[longislandmbuna]

okay my female yellow lab which is a first time holder has been holding but is swallowing the eggs slowly i would really like the fry and dont know how long she will need to wait for a next clutch anybody know? and if i strip the eggs tonight which is 8 days i was gonna wait till the 18th but want some of the fry will the eggs be able to hatch or be fomed if i put them in a breeder net above my air stone? please answer quicky thanks!

 

[snoskiur]

How do you know she is swallowing some of them? I've only recently started breeding mbuna, but, from what I've learned so far, you should be fine stripping them early... if you have to. I have one now that I stripped at 3 days because I thought she had a mouthful of Synodontis Multipuntatus catfish eggs (read up on them - it's an interesting breeder!) But, when I stripped her, I just had about 35 of her own eggs... I put the eggs in an egg tumbler that I made and, if all goes well, I should have fry in about three weeks... I made a tumbler for just a few bucks from some simple items at Lowes...

 

[xxbenjamminxx]

You will need to put them in a tumbler or they most likely will succumb to egg rot. Like Snoskiur asked, how do you know that she is swallowing them?

Alot of the time when first holding the mouth will look very full, but over time she must either spit the unfertilized ones or they must settle in her mouth making them looks not as full as before.

Personally since its her first time I would let her hold to about the day 18 mark and then strip if your gonna. Its very common for them to lose their first batch so dont sweat it. Besides once they start they dont stop. Give it another 3-4 weeks and she will be doing it again.

 

[brinkles]

What he said. I stopped even attempting to catch first time moms. I tried to strip one of my lab sp. hongi, but she has a super tiny mouth and I couldn't get the fry out, so I let her spit on her own.