Yellow Lab 99% Sure Of Holding

[fishlover500]

I am 99% sure that my yellow lab is holding, I did not see any eggs or anything but her mouth is huge.
Just wondering when they are mature enough to lay eggs. This one is @ 1" long or so now. There is only 1 other yellow lab in the tank which is slightly smaller. I am unsure of the gender of either of them. Do they lay eggs without getting them fertilized then keep them in there mouth? There are other males in the tank, possiblity of crossbreeding?

 

[fishlover500]

bump, anyone know?

 

[kj23502]

I'd think that's pretty small to be holding. But it could be?? In my journal is a pic of my nyererei holding.

In the aquarium there's always a possibility of crossbreeding.

 

[fishlover500]

I read on some website they are mature @ 1-1.5" or 6 months old.
I am sure it is holding but I am not sure if the eggs have been fertilized?
Do they lay eggs then put them in there mouth then not have a male fertilize them in their mouth?
I intend to strip them and have been researching that, all you do is wet your hands and open mouth w/
your nail and move their head around in the water?

 

[kribensis12]

Your spot on with stripping. That is a small size to be holding, but i assume its possible. Do you have a pic?

 

[kj23502]

Do they lay eggs then put them in there mouth then not have a male fertilize them in their mouth?

I believe the female lays a bunch of eggs and rushes around picking them up while the male is fertilizing. His egg spots are supposed to make the female think there's more eggs to pick up and she may try to pick them up. When she does she also takes in the sperm. That fertilizes the eggs that she picked up to quickly to get fertilized.

 

[fishlover500]

There isn't any place to upload picture on this topic what do I do and by this I mean there is no upload thing when I am replying I even resized the picture in paint

I am sure she is holding.

What would you recommend for stripping though. As in, would you seperate the fish now? or catch her in about 3 weeks and strip the fry straight into fry tank?

KJ: how sure are you about fertilizing? Does any body else know for sure?

 

[dthoffsett]

There isn't any place to upload picture on this topic what do I do and by this I mean there is no upload thing when I am replying I even resized the picture in paint

You'll need to upload your images to photobucket and paste the img code in your message.

I am sure she is holding.

1" is pretty small to hold, but not unheard of. Here's a pic of one of my holding labs.

What would you recommend for stripping though. As in, would you seperate the fish now? or catch her in about 3 weeks and strip the fry straight into fry tank?

Stripping a 1" labs is very difficult because of their tiny mouths, personally, I'd move her now to a holding tank (5-10gal) and let her spit on her own. Be aware though that labs especially are prone to swallowing their first few batches before the fry are viable, but usually get the hang of it. You'll probably only get 5-10 fry from such a small female, as she gets larger obviously the fry numbers will increase.

KJ: how sure are you about fertilizing? Does any body else know for sure?
Kj is correct about fertilizing.

Furthermore, as the male does his shimmying dance, the spots will wave. The movement of these spots on the male's fin induces her to either lay her eggs, or if she has already picked up her laid eggs, the movement will cause her to think that she has left some behind. She will then open her mouth and reach for them. At this point, the male will release his sperm into the water, fertilizing the eggs on the gravel, or in her mouth if she has already picked them up. The male will repeat this process dozens of times, and seems to only stop because the female loses interest. It seems logical to me that after a few dozen fertilizations, the female would be confident that they've been successfully fertilized by that point. Now whether the male actually releases sperm each time he does his dance and she shows interest, I don't know. Probably not.

Quote taken from here.

 

[fishlover500]

Okay thanks, I have a 15 gallon that I will put her in until she spits, then hopefully she won't swallow the fry

Her mouth looks exactly like the one in your pic. She is showing all the "symptoms" - going up to top but not really eating and everything.

And my guess is she cross-bred with an electric blue maingano, as I have seen him chasing and harrassing her a lot in the
last few days. The other lab is fairly small and doesn't ever bother anybody.

 

[fishlover500]

I have a penguin 170 hob filter on the 15 gallon tank, so I put a nylon over the intake and put an elastic on it to hold it.
I also have a thing that i used to have to hold guppy fry, and now I am not using it as I don't have guppies, would you recommend using this for the fry for the first few days? Maybe so they have an easier time finding food and don't get stuck/lost. It is this one, and it floats around in the tank and has small holes that they shouldn't be able to slip through.

https/f3images.secure.miisolutions.net/IM.../HG10933_99.jpg

How long should mother be in there after she spits?
It has been 2 weeks (i think) since i noticed her mouth and that she was holding

Should I move the mother into this trap when she has been holding for 3 weeks?
Should the fry eat the flake that the parents eat crushed up? Is it normal for the holding mother
to be hiding all the time?

sorry for lots of typing;

 

[dthoffsett]

I also have a thing that i used to have to hold guppy fry, and now I am not using it as I don't have guppies, would you recommend using this for the fry for the first few days? Maybe so they have an easier time finding food and don't get stuck/lost. It is this one, and it floats around in the tank and has small holes that they shouldn't be able to slip through.

I don't recommend using breeding traps with mbuna, females should never be put into them as it will greatly stress them by restricting their movement, and in most cases will cause them to swallow their fry. And since mouthbrooders in most cases don't eat their fry they don't need to be separated from them.

How long should mother be in there after she spits?

Most people move the female as soon as she spits. I would feed them up for a few days if they were really skinny, but in most cases it's not needed.

Should the fry eat the flake that the parents eat crushed up? Is it normal for the holding mother
to be hiding all the time?

I typically crushed up whatever the adults were eating, but there's quite a few different foods you can feed fry. Read here for more ideas.

 

[fishlover500]

thanks, great link.

 

[kj23502]

KJ: how sure are you about fertilizing? Does any body else know for sure?

Well, I watched it in a documentary

When I research, I all out research Kinda crazy isn't it

 

[fishlover500]

It has been 3 weeks since I noticed soo...... I should be expecting fry soon?

 

[kj23502]

Yes