Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / October 2008

I have 2 female yellow labs that are holding.  There're other cichlid
in the community tank (29 gallons) as well (1 male yellow lab who
probably is the father, along with 10+ fishes).  I had another
breeding tank (may be about 20+ gallons) setup with a small filter &
heater (suppose to be for 10 gallons or less).  I've taken out water
from the community tank to the other tank gradually for 2 days now.
Going to put gravels & rocks (some from community tank & some are new)
into the breeding tank tonight.

Can someone help me with these questions?
- Does the breeding tank need gravels?
- Or is it enough if I just put some rocks in the breeding tank for
the females to lay eggs on?  If so, rocks from the community or some
new rocks?
- Should I take the 2 holding females together into the breeding tank
at the same time?  With or without taking the male (possibly father)
over?
- If there are only 2 holding females in the breeding tank, will they
fight before and/or after breeding?
- My friend's cichlid female got killed when put back to community
tank after breeding, how soon or how I can prevent this from
happening?  Say I put one back at a time or use a breeding net in the
tank to separate them for a bit? ... as I do have 2 breeding nets.

Thanks,
Jimmy