scientist0724
Members
I have my holding female in a breeder box right now and her mouth is huge!
I plan on leaving her there until she spits them out.
Arlene
I plan on leaving her there until she spits them out.
Arlene
Depends on the fish, the tank, and how many fry I want.
All else equal, I prefer to let the fish spit. I strip demasoni to sell twice a year. On rare occasions, I will see a female who I know held more than once close together and I will strip her for health reasons so she can get back to eating because she seems thin and weak to me. For the demasoni in particular this can be problematic. This is the exception; fish have a good sense of when they are strong enough to hold.
If I want a few demasoni (6-8) I can let them spit in the tank and pull the survivor fry at some point. If I want more (15+) for sale then I will strip. I strip when I know that 1-2 females have been holding for more than 2.5 weeks, but when I go in the tank I generally strip anyone holding as long as I'm in there. If there are others holding shorter time then I will tumble the eggs.
My larger mbuna tank has fewer hiding spaces and the fish spawn less often. If I had cynos holding I would definitely strip them, as they spawn infrequently in my setup. I let the fuelleborni and red zebras spit, as I generally get a handful of survivors and don't want to deal with many more than that. The red zebras in particular have pretty big clutches for mbuna and I don't want that many.
The tropheus generally are tolerant of their young, and they also eat when holding so they weaken less. I don't strip them now and don't envision doing so in the future; just going into the tank from time to time to scoop out the little ones.
All else equal, I prefer to let the fish spit. I strip demasoni to sell twice a year. On rare occasions, I will see a female who I know held more than once close together and I will strip her for health reasons so she can get back to eating because she seems thin and weak to me. For the demasoni in particular this can be problematic. This is the exception; fish have a good sense of when they are strong enough to hold.
If I want a few demasoni (6-8) I can let them spit in the tank and pull the survivor fry at some point. If I want more (15+) for sale then I will strip. I strip when I know that 1-2 females have been holding for more than 2.5 weeks, but when I go in the tank I generally strip anyone holding as long as I'm in there. If there are others holding shorter time then I will tumble the eggs.
My larger mbuna tank has fewer hiding spaces and the fish spawn less often. If I had cynos holding I would definitely strip them, as they spawn infrequently in my setup. I let the fuelleborni and red zebras spit, as I generally get a handful of survivors and don't want to deal with many more than that. The red zebras in particular have pretty big clutches for mbuna and I don't want that many.
The tropheus generally are tolerant of their young, and they also eat when holding so they weaken less. I don't strip them now and don't envision doing so in the future; just going into the tank from time to time to scoop out the little ones.
scientist0724
Members
Well, my female has been holding for just over a week now. I'm just worried about her because she seems thin.
And I've never stripped a fish before and since she's only 2.5 inches at most, I'm really afraid that when she wiggles, I'm going to end up squishing her. I can see the fry in her mouth and I see little eyeballs (which is a little freaky to me
).
I've put in a couple of shrimp pellets in her breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking and I take out the leftover food after a couple of hours.
Arlene
And I've never stripped a fish before and since she's only 2.5 inches at most, I'm really afraid that when she wiggles, I'm going to end up squishing her. I can see the fry in her mouth and I see little eyeballs (which is a little freaky to me
).I've put in a couple of shrimp pellets in her breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking and I take out the leftover food after a couple of hours.
Arlene
neut
Members
+1
If you're talking about Malawi cichlids, when I did a lot of breeding I preferred to wait 14 days or so-- did occasionally put a momma in a maternity tank to let her release and swallow the eggs at her whim until she naturally lost interest in them.
I've found even Zaire fronts, often notorious for not holding eggs very long, can learn to hold if you're patient enough, but your timing has to be good observing her behavior, because even after a female has learned to hold to term (fully free swimming fry) she may not do it every time. Zaire females are a fish that will eat a bit with fry in her mouth, especially flakes, and, in fact, letting them do so may help them hold longer ime.
dogofwar
CCA Members
Arlene,
The Pseudocrenilabrus (Egyptian Mouthbrooders) are different than Rift Lake fish in that they have smaller babies (and breeding females).
Keep an eye on the female and you'll start to see babies moving in her mouth and/or swimming out. A little longer than a week is about right, depending on the temp.
The key is to feed to female for a few days and letting her recover before re-introducing her...
Matt
The Pseudocrenilabrus (Egyptian Mouthbrooders) are different than Rift Lake fish in that they have smaller babies (and breeding females).
Keep an eye on the female and you'll start to see babies moving in her mouth and/or swimming out. A little longer than a week is about right, depending on the temp.
The key is to feed to female for a few days and letting her recover before re-introducing her...
Matt
Well, my female has been holding for just over a week now. I'm just worried about her because she seems thin.
And I've never stripped a fish before and since she's only 2.5 inches at most, I'm really afraid that when she wiggles, I'm going to end up squishing her. I can see the fry in her mouth and I see little eyeballs (which is a little freaky to me
I've put in a couple of shrimp pellets in her breeder box in hopes that she eats when I'm not looking and I take out the leftover food after a couple of hours.
Arlene
scientist0724
Members
Thanks Matt. Yes, I've read in a very good article in TFH from 2008 that I should fatten the female before returning her back to the main tank.
The fry seem very active in her mouth and I can see several eyes of fry staring back at me. I took some pics the other day. I haven't seen the fry darting in and out of her mouth yet, as the female is very skiddish in her breeder box even though I have a small cave for her and some Christmas moss for cover in there with her.
I'm hoping that she will spit the fry out any day now, though in the article that I read, it said that the fry will continue to use the female's mouth as shelter to the point that one can see tails and heads coming out of her gills!
Arlene
The fry seem very active in her mouth and I can see several eyes of fry staring back at me. I took some pics the other day. I haven't seen the fry darting in and out of her mouth yet, as the female is very skiddish in her breeder box even though I have a small cave for her and some Christmas moss for cover in there with her.
I'm hoping that she will spit the fry out any day now, though in the article that I read, it said that the fry will continue to use the female's mouth as shelter to the point that one can see tails and heads coming out of her gills!
Arlene
