Question
Oz & Hobbs +
i have two african cichlids, one about eight inches, one 13+. They reside in a 150 gallon pond in the dining room with two plekos and one smallish (4-5in) catfish. In the past month they have laid eggs three times, after a few days the eggs are gone and no fry are seen. I'm not particularly interested in raising fish, they were originally left behind by a previous roommate - about 25 fish, including the two oscars, four eels and a lobster all in a 35 gallon aquarium. Eventually of course only one oscar, two plekos and the catfish survived. When the oscar got too big to move in the aquarium I bought the pond, added another oscar and let them be. Yes, they did jump out (their fins are very sharp!) but now are careful to only jump in the middle of the pond. With this last batch of eggs I'm noticing some aggressive behavior both towards each other (they face off, mouths open), and the other fish. The largest oscar also attacks the vaccuum when I try to clean the pond! One of the plekos is larger than the biggest oscar, and doesnt seem bothered, the smaller pleko seems to have attached himself to the larger, maybe for protection, and the catfish just hides in the cave which is pretty much what it has always done. (Funny though, if I move the cave while cleaning the pond, he runs to hide UNDER the largest oscar!) I don't know if the eggs are fertilized or not, nor do I know if someone is eating them - for 3-4 days they are there, then they are gone but I have never seen any fry. So I'm wondering, since they keep trying with new eggs, am I going to have to find new homes for the other fish? And if they do eventually raise some babies, at what age will they eat THEM? Thanks for any information that can help, I have tried to find info online but it all seems pretty vague. Although I was not previously a fish person, I do love animals (had a horse with no fences, birds with open cages, rabbits with no cages and now a rescued lab/pitbull/personal trainer)so would prefer my fishy friends have a happy and safe life/habitat. Thanks so much.
AnswerHi Arlene,
BTW, oscars are South American, not African.
After the eggs hatch, they become what we call wrigglers, meaning that they can only wriggle on the ground -- they cannot swim. For oscars, this stage would last about 5 days. During that time, they are highly vulnerable to being eaten by plecostomus (which are a type of catfish) or to being sucked up by vaccuuming.
Should the parents actually raise the fry, they do not in general eat them at any point.
-- Ron
rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>
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