Convict FRY!!!

[s13_drifter8]

It was Friday before Labor Day weekend when I noticed my convicts would not come out of thier cave. I was wondering if maybe they were scared and didn't want to come out but I guess it was okay because I was gonna turn the light off before I go off to my 3-day vacation. As soon as I got I ran to my room to check on my tank and WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? Convict Fry!

Momma and pappa gaurding the fry.

One big question.........what do I feed them? This is my first time breeding any kind of cichlids.

[baby~doll]

oh wow... congratulations. i bet that was a nice suprise. i have no clue what to feed them, but im sure someone else on here does.

[judya]

You can feed them finely ground flake food, but try to get some baby brine shrimp eggs. Hatch them and feed the baby brine to the baby fish. You can also buy brine shrimp frozen, but look for baby brine rather than brine if you can get it. Also you can get microworms and other small live food on line. www.livefoodcultures.com is my friend's site, but google "live fish food" for others
One thing to watch out for, is when the parents decide to breed again, they may cannibalize all the fry already there.

[SueM]

Now that you have a bonded pair, you will definitely get more spawns, once Cons get going they are like rabbits. All of the foods judya suggested are great, in a pinch you can get "liqua-fry" at the LFS, or even use boiled egg yolk mixed with a touch of water, but that can make your water cloudy. What ever you choose... get a new turkey baster, so you can squirt the food down closer to where the fry are, and for the first few days, turn your filters off to control the water flow, (and I would definitely put a prefilter on any intakes). The more food they get in their bellies the better, and the parents won't let them do much swimming around looking for it.