Pregnant Cichlid Question

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


jesskam22
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:49 am

Pregnant Cichlid Question

by jesskam22

I have a pregnant electric yellow. She is holding them and they are not yet hatched. I bought a five gallon for her and the babies at the moment. when she lets them go am i supposed to wait 4 days or so and then take her out? Also....are the fry going to get sucked into the filter. Please help, first time fish mommy. :)


doomydarkdoom
 
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:00 am

by doomydarkdoom

A sponge filter is usually best for fry. You can also put a piece of panty-hose or some other kind of very fine netting around the intake of a regular filter to keep the fishies from getting sucked in, but if it's really strong they might still end up stuck to it.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

The mama will be fine with her fry for a few days after she releases. I left mine in for almost a week with their fry so that they could eat and get their strength back before going back in with the others.

You will notice a couple fry here and there as they escape her mouth, then as she releases them she will know exactly were they all are. Its fun to watch. Both my Yellows held for 21 days. Every fish is different, start to look for escapees around 21 days or so, but it could be up to 4-5 weeks.

I put mine in a 10 gallon as they hold. I cover my filter intake with a piece of pantyhose (held on with a rubber band) so that the fry don't get sucked up. When the fry are less than a week I turn the filter down to low because I found a couple stuck to the hose, but after I turned it down they were fine. My smallest fry are now 2 weeks and I no longer need the hose on the intake and the filter is back on high. They are actually pretty big when they are released, compared to other fry. They are about 4 times bigger at release than my Ram fry were when they became free swimming! It took my Ram fry 3 weeks to get as big as a newly released Yellow fry!

Good luck! Its the best thing ever!! I am "pregnant" again myself! LOL


jesskam22
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:49 am

by jesskam22

Thank you very much for your help. Good luck with your little fishies as well. Im sure ill be having more questions sooner or later.....lol


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

#1 Is a pic of my very first batch. They are a month old now.
(The colors look washed out, I think I need to replace my bulb with a 8500 because the ones living in my big tank are a strong yellow, with black markings, which you cannot see on these uless you flash a flashlight on them)

#2 is of one that was just released. :-) Sooo cute!

#3 is the set up I have for them in a 10 gallon. Make sure you add a little pile of rock for them to hang out in :-) I changed the sand. I had black and changed to white because you can see their colors better. I have Java Moss clumps on the rock piles, they munch food out of it all day long.

#4 is when my second mama was hanging out in there with the first batch while she held. I put a pot in the tank for a holding mama to hang out in. She did not bother the first batch at all, even after she released.

I cannot do that with my new holding mama because the first batch will be too big for the new batch to be safe. They will be 2 months when she releases again. I will be adding a small pile of rock in the big tank today for her new fry. If the rocks are small, about a big marble size, the fry can get in it but the adults can't.

Hope you like the pics! I would have loved to see pics like this a couple months ago when my first mama started to hold.
There is also a couple guppy fry growing big enough to not get munched by my angel growing in there with them.
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seankh
 
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:42 pm

by seankh

my cobalt blues have fry like crazy there like freaking rabbits! At first I seperted them now i dont and for some reason almost all of them live eveytime.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

If they don't sell good when they get to be almost 2" I will just let them relsease in the main tank from now on. I will seperate a Red zebra mama and an Acei mama their first time tho, just so I can watch :-)


doomydarkdoom
 
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:00 am

by doomydarkdoom

Maybe you can stick some breeding grass in there for the new fry to hang out in, too... or do they like the rocks better? I know little about these cichlids.

Great pics! I love fry, they're always so cute.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

They go immediately into a rock pile instead of any plant. Guppy and platy fry stay at the top, African Mbuna fry stay in a rock pile. In my fry tank my guppy fry stay up top near the plants and all the yellow kids hang in the rock. If I had grass, the adults would rip the grass up to get the fry LOL

Here's some baby Bolivian Ram :-) Pic is not so great cuz I had a crappy camera then. They were so cute with their miniature black dorsal stripe! They were about 2 months here. .

i love that we can add pics, it makes explaining so much easier at times!! Where are your fry pics Doom??
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dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

Here is a pic of a month old Electric Yellow fry in the "grown-up" tank I just took. Its a tad blurry cuz it kept running for cover, but it shows their true colors! I have a different light spectrum in my big tank that makes the fishes colors just pop out! I need to get one for my fry tank too, because they all look so washed out. Ain't he just the cutest thing??? Brave little bugger too, I am keeping this one for sure!
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Pregnant Cichlid Question

15 posts • Page 1 of 2

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