# what do i need to know about raising malawi cichlid fry?



## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

So at work a couple malawi cichlids had some fry so i set up a 10 gallon tonight figured i would raise them until they got just a little bigger and can be sold. Just wondering what i would need to know about raising these cute little buggers. I got some frozen baby brine shrimp to feed them.


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## Erotik (Jul 11, 2010)

Revolution1221 said:


> So at work a couple malawi cichlids had some fry so i set up a 10 gallon tonight figured i would raise them until they got just a little bigger and can be sold. Just wondering what i would need to know about raising these cute little buggers. I got some frozen baby brine shrimp to feed them.


Wish some fry experts would post on here. :] Use google I guess.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

mouthbrooder fry? Easy, they are big enough to take crushed flake at release. They do appreciate baby brine also. Keep the water clean, give them hiding places, keep the pH > 7, Sell them before they get mean.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

emc7 said:


> mouthbrooder fry? Easy, they are big enough to take crushed flake at release. They do appreciate baby brine also. Keep the water clean, give them hiding places, keep the pH > 7, Sell them before they get mean.


yep they were mouthbrooders i have been feeding them sanfransisco bay brand baby brine shrimp they are doing well and eating a lot. The PH is around 7.9-8.0. There are lots and lots of hiding spots i decorated the tank with nothing but rocks even tho they seem to want to be in the open all hanging out together. they are all about 1/4 inch right now and that was actually going to be my next question is how long before they get aggressive. I plan on taking most of them back to work for trade in credit for raising them and the others i will try to find nice homes through craigslist.


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## Hoyo12 (May 18, 2009)

Revolution1221 said:


> yep they were mouthbrooders i have been feeding them sanfransisco bay brand baby brine shrimp they are doing well and eating a lot. The PH is around 7.9-8.0. There are lots and lots of hiding spots i decorated the tank with nothing but rocks even tho they seem to want to be in the open all hanging out together. they are all about 1/4 inch right now and that was actually going to be my next question is how long before they get aggressive. I plan on taking most of them back to work for trade in credit for raising them and the others i will try to find nice homes through craigslist.


At about 1/2"-1" they will start to show aggression. Sometimes even smaller.
What species are they?
I'm currently breeding Yellow Labs, Kribensis Cichlids, Blue Dolphin Cichlids, Albino Metriaclima Hajomaylandi "Cobue", and might have a pair of Oscars spawn soon.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Hoyo12 said:


> At about 1/2"-1" they will start to show aggression. Sometimes even smaller.
> What species are they?
> I'm currently breeding Yellow Labs, Kribensis Cichlids, Blue Dolphin Cichlids, Albino Metriaclima Hajomaylandi "Cobue", and might have a pair of Oscars spawn soon.


im not 100% sure they came out of a tank of adults that are all donated fish so random assortment of mbunas and malawis. i beleive the guy i work with said one of the moms was an orange zebra or maybe the other one was a blue zebra or something idk im not good with cichlids just dwarfs. im hoping this can bring me some more knowledge


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Sounds like mixed breeds then offspring, gonna be hard moving the fry like that. But like most be saying, BBS isn't really necessary with these guys, crushed flakes are sufficient, i figure its alot of work. Feel free to post more questions if ya got some.


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## Hoyo12 (May 18, 2009)

Revolution1221 said:


> So at work a couple malawi cichlids had some fry so i set up a 10 gallon tonight figured i would *raise them until they got just a little bigger and can be sold*. Just wondering what i would need to know about raising these cute little buggers. I got some frozen baby brine shrimp to feed them.





Revolution1221 said:


> im not 100% sure they came out of a tank of adults that are all donated fish so random assortment of mbunas and malawis. i beleive the guy i work with said one of the moms was an *orange zebra or maybe the other one was a blue zebra* or something idk im not good with cichlids just dwarfs. im hoping this can bring me some more knowledge


So, you're mostly likely dealing with hybrids? 
I will say that selling hybrids to the public isn't liked very much. If you ask many breeders, Cichlid hobbyists, etc. you will get the same response. I've got a group of Yellow Lab x Red Zebra x Red Top "Hongi" that I will not be selling, which is the right thing to do. Very first time this mix as come up, so I don't mind having a bunch in one of my tanks.  Red Top Yellow Zebra, lol.
Post some pics to see if you can get a positive ID.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Hoyo12 said:


> So, you're mostly likely dealing with hybrids?
> I will say that selling hybrids to the public isn't liked very much. If you ask many breeders, Cichlid hobbyists, etc. you will get the same response. I've got a group of Yellow Lab x Red Zebra x Red Top "Hongi" that I will not be selling, which is the right thing to do. Very first time this mix as come up, so I don't mind having a bunch in one of my tanks.  Red Top Yellow Zebra, lol.
> Post some pics to see if you can get a positive ID.


i wont have any problem getting rid of them back to work  we have a big 125 with a whole bunch of mixed african mbunas and malawis. i figure the boss will give me decent trade in for all of them. that tank is kinda where all the beginer cichlid keapers pick their stock because they are all 9.95. this is for more of a learning experience.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Well some blue zebras are the same species as some red zebras (just color varieties), so they aren't necessarily hybrids, but you can't claim pure lineage for any fish that came out of an "assorted cichlid" tank.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

emc7 said:


> Well some blue zebras are the same species as some red zebras (just color varieties), so they aren't necessarily hybrids, but you can't claim pure lineage for any fish that came out of an "assorted cichlid" tank.


That would be the wild-type Red Zebra (Metriaclima estherae) collected at Minos Reef in Lake Malawi. The majority of male red zebras in the wild are actually blue (the females being orange). One of the few (or perhaps only) dimorphic mbuna species where gender can be determined once they're spat from the mother (the males don't undergo a color transformation as other dimorphic metriaclima sp. do).

If you do have them then half the fry (the females) would be orange and the other half (the males) would be blue-grayish. If the fry don't look like that you probably have hybrids.

I feed my mbuna fry crushed and fragmented flake food until they get large enough to eat pellets made for small fish. I used to feed them live 48hr old or younger baby brine shrimp but the flakes and pellets seem to work well.


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