My Cichlids

Question
My Firebird has been holding for about 20 days in a 100 Litre tank on her own and I went out today when I got back she had released them - I caught 2 but two were dead thats all I found. Did the mother do this? Why were there only 4 and Should I have striped her earlier on to save the babies?

Answer
Hi Cheryl,
 I'm not familiar with the name "Firebird"....  (and I know a LOT of cichlid names...).  

 In any case, it is not uncommon to have dead babies in the female's mouth.  That may also explain the low number of babies.  The number of babies a female has is very much a function of her size -- large females can have substantially more than smaller females, for pretty much any species of mouthbrooder.  It is also possible that something went wrong while she was holding. One common problem is that the female will accidentally pick up a small rock when she is picking up the eggs, and the rock will get churned around in her mouth along with the eggs, in the process the rock grinds up and destroys many eggs.  It is unfortunate, but it does happen from time to time.

  Other possible explanations for the low number of kids could be that she was interrupted when spawning and only laid a few eggs.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>