Managuensis reproduction

Question
Hi.  I have a 55 gal. tank with one female managuensis, 2 pacus and a chocolate cichlid.  I have just noticed that my managuesis, probably close to about a year and a half old, (all were really young when bought) just layed a bunch of eggs on top of a flat rock and is protecting them ferociously.  How can this have happened?  Could she have mated with another one of those fish in the tank?  I'm so confused.  What's going to happen with these eggs?  How on earth were they fertilized?  Can you please help me, I really don't know if there is something I should do.

Answer
Hi Pamela,
 This is something that female cichlids will do, i.e., if there is no appropriate male around, then a female sometimes just lays the eggs anyway.  These eggs don't hatch because they weren't fertilized, but the female will often guard them for a few days, until they go white.  Some females will do this every few weeks.  I used to have a female dovii that was alone in a tank and she would lay eggs about every 3 weeks.

 The other possibility is that the eggs get fertilized by one of the chocolate cichlids.  That can happen too. If the eggs develop and hatch, then that is most certainly what has happened.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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