Cichlidroobs said:
Wow I just did a google on cichlid hybrids and there are a lot of negative connotations with breeding hybrid cichlids. Websites even suggest destroying the eggs or even the fry! I'm sorry, but I had no intention on striking it rich with a NEW cichlid species, and I am certainly not going to kill some little baby fish, especially since the two fish involved obviously chose each other to mate.
Its quite likely that she's holding unfertilized eggs, and they'll disappear after a few days. They do this all the time.
Hybrids are a very touchy subject. The 'two fish involved obviously chose each other to mate' sentence is completely false, btw. I'm sorry, but they didn't chose to mate, if they even did. They were forced into a situation that they wouldn't be presented with in the wild, and with no actual mates of their own to breed with, the instinct to reproduce is so strong that they will breed with whatever they are able to breed with. They didn't choose to mate, essentially you forced them into it. I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying how it is.
As for why hybrids are frowned upon, that answer is simple (and I'll try to keep it delicate, lol - I appologize if I come across as snippy or something, I just feel very strongly on this...). I am sick to DEATH of walking into a fish store (whether locally owned or box), and crusing through their cichlid section, and seeing absolutely nothing but hybrids. Mbuna and peacocks are absolutely the worst example. I can't remember the last time I saw a purebred mbuna at a store in town. Its disgusting. I should be able to buy a fish labeled as a 'yellow lab', and actually
get a yellow lab, not some mutt fish. Its at a point where I don't buy mbuna in stores anymore, I buy all mine online.
Basically, allowing the fish in your tank to breed and create hybrids, and then raising those hybrid babies up, is irresponsible to the hobby. If you want to let one of two of them grow up out of curiosity's sake, that's one thing - but then what happens if you decide to clear out your tank, and you've gotten attached to that little mutt fish, and give it away too? Now you're helping along the already problematic distribution of hybrid fish.
One other thing. There's a particularly large cichlid forum that I am a member at. There is an unidentified cichlid folder for people to post in. 99 percent of the post are excited new fishkeepers posting up their unknown fish they brought home from the LFS. 99 percent of
those posts turn out to be hybrid fish. These new fishkeepers then get angry and frustrated that they didn't actually get what they paid for, and a lot of them turn away from cichlids because of it. Its a big headache that should be unnecessary.
Sorry for the long post, but you asked
As I said, I very strongly feel that
if this female of yours actually has fertilized eggs, you should absolutely not let them live. I know it sounds cruel, but you honestly are doing the best thing you can do. Plus, a lot of hybrids are born mutated or disfigured, with very poor genes and very weak. That alone is more than a good enough reason to me to cull them.