is my yellow lab holding eggs

[petey Z]

ok so recently i was on vacation and a friend of mine was watching my fish. when i got back i looked at my yellow lab which i was pretty sure was female and her mouth look like it was filled or swollen. i do have another yellow lab in the tank with it and im thinking thats a male. if it is holding eggs, what should i do. its in a 55 with 7 other mbunas and a jack dempsey. should i put it in a net breeder or strip it of the eggs. Or is it not even holding eggs?

thanks for any responses

pete

 

[freddyk]

Yes, it certainly sounds like she is holding. She'll also likely be tumbling the eggs in her mouth, so it sort of looks like she's chewing gum.

What should you do? Well, you have three options.

1. Leave it. Only breed if you have a genuine interest in doing it, these fish are bred plenty already and it takes some work and dedication, sometimes the heart to cull out inferior specimens. To raise a brood of them to any decent selling size you'll need at least a 20 gallon.

2. Set up a fry tank. Breeder nets are much too small to raise these fry, so you'll need one anyway. Some people move the female right away, some will wait. If the female is not under stress in the main tank then I prefer to leave her in the environement until the very end before moving her - it's less stressful then forcing her to get used to the fry tank. Because I wait, she'll often spit in the net as I move her, in which case she can just go right back into the main tank.

3. Wait until near the end of the holding period and strip the fry right into the fry tank, then return the female to the main tank. If you choose this method, make sure you have a good understanding of the process or you can hurt the mother.

I hope you have plans of removing that JD before it starts to kill your current fish.

 

[playfulalliecat]

She may very well be holding. As Freddy says, you have to decide whether you can raise the fry or if you want to take your chances with nature. As Juan can tell you, it's not always easy to sale the fry as they are quite plentiful. I have had fry from species that aren't plentiful and it's still not always easy to unload the fry.

If you do decide to try and keep the fry, it will be necessary to either strip the mother or move her before she spits. Sometimes this is easier said than done. If you scare the mother, they will often just swallow the fry, rather than hold or spit them. I have also caught them just right to where they spit in the net.

As for the JD, it depends on the temperament of his particular JD. I have had mine with smaller cichlids and tropicals since I got him over a year and half ago and he is just fine. I have never had a problem with him chasing, attacking, or otherwise bothering the fish. Each fish is different. I know they are considered aggressive but even so-called peaceful fish can turn into little terrorists in the tank.
I would definitely watch him for aggression and be prepared to move him elsewhere if need be.

HTH

 

[Kajuki18]

playfulalliecat i'm really suprised that you can keep black skirt tetra with you jack dempsey?? I would think he would kill them though when he gets bigger

 

[petey Z]

yea dont worry about the jd, ive had him for 3 years, hes such a peaceful fish, he never does anything to anyone.

the yellow lab is actually acting very active, swimming around with no problem, but yea i think it still is holding

i think i would like to raise the fry, so i guess i will get a fry tank.
but i dont kno how long shes been holding so im not sure when it will spit

 

[playfulalliecat]

Well seeing as he's 6 inches now, not sure how old, I've had him over a year myself and got him close to the size he is now, and has never bothered them, I am really not worried. None of the cichlids bother them. The only aggression I ever get comes from the S. Fryeri males. They tend to get territorial towards each other but as I have plenty of hiding spots, they will go on after being chased away. They like to go into one another's territories.

My black skirts are really large too. I have never see any the size of mine.
I can't post a pic right now. Had some computer problems and I don't have all my software back on here yet to resize them.

 

[petey Z]

ok so now the yellow lab is eating, but it still looks like shes still holding
is this normal? i know that when they hold they dont really eat.

thanks
pete

 

[freddyk]

I've seen them pick a bit at food while holding, but never eating normally.

 

[playfulalliecat]

My brooding mothers never ate heartily like when not brooding but after the eggs hatched, they would go up and kind of sift flake through for the fry. They didn't go in and eat like the other fish do. It's hard to explain how they do it.

 

[petey Z]

yea so i guess she ate the eggs/ fry since shes eating normally and doesnt look like shes holding either.
Do you think they will breed again?

 

[freddyk]

Of course they will.