Breeding Jewel Cichlids

So I have been having some trouble keeping the mother and the father Jewel Cichlid from eating their eggs. I am relatively new to this breeding thing but here is what I have done.

The first spawn was a surprise I left the eggs in the show tank. Not a good choice.
The second go round I had two female spawn at the same time one was already in a separate tank with the male and no other fish. The eggs lasted three days and then they ate them. The other set I removed the mother and the stone that the eggs were laid on and put them in their own tank. The eggs also lasted 3 days and you could see growth but the mother ate them anyways.

So they seem to be spawning every two to three weeks so I am going to get another shot at it.

Here is my next plan I will remove the stone that the fertilized eggs are on and put it on an air stone to keep water moving around the eggs. But I need all of your expertise on this matter because it is driving me nuts to watch them eat their eggs. so please help

Phil

your best bet is to just let them figure it out on there own. a nice tank they can run together as a pair (so give em something else to pick on) and let things work out on their own. sooner or later they will figure it out

I usually give pairing cichlids up to 5 spawns to 'get it right' ... other than blue rams and domestic angels, all my other cichlids figured it out by the 5th one.

Do you have other fish in the tank with them? My rams were in a tank with guppies and as soon as I removed the guppies the rams ate the wigglers. I think having to protect the eggs from the guppies made them better parents.