Paracyp stripping problem?

thedavidzoo

thedavidzoo

Members
Ok, figured I'd strip the female who has been holding 16 days, as per our last speaker's philosophy.
I tried once briefly and gave up. Rewatched a popular youtube video. Tried again and got 6 fry (one might already be a goner). Some still have a yolk sac.
Anyway, the female is now acting like she is dying. SHe was floating around for a while, sideways, drifting. I was a gentle as I could be, but evidently I stressed her out. She has found a space between some rocks and is hanging out vertically, barely moving but still alive. I turned off the lights.
SHould I give her more time and hope she recovers, or did I just "do her in" in my effort to spare her 4 weeks of not eating? Help......:( IF that is the case, no more stripping for me...
 
Wblaze

Wblaze

Members
Good Luck. I tried to strip a chilumsae today and gave up after 10 minutes of trying. Now she is acting fine but hiding.
 
minifoot77

minifoot77

Members
Lol she will be fine used to do it to me all the time... Did you get any albinos?

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thedavidzoo

thedavidzoo

Members
I'm an idiot. Female didn't make it...Couldn't hardly sleep that night because it bothered me so much. Killed a perfectly fine fish.
Anyhow....I managed to get 8 babies but I don't think any of them are albino.
Second female is holding now and I think she has many more eggs in her mouth than the first had. Well, I should be able to replace the lost female many times over.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
No worries, Esther. I've killed a Paracyp doing the same thing, as well as two Cyp females. They sometimes just freak out and keel over. :wacko:
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Inglorious b*stards

So what happens if you give them their own space/tank to rear them on their own?
 
M

moka

Members
sorry to hear, it does take some technique and practice, dont give up! remember what bob said.. have patience..
 
minifoot77

minifoot77

Members
Sorry to hear you lost her keep all the fry and make the group bigger... And i was always trying to find more females... Maybe you can set up a ten and let em spit on there own next time...

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Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Avatar said:
Technically no. But they will generally rear them on their own, yes?
Click to expand...

Rear? Not really.. more like spit them and forget them. The bigger issue is that folks rarely keep Cyps/Paracyps by themselves. They're usually in with other Tangs - almost all of which will eagerly chomp any sort of fry.

Letting them spit in a huge tank also presents the issue of feeding as it's tough to get food to 1/2" long fry in anything bigger than a breeder net imo. This is the main reason why I strip and put fry (of any flavor) into small enclosures. With new world cichlids, they're sort of corralled by the parents, so target feeding is actually an option (not so much with these guys dispersed through a "large" tank - even a 10 is large for newly spit fry).

Most folks serious about breeding these open water rift-lake sardines will keep them in a species 55+ tank.... something that I don't really find all that exciting nor have the room for. Plus, you still end up with substantial attrition due to the feeding issue.

So stripping seems the best option in my mind - even if you occasionally lose a female here and there... Shoot, these guys have a reputation for getting spooked and dropping dead even when being netted sometimes. I find that the larger the fish gets, the more stable they are with stripping.

Yeah, pretty lame.
 
thedavidzoo

thedavidzoo

Members
I'm going to leave the 2nd holding female be. I am always sitting next to the tank as it is next to the computer.

So, when the time is near I will watch her like a hawk and try to snag as many of the newly spit fry as I can and put them into the breeder box. The only serious threat, I think, are the calvus, but they generally stay in their rock pile/shells. Now what happens during the night I can't say...

Yes, I plan on keeping a few of the females to increase the ratio which is at 3M/1F now:unsure:
Thanks, guys.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
thedavidzoo said:
I'm going to leave the 2nd holding female be. I am always sitting next to the tank as it is next to the computer.

So, when the time is near I will watch her like a hawk and try to snag as many of the newly spit fry as I can and put them into the breeder box. The only serious threat, I think, are the calvus, but they generally stay in their rock pile/shells. Now what happens during the night I can't say...

Yes, I plan on keeping a few of the females to increase the ratio which is at 3M/1F now:unsure:
Thanks, guys.
Click to expand...

If you don't want to strip, wait until her mouth gets really full and then put her in a breeder box in the tank with some moss to let her spit in there.
 
longstocking

longstocking

Members
The problem with some of these ideas...is in a tank by themselves or not is that Paracyps 50% of them time will hold on to them too long and die. I don't know why... even if alone... but they do. My suggestion is to strip after about 20 days and put her right back in. I have kept these for many many years and it's the easiest way with the less loss. Also moving them tank to tank stresses the heck out of them.... along with putting them in some small box where they can't even move. Strip them... it's what breeders do :) :) :) Put the fry in a different tank and let them go back to their group.

JUST MY OPINION ;)
 
thedavidzoo

thedavidzoo

Members
Yesterday morning, day #23, I put my holding paracyp into an old clear plastic pretzel tub with holes and sank the whole thing to the bottom of the tank. Figured it worked with the Callochromis, it might work with the Paracyp. She gets to see her usual surroundings and buddies and might stress less, and I get to keep all the babies.
Well, last night sometime she finally spit 18 fry. At least 3 or 4 are albino with little red pupils. Are albinos more sought after or not? As I am still new to this tang thing, I really don't know what is "popular".
Female was released and immediately began eating. Whew.

And wouldn't you know it, my 3rd and smallest female yellow calvus's fry came out of their shell yesterday also. Maybe I'll have more luck with this batch.

So 6 batches of various fry all get to hang out together in a big homemade floaty breeder (er, plastic pretzel) box.
 
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