African Cichlid abandoning eggs

[101DalmatianMollies]

Good morning fish friends!

I hope you are all staying healthy and sane during these strange times. Fish keeping has definitely helped me that's for sure!

I have a flourishing tank of african cichlids, I am so proud. Right now I have a 75 gallon stocked with Astatotilapia latifasciata (4 males 10 females), 1 super red, 2 kenyii (1 male 1 female), 1 Pseudotropheus socolofi (male), 1 unknown male mbuna, 3 Christmas (2 male 1 female), 3 upside down catfish, and 1 sailfin pleco.

I've been increasing hiding places. I think I need to add a bit more rock and I am golden. They all do very well together, the Astatotilapia are 1 year old, except for 2 which are surviving Fry who are about 6 months old. The kenyi are young, I've only had them a few weeks. The Christmas are under 6 months, one of the Astatotilapia is 2 years old (female I rescued) the super red is also young. Overall, the tank ages are a year and under.

The 2 year old female Astatotilapia recently was holding eggs, and I was quite excited as I figured that meant she was pretty happy in her new environment. The next day though, her mouth was empty. I'm assuming she made a meal out of them. The female Christmas is a regular egg holder, and at one point had a successful batch, that later got eaten, but she holds!

Anyone know why the other female would've held then abandoned the batch? Stress? Not enough hiding places?

Thanks!

[Mike L]

It is not uncommon for mouthbrooders to eat early attempts at breeding. They will eventually breed though.
Please be aware that you are going to have major issues soon when all those fish mature and want to start breeding. Kenyi are nasty when breeding. Are you sure they are male/female?
Regards mike

[101DalmatianMollies]

Hey Mike!

Thanks! She was a rescue who was living in a community tank for 2 years 🤦‍♀️ so I imagine this is her first time breeding.

Yes, I'm sure they're male/female - one is yellow, the other blue. That's the advantage of the Kenyi at least lol. I have many caves and LOS breaks. I am going to add more, as I think it could be far denser, which I think will make it even more harmonious. The guys won't want their pads invaded!

I only have the two Kenyi at the moment; the one male and one female. I like a ratio of 1:3 so I was considering grabbing 2 more females to balance it out. Same with the Christmas. The ratio is 2:1 right now but mama has a lot of places to hide and she is wonderfully feisty. Problem is the christmas at Als are all juveniles, so I won't know what is what for months and could wind up with a worse balance.

[Mike L]

That is the advantage of kenyi.
I would strongly suggest you hold off on getting more fish. As I mentioned you have mostly young fish. When they all go into breeding mode you'll be wondering were the harmony in the tank went. Keep a close eye on the back top corners of the tank. Harrased fish usually hide in this area. Best of luck.
Regards Mike

[101DalmatianMollies]

Will do! Thank you for the advice! I'll just work on the aquascape.

All the best!

[Mike L]

That is the only advantage of kenyi. That and colour. They are very aggressive. The male will likely be the boss of the tank.
I would strongly suggest you hold off on getting more fish. As I mentioned you have mostly young fish. When they all go into breeding mode you'll be wondering where the harmony in the tank went. I'm talking badly injured or dead fish. Keep a close eye on the back top corners of the tank.Harrassed fish usually hide in this area.  You are mixing fish from different lakes as well which could be problematic.
Best of luck with the tank. While i just shut down my tanks after 30 years keeping cichlids I still occasionally get on ovas. Feel free to ask questions or pm me. Might take a few days to get back to you though.
Regards Mike

[Mike L]

Woops didn't realize my draft posted earlier. Revised one above

[101DalmatianMollies]

Aha!

I didn't think I was mixing lakes. Before I added anyone I checked to make sure they were from the same system, this is the first I'm learning that I've mixed lakes. The zebras are all a year old and have bred multiple times before. The only thing I noticed recently was my males zebras ventral fins look a bit chewed, which I thought was odd.

I mean doing another google search I can see that the Kenyi, Pseudotropheus, Red Zebra are all from Malawi and the Zebras & Christmas are from Lake Victoria. From the reading I did, and I looked at multiple sources not just the ones that would support my wants, it seemed as if I could mix Malawi & Victoria cichlids --> the reading makes it out as if they channel into one another and mixing occurs naturally.

The Pseudotropheus and the Unknown Mbuna are both at adult size, I'm not sure how old they are tbh as I got them from someone else who was rehoming them due to their aggression in their tank. In my tank they are getting along well. I will notice all the zebras sometimes congregate at the top of the front corner of the tank, but then they disperse. The only males I see fighting are the zebras and occassionally a zebra fighting with my large christmas male. I can see the male Kenyi is going to be the boss as he seems to command space.

I've been told many different things about keeping Cichlids - even about overstocking, so that the males are too busy protecting their cave to be overly aggressive. That's an area I can focus more on to ensure that everyone feels like they have their own space.

I really appreciate your advice.