Strip or Hold?

[Reed]

I want to see what others do when they find a fish holding
Do you
- strip and tumble the eggs
- immediately isolated her in a breeder box or separate tank let her hold full term
-leave her in the tank for a while then remove her and strip her after a while
-leave her in the tank and try to fish out the fry later

This could be a good poll/ survey question

Sent from my GT-P7510 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Pat Kelly]

I usually leave the female in the tank for a couple weeks. Then remove and put in a small tank with one clay pot.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[verbal]

I have found trying to strip at about 2 weeks works best for me. At that point generally they have some egg sac left but the fungus risk is pretty low. I have a really rough semi tumbler I sometimes rig up, but probably gentle circulation from an air stone would do the trick.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Jmoore]

I leave her in tank for 2 weeks, then strip and put in tumbler... Right now I am mainly trying to raise one type of fry, so I let other females hold and spit in tank


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[zackcrack00]

I am planning on getting mbuna, and I would strip strip at 2-3 days and and then tumble.

 

[todda]

just stripped my Paracyprichromis nigripinnis at 14 days & got 10 fry with just a little egg sack left.

 

[chriscoli]

I'd say I end up doing a little of all of the above. I like to strip when there's just a little yolk sac left, but sometimes I miss the mark. Depending on the tank sometimes I'll leave her alone until I strip....sometimes I take her out and give her some quiet time. I find that some of my Vics will spit as soon as they are caught so I try to leave them alone for a few weeks.

For me, egg tumbling has been hit or miss.

 

[Yael]

just stripped my Paracyprichromis nigripinnis at 14 days & got 10 fry with just a little egg sack left.

Now I know who to talk to when I get my tank set up for these guys! Please start a thread and tell us how you're keeping them. So pretty!


Oh, and to answer the question - I'm not trying to raise fry so mama stays and fry mostly get eaten but there's always a few that survive by hiding really well. Then when I have too many I fish them out and rehome them. Any fry anyone might get from me are tough, survivors types.

 

[YSS]

If you can isolate the female, I don't see the need to strip and tumble. Let the mom spit the babies out.

 

[Hannibal]

I don't pull anything, just leave them in the tank.

Works great in my Taiwan Reef tank, probably to the point to where I am going to have to start getting rid of some.

Now my mixed mbuna tank that is another story, very rarely do I see any fry and when I do they don't last very long...

I did pick up one of those marine breeder boxes so I may give the whole stripping thing a try at some point.

 

[Rasta Fish]

Leave in tank for about 2 weeks then strip and put them in a breeder net @ that time the fys are free swimmers or almost free swimmers

 

[scientist0724]

This is a great thread!

I have some Egyptian Mouthbrooders and one of my females is holding. They are such small fish that I don't want to handle them because I'm afraid of squishing them.

I have the female in a breeder box and still waiting for her to spit the fry out. Since it doesn't appear that she is eating and I'm a little worried about her (this is my first time dealing with mouthbrooders and I don't know what I'm doing despite all the literary research I've done), do I drop a little bit of food in the breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking?

Arlene

 

[zackcrack00]

This is a great thread!

I have some Egyptian Mouthbrooders and one of my females is holding. They are such small fish that I don't want to handle them because I'm afraid of squishing them.

I have the female in a breeder box and still waiting for her to spit the fry out. Since it doesn't appear that she is eating and I'm a little worried about her (this is my first time dealing with mouthbrooders and I don't know what I'm doing despite all the literary research I've done), do I drop a little bit of food in the breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking?

Arlene

Holding females rarely eat while holding fry. I would stop adding food into the breeder box if it were me.

 

[dogofwar]

Hi Arlene,

Are they the nicholsi or the yellow ones?

I've bred both and the best thing is to separate holding females until you can see the fry darting out for food.

They're small fish but at that stage, the female will spit pretty easily when you strip her. Just be gentle...

Matt

This is a great thread!

I have some Egyptian Mouthbrooders and one of my females is holding. They are such small fish that I don't want to handle them because I'm afraid of squishing them.

I have the female in a breeder box and still waiting for her to spit the fry out. Since it doesn't appear that she is eating and I'm a little worried about her (this is my first time dealing with mouthbrooders and I don't know what I'm doing despite all the literary research I've done), do I drop a little bit of food in the breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking?

Arlene

 

[scientist0724]

Hi Arlene,

Are they the nicholsi or the yellow ones?

I've bred both and the best thing is to separate holding females until you can see the fry darting out for food.

They're small fish but at that stage, the female will spit pretty easily when you strip her. Just be gentle...

Matt

Matt,

I have Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae

Arlene

 

[dogofwar]

Awesome!

Matt,

I have Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae

Arlene

 

[chriscoli]

Holding females rarely eat while holding fry. I would stop adding food into the breeder box if it were me.

That is not entirely true. My holding Mbuna and Vics do eat a little. There's some uncertainty about why and what they're doing with the food...feeding themselves or the new fry in their mouths?

In any case, my Mbuna do take a small amount of flake after they've held for a week or so. Pellets don't seem to work too well although once I have stripped a Vic female and found pieces of pellet in her mouth along with the fry...so I think these are all just trends. It probably depends on the setup, the species, and the individual fish.

This is why if I have them in a breeder box or tank, I try to keep an apple snail in with them so that it will eat any of the small amount of flake that I do offer that the female doesn't eat. Then you've got an apple snail already in the tank for when the fry are released (see Rachel's posts for the benefits of that!)

 

[todda]

I strip my P. Nicholsi at about 10 days & put them in a spectrum bucket with an airstone till they are free swimming. And usually get 30+ fry. If I let them hold till they spit on their own, I only get about 15 fry. They will spawn under 1 inch in size. Scientist0724 - use a monoject 412 syringe to help strip small fish, here's a link >http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...900-1-s&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&fr2=sg-gac&sado=1 I have noticed my P. Nicholsi eating while she has been holding? I keep my Paracyprichromis nigripinnis & my albino Paracyprichromis nigripinnis groups in a 29 gallon tanks. They like to be crowded. When I put them in a 55 - no spawning at all. Yael - PM me if you have question about paracyps.

 

[zackcrack00]

So in the future: strip at 2 weeks, and then can I put my fry in a 29 gallon tank?

 

[jonclark96]

If they are the only fish in the 29 you should be okay. I'd go with a breeder box/net for a few more weeks if it were me.