[azador]

I have a red zebra and I believe she mated with my Red Top Albino Zebra. They have been defending their rock aggressively and when I looked at her today her moth is bulging. Should I remove her from the tank (there are 14 other cichlids in the tank)? Or will her and her mate be able to defend their young? Her mate is the Alpha Male of the tank, but they do seem a little stressed. Just want what's best for her.
before I noticed her holding, http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m56 ... r8/014.jpg
probable father, http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m56 ... r8/007.jpg
now appears to be holding, http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m56 ... r8/030.jpg

 

[Glaneon]

Leave her until about day 18, then you can remove & strip her - let her get to eating again.

She should be able to hold her own in the tank for a while.

 

[azador]

Thanks for the info. I have actually seen a female being stripped of her babies before, it doesn't look too hard. I guess the fry should go in a separate tank or breeding net?

 

[Glaneon]

Yup. If you use something other than sponge filter, put a sponge around the intake - otherwise the babies will be sucked up.

 

[azador]

Ahh, didn't think about the filter, probably just do a breeders net. Any idea how many fry they usually produce the first time around?

 

[Glaneon]

I had 20 from a yellow lab.
Then I had 17 from a Elongatus Kanchedza

I have a Red Zebra holding now (probably in last 2 days I think), so I'll let ya know

 

[azador]

Sweet, look forward to hearing how many you get! :thumb:

 

[azador]

Just noticed about 1/2 an hour ago that my female's eggs had hatched, baby's moving around in her mouth. I suspected it was about time. I gently stripped her, because she was not wanting to drop the babies even in the holding tank. She had 12 and an unhatched egg. 2 were dead when they fell out. So I have 10 healthy little babies. When should I feed her? When should I feed them? It only took about 15 minutes to strip all the fry. She is back in the community tank and the fry are in a small holding tank inside the bigger one. Any other advice would be appreciated? Thank you

 

[Glaneon]

Do they still have the yolk sac?

You can feed them crushed flake/pellet, etc.. but they wont eat for a day or two usually.

 

[azador]

Not sure about the yolk sack.... didn't look like it. It doesn't really matter now, I left them in the breeders cube. It was the more expensive plastic one with hair line slits in the sides to allow water flow, and a lid. It just floats around the tank, when I got home after running some errands there was only one baby left in the cube. I have no idea what happened to the others, they were too big to fit through the slits in the plasitc? The one little guy left was just laying at the bottom, but alive. I just checked on him a few minutes ago and he is gone as well. I can't fathom what happened? Unless some of my larger cichlids sucked them through the slits in the sides? Not happy about this at all . I guess if there is a next time, I will put the in a 5 or 10 gallon on their own. Mommy fish is visably distraught, she keeps looking in the cube an swimming all around it.

 

[DJRansome]

cichlids sucked them through the slits in the sides?

This is what they do, even if the fry bodies are destroyed in the process.

 

[Glaneon]

They make a netlike floating box that the bigger fish can't suck anyone through. I've used it in my 125 with no issues (twice).

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3788232

The holes are like 1/16th at most.

Just don't let the detrius build up inside (or outside) - I think I lost 1 or 2 fry from not cleaning it regularly.

 

[DJRansome]

I think you have been lucky Glaneon. That is exactly the type of mesh the adults suck the fry through. Their bodies are destroyed as they are strained through the holes that are too small to fit them intact.

In an emergency sometimes you can use one if you put a layer of substrate in the bottom.

 

[Glaneon]

I've never had fry with yolks. All mine have always been decent little fry size.

 

[azador]

I don't think they had yolk sacs. They looked just like little mini cichlids. One died because Mom clamped her mouth shut just as he was coming out. The other did not look like it formed right. The body was odd looking, it came out dead. Then there was the unhatched egg, but it probably just never got fertilized? I have a 10 gallon with a stupid comet goldfish in it. I don't have the heart to kill him, he's about 7". I might try to give him to a pet store now that he is so large, and just use that tank for my fish if they breed again. Thanks for all the input. Hopefully next time I will get it right. I think Mom might be more willing to let the fry out when their ready if she is in a tank by herself anyhow...

 

[Glaneon]

slightly OT: I had 2 comets in my turtle tank. They were originally feeder fish for my turtles... but they were never caught. I figured it was time to dispose of them... THEN I found out how much the women in the house loved them.

Boy did I feel horrible.

 

[azador]

Being a woman, I understand. I just don't have the heart to kill anything except insects. He is a pretty comet, but I can't put him in my cichlid tank, for obvious reasons. I also can not put him my tank with my tropical fish because he already ate almost all my guppies and tetra before I figured out it was him. I should be able to find someone with a pond or a store that sells pond fish to take him.