2 Yellow Labs Holding

I was watching my fish up close this afternoon and discovered 2 of my yellow labs are holding. I have never caught them like this in time to do something. Hence why I am here asking what do I do? Do I wait a while and monitor them or do I need to get them out and place them in nursery tanks?

Its ironic that I found these labs both holding because I just placed a order today for 2 heaters, 2 sponge filters, powerful air pump, 20 feet of airline tubing and made arrangements with my favorite LFS to pick up 2 20 gallon long tanks. These tanks I am setting up top over bottom for fry only. It will take a couple of days to get those orders I placed online today. However, I do have a 10 gallon not in use that I could set up in the mean time until I get the 20's going.

The labs are hanging around the holey tock and being fairly aggressive with anyone getting around their areas. Should I remove them now or wait? I have no idea how long they been holding - I wish there was a way to tell.

 

I can't tell you how long they have been holding either.
I just know they hold for about a total ( eggs and fry ) of around 20 days
Basically there are two ways to deal with this issue.
1) You can do nothing, and allow the females to spit the young in the tank, where they will hide and grow in the millions of small holes in the THR.
or
2) You can catch the females when they are sleeping ( not easy as they will be in the rocks )
Then holding them upside down over a small bucket containing the same parameter water as the tank, you can strip ( open mouth very carefully ) and allow the fry to fall into the bucket, and then to a place them in small rearing tank ( same params )
You can then place the females into another tank ( same params ) for a week /10 days to recover before placing them back in the main tank.
Hope this helps you a little

 

I can't tell you how long they have been holding either.
I just know they hold for about a total ( eggs and fry ) of around 20 days
Basically there are two ways to deal with this issue.
1) You can do nothing, and allow the females to spit the young in the tank, where they will hide and grow in the millions of small holes in the THR.
or
2) You can catch the females when they are sleeping ( not easy as they will be in the rocks )
Then holding them upside down over a small bucket containing the same parameter water as the tank, you can strip ( open mouth very carefully ) and allow the fry to fall into the bucket, and then to a place them in small rearing tank ( same params )
You can then place the females into another tank ( same params ) for a week /10 days to recover before placing them back in the main tank.
Hope this helps you a little

Yes it does help thanks. I am unsure of what to do but I am excited about the find. I am afraid if I leave them in there if they do spit the fry out they will be eaten up fairly quickly. I also worry that the mom may swallow the eggs which in many cases they will. I could setup the little 10 gallon today and try to catch the moms ugh that's so hard to do in this big of a tank. Dang.. I am just not sure what to do here... I have heard of the stripping but I have never tried it. Will the eggs hatch okay once they are stripped and away from the mom? I also do not have a sponge filter so I worry the eggs will get sucked up by the HOB. Unless my LFS has them or petsmart but I am just not sure. If one of them has them I may have to just buy one since this seems to be happening so fast.

 

I really wish I knew what to do with these guys. I am afraid if I strip them then eggs may come out. Have any of you guys and gals ever stripped a fish and it be eggs instead of fish? I do not have a egg tumbler so what do you do in those cases if they are eggs?

They both have a mouth full that's for sure but I can not make out if its eggs or fish and its driving me nuts. What would you guys do in this case? I need lots of feedback here lol I am freaking out!

 

I really wish I knew what to do with these guys. I am afraid if I strip them then eggs may come out. Have any of you guys and gals ever stripped a fish and it be eggs instead of fish? I do not have a egg tumbler so what do you do in those cases if they are eggs?

They both have a mouth full that's for sure but I can not make out if its eggs or fish and its driving me nuts. What would you guys do in this case? I need lots of feedback here lol I am freaking out!

I tried once. My B. antuta male was very patient with me but it was NOT successful lol. I would recommend leaving the fish be. Most may swallow only the first one or two batches but if you don't allow them time to get the hang of it they may never hold to term.

 

I tried once. My B. antuta male was very patient with me but it was NOT successful lol. I would recommend leaving the fish be. Most may swallow only the first one or two batches but if you don't allow them time to get the hang of it they may never hold to term.

Just for FYI reasons if I were to ever strip one and eggs came out would they hatch and survive in the tank?

 

Just for FYI reasons if I were to ever strip one and eggs came out would they hatch and survive in the tank?

Doubtful, you'll most likely need to use a tumbler.

 

You do not strip the eggs
You strip the fry out by gently holding the fish in a wet hand with its head down into the bucket.
Then, very gently prise open the mouth ( I use a piece of bamboo skewer that has been rounded on the end, and is smooth ), and the fry drop out into the bucket.
Then transfer to a fry rearing tank and the moms to another tank as I previously posted.
The hardest part is catching the fish first
I used to remove the rocks a day before, and wait until they were well asleep in a very dark room.
Then switch on the light and quickly catch the fish before they woke up.
Comical at times

 

You do not strip the eggs
You strip the fry out by gently holding the fish in a wet hand with its head down into the bucket.
Then, very gently prise open the mouth ( I use a piece of bamboo skewer that has been rounded on the end, and is smooth ), and the fry drop out into the bucket.
Then transfer to a fry rearing tank and the moms to another tank as I previously posted.
The hardest part is catching the fish first
I used to remove the rocks a day before, and wait until they were well asleep in a very dark room.
Then switch on the light and quickly catch the fish before they woke up.
Comical at times

What I meant by the eggs question was while stripping if eggs come out instead of hatched fry then the eggs would never hatch. I can not tell by looking at either of the expecting moms whether they actually have a mouth full of eggs or hatched babies.

Yes when it comes to catching the fish it is no easy task.... the bigger the tank the tougher.... Myself armed with a net and my wife armed with a net... yesterday we tried.... and we tried and we tried.... then we tried some more... no luck on catching either. I just decided I would give it another shot in a day or so.

I do not worry too much about the actual stripping process but I worry that I will be too early and ultimately have eggs coming out instead of fish. I was looking at my expecting moms a bit ago and notice one of them is not holding any more so either she laid them in the holey rock or she swallowed them.

 

The fish has either dropped the eggs due to being stressed ( not uncommon ) or the fry have been spat out and are in the Holey Rock.
Keep a close eye on the tank and the fry will emerge from time to time browsing for food if they are there
As for trying to catch the fish, you alone should use 2 nets
One net to gentle guide the fish, and the other to scoop under the fish when you trap it in a corner
As for the are there eggs or fry question, then you need to try and work out from when you first saw the female holding, and then try to allow a period of 14/16 days - holding fry for sure

 

Doubtful, you'll most likely need to use a tumbler.

Do you own a tumbler? If so where did you get it from?

 

I am going to make another attempt at catching my yellow lab that is holding. Its been about a week to 10 days now that she has had her mouth full. I am ordering a egg tumbler today from Kens. Wish me luck on catching her in this minI ocean I have. I wish there was another way to catch these fish when I need to. I have literally spent hours catching them before.

 

I caught her! I stripped her and I have 17 babies. I hope they make it. They are just tiny little things. They look like tadpoles.