[sheeshshe]

ok, its been 24 days now and still no spitting. is this bad?

 

[herny]

no its fine alot of first time moms do this is she in her own tank?? if not she is prolly afaird to let them go

 

[Peacock88]

If you want the babies go ahead and strip her. They will be free swimming and will probably be good for the mom. You can nurture her back to a good size and put her in the main tank again.

 

[sheeshshe]

i dont have a setup right now... but i am just concerned for the moms... there are TWO actually and they both spawned back to back.... will they eventually spit without dying of nutrition first?

 

[chapman76]

24 days is quite normal. They typically don't spit until 28+ days IME.

Also, most (vast majority) of the moms will spit the fry before starving to death. To be on the safe side, if you see her getting dangerously thin, I would strip her.

 

[hollyfish2000]

I had a first time lab mom who I thought was holding unnecessarily long and I was worried about her health. She was in the main tank and I had no chance of catching her. It was suggested I build a "fry pile"-- a small mound of smaller rocks (I used river rocks) that the babies could hid in but the rest of the tank couldn't get in. So I did, and one day latter, mama spit into the pile. I ended up with two babies from her first spit and one from her second. You might consider it. Some day I hope to get rid of the pile, which is wrecking my tank asthetics, but not yet!

 

[cichlidaholic]

I know of a wild Cynotilapia White Top female who held for 6 weeks! She was in a busy show tank, and just refused to let go of the babies.

Kim

 

[sheeshshe]

WOW 6 weeks in a long time! so they can go quite a while witout food then. phew!

i did put in a fry pile in there. but they never venture out that direction so i hope they knew its there! i wanted to save a couple fish for some friends

 

[CHK]

You can try getting those acrylic breeder containers that float on the water (my fry get attacked in breeder nets) and keep the one mum in each with a clump of java moss which serves as a fry catch. My fish usually spit by the 3rd week (21 days or so) and my tanks are at 82F. Also, I would feed her a few pellets of NLS each day. Seems like she will nibble at them, perhaps to feed the fry and may also induce spitting due to sight of food. Just keep some MTS around for the cleanup.

 

[cichlidaholic]

They tend to hold longer when they are in the tank with other fish. My females will release the fry up to a week sooner if I have them in a tank alone.

Kim

 

[sheeshshe]

i noticed this morning one of the females was eating some food. she is still holding though. perhaps she is feeding the fish. but i think she is thinking of spitting because she's been swiming around the tank more than she was before. she was even dancing with one of the other fish... that was weird...

 

[cichlidaholic]

They sometimes become more aggressive towards other fish when it's time to release fry.

 

[sheeshshe]

it seems that the socolofi is gearing up them to release. the yellow lab though, no interest whatsoever! and she is HUGE!!!!!!!! she's been filled to the brim since she spawned, its crazy!

 

[sheeshshe]

socolofi spit, but still nothing on the lab! its been more than 4 weeks now. ok..... so, how hard is it to spot baby fish anyways? trying to figure out if any of the socolofi's have survived or not.

 

[cichlidaholic]

so, how hard is it to spot baby fish anyways? trying to figure out if any of the socolofi's have survived or not.

Depends on how good your vision is...

When my rams spawned, I thought I had dust particles in the water.

Fry can be pretty clever at hiding out. Once they get a bit braver, watch closely at feeding time and you will see them dart out for a bite now and then.

 

[sheeshshe]

how fun!

 

[why_spyder]

24 days is quite normal. They typically don't spit until 28+ days IME.

Also, most (vast majority) of the moms will spit the fry before starving to death. To be on the safe side, if you see her getting dangerously thin, I would strip her.

I definitely agree. Many of the mothers I've had held close to 4 weeks, and I've yet to lose a female to starvation. Worse come to worse, she may decide to eat the young.

I have stripped a female or two that I thought were getting too thin as well.

 

[sheeshshe]

Its been 4 1/2 weeks now. and her nose area is red like... is this normal? she is going up for food these past few days.

 

[cichlidaholic]

I'm not sure what you mean with the red nose thing...Any chance of a pic?

Is she eating, or just acting like she wants to?

 

[sheeshshe]

they are sleeping right now, so i cant take a photo, but i will try tomorrow. above the mouth on both sides it is bright red like... almost looks like blood. its weird.