Electric Yellow with a MOUTHFUL of fry!! suggestions?
here's a short video clip of my holding yellow lab:
I normally let my electric yellow fish just spit into the tank naturally but usually only 1-3 fry survive that way so I was thinking about stripping her for the first time..
What is the best method of doing this without stressing the mom out too much/injuring the fry?
Also, I can SEE the fry in her mouth their eyes and faces but how can I tell if they are free swimming yet (have fully absorbed their eggs)?
I first noticed her holding around August 1st...
& After I strip the fish, if I put the fry in a breeding contraption that connects to the top of the main tank... appx. how many days would the fry have to be contained in there before I can release them with the adult yellow labs? Will they be able to survive in that on crushed up spirulina flakes for that time period?
If anyone can help out or give me any advice that would be greattt
We always strip our Malawi Cichlids... they hold for 21 days so I'd say around the 17-19th day. Take the mom to the fry tank, hold her gently. Squeeze her mouth slowly open over the tank with her face in the water...most of the baby will come out. But they also try to swim back in. Sometimes you need to work them out of her mouth with your fingers, caress her throat area, that helps here.
Put Mom back in her tank and feed wait about 1/2 hr then feed her.
I've always held her in a small bowl of tank water and just slowly eased her mouth open with tweezers or something. Sometimes she spits as soon as she is moved. If it were me and another tank were available i'd put the fry in it. It will give a better survival rate.
I don't mean to hi-jack, but seriously, that's what you have to do?
Alexxxis, she sure is a pretty fish.
Sometimes yes...sometimes they will spit the babies out in the fry tank at the wrong time when you aren't there to catch Mom. If in the main tank all fish will go on a feeding frenzy...Malawis can have anywhere to 5 babies to 63 or more dependingon the size of the species. we've had out of a few moms lately.
Momma who is very hungry after not eating for a few weeks will eat all of her fry.
Thanks everyone.
I've tried a seperate 10 gallon tank before for fry but they always seem to have a higher survival rate in the breeding contraption in the main tank since the pH is already at 7.8, nitrate at 0, and it is well cycled and clean...
I just was wondering how many days would be safe to keep them in there for so that they would be big enough to be with the adult electric yellows??
I could not capture a video of the actual stripping since my hands were full and it was my first time ever trying this...
I did get a video and a few pictures of the fry!!
I counted around 27 fry!!
this was also my first time stripping and now that the mother is back in the tank (and extremely hard to catch) I spy a few more babies in her mouth.. but I guess I will just let her spit those few naturally if that's okay
I counted around 27 fry!!
this was also my first time stripping and now that the mother is back in the tank (and extremely hard to catch) I spy a few more babies in her mouth.. but I guess I will just let her spit those few naturally if that's okay
That's a good batch. My first yellow labs had 28 fry the first time.
Congrats and Lucky! Our Red Fins (Malawi) female usually spits the fry before we can catch her so we have to catch the fry. Couldn't see the vids from work but still cool when you can save them.
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