convict mother is eating her fry

[js007]

Hi guys. I have a question. I have 4 convicts (2 male, 2 female) in a 29 gallon tank. One of the females had little ones about three weeks ago. She and the father were very protective of their young. They chased the other two all around the aquarium. I decided to take the non-parents out and put them in another tank to give the parents a break. Until last night everything was fine. Now the mother is chasing after her little ones and has eaten a few. The father has shown no aggression towards them yet. In three weeks she has gone from protecting them to eating them. What's the deal? What should I do? Thanks

 

[snowplankton]

  I have had a pair of Convicts for about a year now, and they do eventually stop taking care of them. If you want to keep any you may have to remove them. This is next to impossible sometimes, and I set my tank up to provide small places some of them can hide. When they get large enough to net I turn them in to the pet store. I`ve also noticed that a single pair will, over time get better at taking care of them. You may loose all of the first couple spawnings unless you intervene somehow.

 

[Atlantic Fish]

ya you may want to get the fry or the parrents out of there, or seperate your with a divider, or else the parrents are gonna have some full bellies...