Holding Lab!

[Snake42490]

well.. for the past week my little yellow lab not even two inches yet was just standing back not doing anything.. always defending territory.. so i thought something was up. then noticing the mouth getting huge i started things then was like no way she just turned a year like a month ago.. well tonight i saw some babies in her mouth!! haha.. very exciting. with that being said what should i do with her. shes the second smallest fish in the tank.. along with some almost 3 inch kenyi and red zebras.. along with 6 petricola. i REALLY want to keep these babies.. last time it worked out.. i thought the fish had a tumor and was going to die so i put it in a net and poked at the tumor and a baby came out haha.. only 3 lived and the one that i poked out was one of them haha... i have noticed the mouth thing for maybe 1 week now.. if that helps at all... but tell me anything i want these babies to live haha.. i have the option of putting her in her own tank to if you think that would be a good idea.. thanks seth

 

[Snake42490]

so after school i decided to feed my fish a bit and i noticed the lab like swim into the food and take little chunks into its mouth.. its really weird.. is it trying to feed the fry or is she eating it?? im still lost on what to do here haha... any ideas would be great. i could easily get a new tank tonight if thats what you guys think would be best.

 

[kribensis12]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really no nothing about yellow labs, but i would seperate her until she spits.

 

[dthoffsett]

Congrats!

If you want to keep the babies, move her to her own tank, 5-10 gallons works best. It can be a simple set up, bare bottom, a couple of rocks made into a cave or two so she feels secure. You'll need a mature (cycled) filter, sponge filters work best with fry so they don't get sucked up. She should spit at around 24-28 days, you can either keep her in the tank with the fry for a few days to fatten her up, or you can remove her immeadiately, the fry can be fed baby brine shrimp, or any of the other baby foods on the market.

Some females when holding will try to eat a little food, but most either ignore it, or spit it back out as having a mouth full of babies makes eating difficult. Here's a good link to read up on breeding and raising fry.

[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/breeding_list.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/breeding_list.php[/URL]

 

[Snake42490]

well i got a 12 gallon elipse tank set up in my room.. i put pool filter sand in it. and covered the filter intake with a nylon stocking. heater is set at 80. i dont have time to take media from my mature tank in but will do tomorrow. i will add a couple rocks for her if you think that would help. does everything sound ok so far? i also have a bubble wall in the tank.. does it matter how fast the filter is going? or is it just as long as its covered so its not sucking the babies up kind of thing?

 

[Snake42490]

welll! i have baby fry haha.... 3. but hey i guess that works for the first time.. so now im to the next clueless spot. they each still have a little bit of the egg part left. will that not even try to eat solid food with it still being like that? i dont want to put food in the tank unless i half to ><

 

[dthoffsett]

The set up you have sounds fine. Wait until the egg sacs disappear until you add food. And, congrats!

 

[Snake42490]

The mother started to get rough with the babies not sure what that was about.. but with that being said i put her back in the main tank. She started eating in like 5 seconds haha.. Maybe she was trying to collect them? it was weird though.. thought i would be better safe than sorry. is that like a mother to get aggressive with her babies? and also.. whats a good food to be feeding them once the sack is gone? just crushed up flake pellet or some baby brine shrimp? thats all i have atm...

 

[dthoffsett]

Can you describe how the mother was getting rough with them. If she feels her fry are threatened, the females will try to scoop them back up in her mouth. The fry will also try to go back in her mouth if they are startled, sometimes the females (especially the first couple of times they hold), won't let them back in and may try to chase them off. I wouldn't worry about it, the fry will be fine without her.

Baby brine shrimp is a great first food, this article will give you some more suggestions as well.

[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fry_food.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fry_food.php[/URL]

 

[Snake42490]

i would say more charging them then darting away when they would follow. i will keep you posted with any more questions thanks!