african chiclids laid eggs

Question
I bought a 60 gal. fish tank and about 20 african chiclids most are still very small. I have two that are very big and a mid sized striped one.  one of the biggest ones has started to lay eggs, is picking them up in her mouth to keep them away from the others.  the striped one is helping it fend off the rest but there are so many of them.  should I just leave them alone or do I have to move those two and apparently (their) eggs to a new tank?  I read that they will go as far as to kill my other fish.  will they do alright on their own?  I know absolutely nothing about fish let alone this kind of fish I have another tank but no air lines to put in there will a divider work? how do I divide the tank or even get the other fish out of there?  could you tell me everything there is to know? how do I tell the females and males apart?

Answer
Hi Melissa,
  If you can catch the one holding the eggs, you can put it into a small tank of its own until it releases the kids (the whole process takes about 3 weeks).  

  A divider seldom works because fish are really good at getting around dividers, but it is worth a try if that is your only option. Putting the holding fish in another tank would be better and much easier.

  Telling the males from females depends entirely on the species. In some species it is obvious (males blue, females orange), in others the differences are subtle (males have more spots on the anal fin, the fin on the bottom) while in others, the two sexes look identical.  So you need to know which species you have.

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