First Time Daddy

[NeilP]

If CichlidAddict is right, i should be a daddy (well, not me personally ) for my Yellow Labs.

I will have a spare tank after this weekend which i can, when doing the water changes on the other tanks, seed the new tank with old water and an existing mature filter.

Is is a good idea to put mum in the new tank before or after she 's had the bubs.

Thought - if she's holding, then does that mean she has already had them....?

Heeeeellllpp

Would be a good idea to put her into her own tank, just the bubs when they start to swim around (which could be difficult as the whole back wall of the tank is rock (all 30" x 36" of it!) or just leave them alone....... or even non of the above.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The female holds the eggs in her mouth. They hatch and the female continues to hold the fry until they are fully developed.

There are a few methods of dealing with them.

I only move her when she is close to the end of her term, they are more comfortable in the main tank then alone in the fry tank. What I actually do is wait almost a month and then strip the fry (force her mouth open carefully and let the fry swim out) into the fry tank and return her immediately into the main tank, but it's probably best for you at this point to move her and let her spit out the fry on her own. Once she has spit them, you can return her to the main tank at any time.

If she spits the fry in the main tank then it will be a game of survival of the fittest, and not too many will actually make it. If you try and keep all of the fry every time they breed you'll be setting up lot's of tanks, Labs just don't stop breeding!

 

[NeilP]

Thanks Freddy,

I think I'll wait another week, as i feel she has been holding for a couple of weeks already. That way not only will the new tank had time to settle a bit moere, but she won't be in there too long on her own.

What should i furnish the babies tank with ....

Gravel or Sand

Plants / no plants



And what should i feed them with........


I know - i should be looking this up and doing my own research - but errrrrrrrr....... it's late, and this is far easier!

Thanks for your help so far!

Neil.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I know - i should be looking this up and doing my own research - but errrrrrrrr....... it's late, and this is far easier!

The best fry tank is bare bottom with no sand or gravel, and only a couple of rocks for some security. Fry can be messy and they need pristine water for optimal growth, keeping the tank bare will make that easy to achieve.

I use a mortar and pestle to grind up the same food that I feed the adults into a powder, and just use that. Frozen baby brine shrimp makes a great supplement.

 

[dcraveiro]

when you refer to "labs", are you talking about labidochromis caeruleus?

 

[freshmike]

when you refer to "labs", are you talking about labidochromis caeruleus?

...and I agree with the bare bottom tank and the crushed flake.....one of my fry tanks used to have a small amount of gravel.....and even that much collected tons of crap....considering I feed the fry about 4-5 times a day......also do big w/c's every 3-4 days...good luck with the new babies neil!

 

[NeilP]

Well. i tried to catch the mums ( i have 2 of the randy little so and so's!) but even with virtually all of the 70Kg of rock removed, i couldn't and didn't want to stress the mummies too much,

and

I've just spotted two tiny little fry hiding under the rock at the bottom of the tank!

No colouration, and about 4 - 5mm long

Cute lil things

I hope they don't get eaten!

I'll post some pics if i can get them.......

 

[Adrinal]

FUN FUN FUN hey

I got one of those heavy duty low plant carpets (1'x1') They love to hide in there. Electric yellows arn't overly aggressive. I have about 9 1"-2" fry in with a pair and they don't even seem to knotice them.

I have a 10g Breed out which I put fry in after they just cant fit in the beta boxes any longer. It has a penguin biowheel HOB, heater, and 1light bulb. I use many houses I have collected over the years (my main tanks all have the natural look going on). The houses are fun to watch them run in and out of and makes for easy capture (put hand on bottom of house... fish is traped They are very easy to clean / boil). I put the tank away when it is not in use, but I keep the filter running on the main tank so I can set it up in a moments notice.