Cichlid holding babies

[Yvonne96]

Hi guys!

New to this forum.

I have an electric yellow cichlid who’s been holding for the last 3 days. I can see she’s very hungry but just won’t release the babies.
I have seen YouTube videos of people opening their mouths and letting them out but not sure if that’s the right thing to do?
We have tinfoils and several other yellow cichlids, 2 plecos im a bit worried they’ll eat them should I get a little floating area and segregate her?
As you can see in the picture, the little guy looks absolutely fed up.

Thanks for any helps and tips.
Yvonne

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

That's a great photo. It probably needs a caption contest.
Anyway she's been holding for longer than 3 days as it takes 7 to 10 days for the fry to hatch and become free swimming. I'm not sure if she would feel comfortable in a little breeder net to release the fry. Do you have a spare tank to set up just for the female and fry? If you can get the fry out you can raise them for awhile in the breeder net till they can go in the main tank.
One of the tricks I've used in the past, if the female is small enough is to place her, head first into a turkey baster, and gently, very gently squeeze the bulb and she will release the fry. They will come out right into the breeder net.

 

[MattW]

Just have to say I love the photo

 

[Yvonne96]

That's a great photo. It probably needs a caption contest.
Anyway she's been holding for longer than 3 days as it takes 7 to 10 days for the fry to hatch and become free swimming. I'm not sure if she would feel comfortable in a little breeder net to release the fry. Do you have a spare tank to set up just for the female and fry? If you can get the fry out you can raise them for awhile in the breeder net till they can go in the main tank.
One of the tricks I've used in the past, if the female is small enough is to place her, head first into a turkey baster, and gently, very gently squeeze the bulb and she will release the fry. They will come out right into the breeder net.

I will definitely consider the spare tank, thank you for that!!

 

[Yvonne96]

Just have to say I love the photo

It does give me a good giggle