how do you tell

[wrs]

if a fish is holding fry? believe that one I bought may have come with fry, how would I tell?

 

[gixer]

obviously she wont eat, and you will notice a bulge under her chin.

hahah sorry not technical.. but that how you can tell

 

[wrs]

do you have any pics?

 

[gixer]

will take one for you in a sec....early stages though at the mo..will see if i can get one now.

do you have any of yours? might be easier

 

[loafybones]

here's a link to our pics and one of them shows a female Yellow Lab holding fry

LINK

If you stand really still and watch her, you should be able to see into her mouth, when the eggs have hatched you should be able to see the fry in there, which is really cool!

Loaf

 

[wrs]

I got a pic of mine,

se where the arow is pointing? None of my other females have that under their chin, and I have four, so I cant say if she is eating or not, as they all look the same.

 

[wrs]

um, so I assume it is holding.

So, sence I am not sure when she started holding, would it be best to strip them of her, as i don want to raise this batch?

also, how long does it usually take the M. greshakei to grow usually?

 

[freddyk]

You don't need to raise the batch. let her spit in the adult tank and few, if any, will survive to see adulthood.

 

[wrs]

but I want to raise them. I dont care what they are, if they are hybrids I will kep them, unless the lfs will take them, they sell hybribs oftern.

But I am most sure they are M. greshakei, as they were in with M. greshakei, and that is the only male my tank has. As I am not sure when the mating took place.

 

[gixer]

please dont sell hybrids to your lfs

theres enough of that crap in this hobby as it is... please dont add to it.

i'm not really one who goes off on one about hybrids ( I ACTUALLY OWN BLOOD PARROTS) but theres enough garbage in the malawi tanks in lfs as it is.

 

[wrs]

but if they are Ice blues, I will give them to them.

so, my question now is, sence I am not sure if she had the eggs in my tank, or when I got her, should I strip her in a week or so, just to make sure that I do get some fry? I do want to raise them, despite what their parents are, I think that they should have a chance to live. But like I said before, she has been with nothing other than ice blue males. Unless in shipping they mix them, or however lfs get them, I dont think she was in with other species males.

 

[gixer]

but if they are Ice blues, I will give them to them.

so, my question now is, sence I am not sure if she had the eggs in my tank, or when I got her, should I strip her in a week or so, just to make sure that I do get some fry? I do want to raise them, despite what their parents are, I think that they should have a chance to live. But like I said before, she has been with nothing other than ice blue males. Unless in shipping they mix them, or however lfs get them, I dont think she was in with other species males.

considdering you dont know hold long she has been holding.. stripping her does not seem a good choice.

i assume as you want to strip you do have somewhere else (another free tank) to put the fry?

well why not just move her untill she spits on her own accord?

 

[wrs]

because the tank will be to small for her. I will put the fry in a 5.5 for a bit, then when larger the 20, which I cant use right away.

 

[freddyk]

I can assure you that your cichlids won't stop breeding. Consider letting this one go and raising the next batch, when the 20 is free. They grow very quickly at first and it really wouldn't be long before that 20 was needed anyway.

FYI, concerning hybrids - The rift lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika are closed systems each with their own cichlids that can be found nowhere else in the worlds save aquariums. Victoria has already been destroyed by man, it's only a matter of time before the others end up following suit. Preserving natural fish when it comes to the rift lakes is vital if we want to keep these Africans in the hobby long term.