African Cichlid has spawned and is Brooding eggs, Now what?

if she still has the eggs in her mouth it was a good idea. you will want to remove her once she has released them or she will eat them. the only problem ive had with isolating the female is that they put up a fight trying to catch them and if she gets too stressed or feels threatened she can spit out the eggs so be very gentle and carefull when moving her try to make it as easy and stress free as possible. i find catching them while they sleep is the best.

a plastic breeder box works well in the later stages, the fry fall through the bottom and the mother remains in the box. your going to need a larger tank than a 2.5 gal to raise the fry though that is just too tiny a tank for anything other than a shrimp. i use 20 gal tanks with no decorations or substrate just a plain empty tank. raise them till about an inch them then sell them or move them to a real aquarium

Typically mouth brooders keep the ggs and fry in their mouths for about 3 weeks. Then they are old enough to find their own food. The female is usually very hungry by then s you can sepate the fry herwhile she is eating. She may go bonkers on you and very belligerent, or spend several days looking for their fry. Sometimes they get moody for a week or two if their fry are taken, but they don't commit suicide or anything like that. After separting the fry and feeding her, it is probably best to return her to the main tank so she can readjust