Lab is holding

dlee9707 · 01-17-2007, 04:10 PM

I came home from school to a very strange scene in my tank. The female had her face in a larger males groin while he was shaking vigorously. I got a glimpse of the eggs in her mouth and i'm pretty sure they've made a nest, or atleast settled in a hole that was already there. this was 1 day after i did a gigantic and much needed water change.

This is a first time female, about 2.5 to 3 inches in length. My question is, what can i expect to go wrong with a first time female? I've heard it might swallow the eggs or spit them early. Anything i can do to help prevent this, or what to do if it happens. I would imagine if it spat them earily i'd have to purchase/make an egg tumbler?

Any input is appreciated. This is first time any of my fish have bred, so i'm pretty excited.

EDIT: i forgot to add im preparing a seperate tank for the fry. I bought a 70 gph cascade 300 filter thats running in the main tank now to get cycled. I was thinking about tossing one of the ceramic rings from my canister into it, would that help a large amount or does it not really matter.

gm333 · 01-17-2007, 07:38 PM

Just one ceramic ring wont help a whole lot, use some of the tank water, and put some gravel from the tank into some pantyhose this will help kickstart the cycle alot faster.
As far as the fish she should do just fine, even on the first time. I have yet to see any of my africans fail to rear the eggs the first time. Just keep an eye on her to make sure she doesnt want to release to early to eat.

Tommy Gun · 01-18-2007, 03:07 PM

Like GM, I have had fry since the first mating happened in my tank, however, I have heard that it is common for a 'first timer' to mess up a bit and so if this does go bad, do not worry, there will be much more to come!

The process I use is to count 23 days from the first day that I see a female holding. On the 23rd day, I take her out and put her in the fry tank so that she can spit in there. If you do it too early, the stress of doing this could cause her to spit too soon. I have had females spit into my main tank, but the fry are generally eaten up very quickly and so that is why most people remove the fish to spit in another tank. Once the female is not holding anymore, then I put her back in with the adults. The only thing to consider here is to make sure that the water chemistry is nearly identicle between the two tanks so as to avoid shock. Then you can grow out the fry until they are about an inch long and/or bigger than the largest mouth in your tank.

Good luck and keep us posted! I can honestly tell you that once you have your first breeding happen, it becomes a non-stop thing usually!

dlee9707 · 01-18-2007, 03:51 PM

They havnt bread since i bought them, i'm guessing because i bought them "used" and its a very different tank than his.

To GM: the filter for the smaller tnak is in the main tank now to begin a colony in its sponge. I only paid 13 bucks or something for it but it should be fine for fry. and the ***** at the LFS gave me a canadian dime for change... i'm pretty sure its worth 11 cents american tho so thats sorta cool :P

When i first got them, the two red empress were around eachother alot then they "split up" and just recently i'm seeing the male harassing the female quite a bit. I would love to have a load of red empress fry, very beautiful fish.

I Really wish i would have taken pictures of them mating, it just didnt come to my mind.

When i do move the female, will moving her induce a spit to occur? Ofcourse i'd do it when their ready to come out, just curious if i'd have to leave her in there a few days before she spit.

SIDE QUESTION: i heard the s. fryeri (electic blue) change patters slightly depending on mood. RIght now hes barred much more than i've ever seen him and acting VERRRYY skittish. any thoughts on that?

Tommy Gun · 01-18-2007, 04:22 PM

Quote:

When i do move the female, will moving her induce a spit to occur? Ofcourse i'd do it when their ready to come out, just curious if i'd have to leave her in there a few days before she spit.

Moving the female could induce an 'instant spit', which is the reason for waiting so long to do it...the fry are more apt to be fully developed and ready for life outside of mommy's mouth. With my fish, they generally take the rest of the time (28 days or so I believe) until they spit. This is ok though, even if there are other fry in the tank that the female could normally eat because she already has a mouth full and would not normally eat at all during this time period.

Quote:

SIDE QUESTION: i heard the s. fryeri (electic blue) change patters slightly depending on mood. RIght now hes barred much more than i've ever seen him and acting VERRRYY skittish. any thoughts on that?

In general, a lot of cichlids will change his/her coloring depending on his/her position in the tank. For example, the most dominant fish in the tank would most likely have the brightest coloration of them all. Depending on what type of cichlid you keep, and I am not familiar with the electric blue enough to say much about this color issue, the striping on the fish would be more apparent or more subdued as compared to how dominant they are. For example, in my cichlid tank with yellow labs, the dominant male and what I think is the second most dominant fish, a female, are very bright yellow. The fish that I think is least dominant is a pale yellow with vertical stripes on it. This may not hold true for all cichlids though and the striping on a cichlid like a P. Kennyi would be brighter as the more dominant they are. Sort of vice versa from the yellow lab example.

dlee9707 · 01-18-2007, 09:35 PM

Thats interesting... hes the most "mean spirited" fish in the tank, as far as what i've read goes. But i've never seen him being agressive. I see mild agression every once in a while but never anything from him. He also did get his fin nipped the other day, i dont know who the culprit is. The OB peacock has been getting paler lately as well, all the while getting slightly more agressive. Just something to think about

Anyway, thanks for the input tommy. I'll post again with pictures of the fry once their ready. I guess i'll sell them to the LFS, they have a "no buy from people" policy although i got store credit for fish before. Or i could feed them to Biology teachers turtle....

dlee9707 · 01-31-2007, 06:34 PM

Been 15 days and still going strong. I'm trying to make a DIY brine hatchery for the fry, first attempt is running now. A glad container with a air tube going into it, 2 teaspoons of salt. If it works they'll most likely go down the drain, but will prove how amazing i am. With the hatchery, whats the point of the air? to move the water or actually keep it airated (oxygenized) just curious.