparable to Carl from Up! !!!). He even has his own house to hide in, an old ceramic cylinder my dad made in college. Anyway, too late, but to make a longer story shorter, Lil Mama and one of the pink convicts have taken over Arnold's house (and followed suit as far as being a power tag team and abusing the rest of the fish) and she laid eggs in there and before we realized he had done it, Thing 1 spawned. Obviously, as crowded as the tank already seems to be, I don't think we have enough room to host a whole new batch of fry.
What should I do? Should I let the fry stay alive until the other batch (Big Momma and Elvis's) of fry are more dependent (and/or big enough to give away) and move the other fish back into the 29 gallon so that Lil Momma and Thing 1's batch can get big enough to give away? Any other ideas? As much as I would love to, I simply can't afford to buy another tank. I would hate to kill the youngest batch, but I would hate to keep them alive and put my other fish through anymore abuse!!
Cross posted to one or two other forums in the site... (Sorry if you see it around, I wanted as many positive opinions as possible!)
