| Hello I've just joined this group in the hope of getting 
some urgent advice regarding breeding cockatoo dwarf cichlids. We have a 
community tank including two female and one male cockatoo. About two weeks 
ago, the male bred with one of the females, but within two days, she munched up 
her eggs. We agreed that the next time we found eggs, we'd remove them to allow 
them to hatch safely. Well, already he's bred with the second female, and I've 
just found the eggs. The thing is, my other half is currently half way over the 
Atlantic, en route to the US, and I won't be able to speak to him for another 20 
hours....also, neither of us knows much about this, as we've never bred fish 
before!  Right now, I have covered the rock they're on with 
an up-turned rectangular box made of net, used for the fry I think. I've 
anchored it down with other stones and built up the sides with gravel and stones 
so no-one can burrow inside. Both parents still seem interested in protecting 
the eggs, so everything seems ok. The problem is that the stone is on the 
gravel, so when they hatch, they'll be on the floor of the tank, so I don't know 
how to feed them without either them escaping, or other fish swooping in and 
gobbling them up. I think the eggs are about 2 days old, so need to decide 
whether to move the stone NOW, or not. I have another heated tank with four bumbling 
fantails and a fiddler crab, but could conceivably move fish around. 
 I would be enormously grateful for any advice, 
we've been so excited about successfully breeding these fish! Many thanks Rosie |