I need to strip the fry soon

[pjeff]

I was wondering how to strip the fry from an electric yellow mine is starting to look bad after going a long time with out food any hhelp is a appreciated

 

[-Pister-]

im sorry i cant help, but can i ask what the term "fry" is?

 

[lizard]

can i ask what the term "fry" is?

Nope, no questions allowed here (I'm just teasing you!)
Fry = baby fish (no, not cooked!)

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[-Pister-]

lol no questions? how about a wondering statement

thanx man, you know much about red tail sharks?

 

[lizard]

lol no questions? how about a wondering statement

thanx man, you know much about red tail sharks?

Welllllll......okay....but just this once!

Uh <raises hand> I'm not a man... I'll answer your shark question anyway. If I'm thinking of the right fish: they have red tails and they're sharks! Helpful, ain't I? Other than that, I know nothing about them (other than that they live in water, need to be fed, yadda, yadda, yadda). Sorry. I'm really in a goofy/sarcastic mood tonight, ain't I? Maybe it's 'cause tomorrow's Monday and I have an English test. Then on Wednesday I have a Microbiology test. Ick (no, not the fish bug).

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[pjeff]

This is ergent i need to know how to strip the fry my female is startin to look really bad

 

[aernympha]

don't hold this against me but i have hear dof f u take it out the wtaer the female will relase the fry back itno the water............ but i am not sure i dont' relaly no much about african cichlids and i hope ur cichlid gets though this!

 

[freshmike]

Ok, here's what I do.
1) Make sure your hands are very clean eg: no lotions or anything
2) wet your hands with tank water
3) catch your fish and do following steps while she is still in net
4) hold her gently....she will settle down eventually
5) you will need to either use you finger nail or a dull tooth pick to pry the BOTTOM part of her mouth open, be VERY gentle
6) she will spit out the fry.

Easy as pie....the hardest part really is catching her!!! LOL!
Electric yellows also have very small mouths, so take alot of care in not injuring her. Depending on what size she is, the fry may be hard to get out, be patient.

 

[smb]

fm, like always, is spot on.

What I was curious about just for my own curiosity, is how long has she been holding?

 

[Rift Man]

I would never reccommend anyone Strippig brooding fish,
The way I have always done it is..
Put her in a holding tank by herself and then use some roof slate or flat rock, make very small caves, ie a pice of roofing slate on top of anothe piece the object is to create a space so small that the free swimming fry can get into but the female cannot get them back out, because rest assured they WILL get out of her mouth at some point, maybe early morning whennyou dont have the lights on etc.. Then simply put 1 or 2 flakes of food in tank and leave for a few hours quitely, chances are she will take it of she is hungary, if not the filter will clean the flake up so no harm done.

 

[cichlidmaster]

If she has been holding for 3 weeks or longer be very careful as the fry are probably fully developed and just netting her could be enough to make her spit the fry out.

If she does not spit the fry out in the net, there is a much easier way to strip her of them.

Fill a small container with tank water (enough to cover the fish if you hold her lenght wise.

While holding her, submerge her in the water (head down) and gently squeeze her gills.

This will cause her mouth to open and the fry will simply swim out. Make sure to squeeze VERY GENTLY!!!

Mike's way is also correct, but for one who has never stripped a fish before it is very easy to break her lower jaw while pulling it down!!

As for stripping fish...........there are many professional breeders who strip their females regulary.

This is done for many reasons, but the main one is money!!!

When I was professionaly breeding Africans, I would regulary strip the eggs after 24 hours. I would hatch them artificially in an egg tumbler.

Doing this allowed the female to eat after stripping the eggs, and thus allow her to ripen more eggs quicker.

Some believe that by stripping the females this makes subsequent generations less likely to hold eggs to term!!

I have never seen any eveidence of this personally.

Good luck.

CM

 

[pjeff]

thank u all i did it succesfully i used cm's technique thanks man i only have about 75 fry is that very many

 

[cichlidmaster]

pjeff,

Congrats!!

If this is their first brood, then yes 75 fry would be considered a large spawn.

CM

 

[smb]

Great advice, CM.

Yea, like mentioned, if it's the first brood, 75 is pretty dang good. You'll get a lot more each time.

Put her in a holding tank by herself and then use some roof slate or flat rock, make very small caves, ie a pice of roofing slate on top of anothe piece the object is to create a space so small that the free swimming fry can get into but the female cannot get them back out, because rest assured they WILL get out of her mouth at some point, maybe early morning whennyou dont have the lights on etc..

I agree to a point.

If it's her first clutch then she might not know what to do. She will learn as it's instinctive but sometimes stripping is necessary. That's why I asked how long she's been holding because a lot of females will hold them for so long that the food she eats will be taken by the brood and they get huge inside her mouth. This is jmo, and no more valid than yours, and maybe less valid.