Red Zebra Carrying Eggs?

[InsaneClownLoachPosse]

We are somewhat new to African Cichlids, but looks like our red zebra is carrying eggs, to our surprise, and we are now hoping all goes well! Here is a few pics of her (sorry for the blurriness in the 2nd and 3rd pic)...

From what we have learned about cichlids, she's showing all the signs (hiding, protective, mouth/jaw bigger, and not eating as much since her mouth is full). We just have a few dilemnas; whether or not to move her (since stressing her could make her spit them out prematurely, otherwise we have a 10g quarantine tank), or if a few babies would make it in the tank which is a 125g with 10 other african cichlids and a syno cat, and we had planned in a few days to tear down the tank for a day while we level it (since it is off level by ~1/2inch, that we didnt realize until we took pictures and the water level was a bit low). We're thinking though that maybe the leveling can wait a bit, since it's still quite sturdy, and we wanna give her any chance possible to have her babies make it.
Another option I thought about, was to see about getting a tank divider. That way she wouldnt have to be moved/stressed, would have her own part of the tank to herself (which she has already claimed), and wouldnt be chased around by the other cichlids.

We are so excited and hopefully that all goes well, any help is appreciated.

thanks,
Tricia & Dave

ps... she's also been doing this thing w/her mouth, kinda like moving the eggs around. Looks like it's ok, since she's not eating them, but is this ok? And what is it for, and called?

 

[Ginge]

Yes she is holding and i think its just moving the eggs around how long has she been holding?

 

[InsaneClownLoachPosse]

how long has she been holding?

We noticed her saturday morning when she was hiding the most... but she's already starting to get the ematiated indent on her belly from not eating as much (or at all) from holding the eggs. Yesterday and today we've noticed her out and about more frequently (also when we noticed the egg 'churning' w/her mouth).

 

[Iron Man]

How many males are in the tank with her? How long have you had her? Sometimes they will have "hysterical pregnancy" and carry infertile eggs. Just letting you know as mine did it on 3 seperate occasions.

If you make the transition as quick and stress free as possible, she probably won't spit....but you never know there is a chance she could do that or either swallow them.

I would never put any african cichlid in a 10 gallon tank though, unless it was the size of my fingernail.

If you don't have anything larger than a 10 gallon to put her in....she'll probably fair better in the main tank. As far as the babies.....I'd worry about the synodontis more than anyone else.....but if its only one of them....who knows.

Also....not to get off subject....but I noticed you had gravel.....most mbuna african cichlids are diggers who love sandy substrates. Didn't know if you were aware of that or not. They'll be fine with gravel but you miss out on a lot of natural digging/cave building behavior with just gravel.

She sure is a beauty. Good luck with it all.

 

[Ginge]

10G would be fine for a few days as the fish looks to be around 5".