I bought her because I thought she was pregnant, she seemed rather round for a small peacock and was always hiding in the plants. About 8 days later it looks like I was right, she now appears to be carrying fry in her mouth. How long until she releases the fry? Should I get her into a small tank of her own (or will this stress her out too much)? I have a 20 long on stand-by for a sick tank, but it can quickly be converted into a fry tank. I'm very excited because this is my first time with cichlids.
Pregnant OB Peacock
- Thread starter Crunchy
- Start date
Do you have pics? If she was "pregnant" in the store before buying her she would have to have had the fry already in her mouth. Its possible she has spawned in your tank with one of your males. They usually hold the fry from 21-28 days sometimes longer. If you plan to raise the fry its best to put her in a separate tank or the babies will get eaten by tankmates.Unless she is being harass by her tankmates now, I would leave her in the main tank for atleast 2 weeks that way if she gets stressed and spits the fry out they will be developed enough that they are free swimming and not as dependent on the mother .
I gotta get new batteries for my camera (it sucks them down like nothing else). I will try to post pics by tomorrow night. Do they not carry eggs before hand in their belly? I understand they wouldn't have been fertile at that point, but I had considered her pregnant because she at least had eggs developing (I'm not too sure how the entire process works yet).
Yes they carry the eggs in there belly when they are ready to spawn she released the eggs and puts them in her mouth while swimming in circles with the male he fertilizes them while they do their spawning dance ritual.She then hold the eggs in her mouth for 21-28 days .You will notice her lower jaw swollen and she will constantly tumble the eggs around in her mouth and not eat.
Okay, here's the pictures of suspected mom (I hope a few are clear enough):
and this would be Dad:
and this would be Dad:
Sorry the pictures didn't come out too clear, she doesn't stay still for long. I want to say that I've seen her move her mouth around without opening it, but I'm not certain yet. Though I can say she hasn't opened her mouth (like the others do) for a while now. She hasn't eaten for the last two feedings and I think I see some slightly darkened areas on her chin that I didn't notice when I bought her. I guess I'll try for more photos in a few days.
