Why are my convicts killing their babies?

[waytoodeep03]

This is the second time in two weeks they have bred and had new life in the aquarium. They live in a 90 gallon tall and only a 10 inch pleco and a random 3 inch aulonacara exist in this tank.

Why are they not allowing their young to live? Each day I am noticing less and less youth in the tank.

 

[tlindsey]

This is the second time in two weeks they have bred and had new life in the aquarium. They live in a 90 gallon tall and only a 10 inch pleco and a random 3 inch aulonacara exist in this tank.

Why are they not allowing their young to live? Each day I am noticing less and less youth in the tank.

It's a strong possibility that the other fish may be picking them off especially the Aulonocara. Pleco will also eat the eggs at night.

 

[tlindsey]

Convicts breed like rabbits so I wouldn't worry about some of the fry getting eaten.

 

[PredatorPiqued]

I'm no fish expert by any means, but I do find my nose buried in aquatic literature as it is endless.
I read somewhere that when breeding convicts its common for the first few times, they eat their young, not to stress to much that they will come around, could be part of them getting used to the new environment, maybe some decorations need to be moved around for better egg laying spots, general stress. Maybe watch a few convict breeding tutorial on youtube?
As for the other fish I'm not so sure their nature.
Hope this helps

 

[bathawk]

The same thing happens with my eba pair there will be about 60+ fry in the tank I have seen a few get picked off by other fish but by the third night they are all gone my eba pair have spawned 4 times and this has happened every time by the third night not 1 fry left that's why I suspect the parent maybe it is a cichlid thing .If you have a spare tank maybe you catch some and grow them out I caught 9 but 7 survived the move they are now a week old and growing . But like tlindey said convict breed like rabbits and if a large amount survive you could get over run with convict cichlids

 

[Pterophyllum sp]

In my experience, parents eat fry for a couple of reasons. 1) the fry aren't healthy, or 2) the fry are being predated, and the parents make the judgment that its better for them to recycle the fry and try again later. I suppose #2 kinda falls back to the old adage " A community tank, is not a breeding tank"

 

[Gourami Swami]

How many times have they bred? Only two? Sometimes it takes a while for them to "get it right" and feel comfortable enough to raise the babies. If it happens more than 4 or 5 times I would think it's an environmental factor making them fear for the fry; in that position they eat the babies because their instinct is that the protein is better off in their stomach than another fish's.
Also, how long does it take for them to eat them? All cichlids will tend to "clean the slate" when they are ready to breed again, thinking that if fry are still present there must be something wrong with them. If it takes a few weeks for them to be eaten you may just need to scoop them out into a separate tank quicker. If you leave them indefinitely they will be eaten to make room for new babies.

 

[ryansmith83]

Have you witnessed the convicts eating them, or just dwindling numbers? Are you sure the other fish in the tank isn’t eating them, or they’re not getting sucked into a filter?