# Finally some baby fairies!



## poiuy704 (Nov 6, 2010)

Went down to the fishroom tonight and found a bunch of fairy cichlid fry swimming around the pile of pots. Ithought I was never going to see any. Should they be left in the tank, removed to their own tank or should I remove the adults?


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Congratz!! i want some  lol


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Once there free swimming (not wigglers) I would remove the parents! wouldn't mind a few of these either!! Good luck!!


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

first off congrats i think it depends on what you want to do. do you want to have lots of fry? plan on growing them and selling?do you want to just keep a few anyway if you want to get lots of fry you can rehome the parents and raise the fry after they are a bit older although the parents might not spawn again untill they are comfortable. me myself my fish are always spawing and i got sick of raising babies and had a tough time selling or giving them away. i just let them do there thing now and i have fish from 5 different spaws in my tank fry ranging from .5 to 3 inch now its kinda crazy they dont all get eaten because i have some 7 inch adults but a few seem to make it everytime


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## Durogity (Jun 10, 2013)

Congrats , I love having fish babies lol, it's fun watching them grow.


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## poiuy704 (Nov 6, 2010)

I decided to leave them in the tank with the adults after doing some reading on them, seems to have been a bad idea as there's no sign of any fry now. I assume they either got eaten or died. I think with the next batch I will remove the adults and leave the fry on their own.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

If u want to raise the fry then u have to move them for sure


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Oh Jim LOL good luck next time lol


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## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

Fairy cichlids? - if you are referring to Brichardi's, you should definitely leave them with their parents - they're community based and as successive spawns are raised, the smaller fish will start helping with defense of the fry. Parents do not eat or kill fry. They are very prolific and can easily take over a huge territory if not kept in check by the occasional predator, but watching a large group is cool - so its fun to let them growout in a group


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## Reptiles&Fish (Apr 22, 2012)

Seconded, Definitly leave them with their parents. The parent's will never eat the babies if fed properly. It is actually quite amazing to watch, generation 1 watches out for generation 2, then generation 2 watches out for generation 3 and so on and so on. At one point I had 4 generations looking out for each other the biggest ones out furthest then 3rd, 2nd then the newest frys in the middle hiding in the shell that the rest where protecting. And they move around in a pack like this, always with the oldest scouting things out first. I would suggest getting some fist sized or smaller sea shells(Moon shells I think they are called? Large white spirals with wide entrance.) in the tank, and then you will really see them build a community. They really are the most amazing fish I've watched breed, but it does get out of hand. And anything else you have in the tank will most likely be hiding in a corner under a rock the rest of it's life.


I've even separated one batch of fry and put them into a raising tank by them selves. And the outcome was surprising. Much higher death rate when taken away from the main group and I found they made worse decisions. Such as when in the large group they all stayed together and I guess learn from each other, because they would always stay away from filter intakes and the heaters. But when separated they where all over the place, getting in filters, no leadership and a lot more fighting.


Just my experience with them.


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## Shell Dweller (Jul 11, 2010)

Well hello all; I haven't been on the forum for quite awhile although I check in now and then to see what's going on. If memory serves me right I think POIUY 704 got his fairy cichlids from me over a year ago. I have 7 adults which I moved from their original 33gal tank to another 33 gal tank below my 90 gal after I sold my remaining fry. My plan was to set up a new 50 gal tank for them, which has not yet happened but is in the works. They have only had one batch of fry since that I know of as I haven't been keeping a close eye on them all of which died, my bad....
There is no need to move fry from the parents as other members have also pointed out. Each generation will protect the next generation so forth and so on. The important thing to remember is that these should be kept as a single species tank. When they start to breed NOTHING will be safe other than their own breed....they will kill any other fish in the tank no matter the size. 
I've also had as many as 7 broods from different parents in the tank at the same time. If I was to bring in some fry from Poiuy 704 and put them with mine they would be recognized as coming from my colony and would not be harmed which to me is truly amazing.


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