75g Looking to start African Tank

[dr exum]

Each species is different in the amount of fry per spawn. I can’t comment on the piebald as I have never owned them. Typically the first few spawns are smaller with mouth brooders so I wouldn’t expect that many first go around but I could be wrong there. I am also not a fan of stripping cichlids so I have only done that aspect a few times.
I found that most local fish stores don’t want locally bred fish unless they can establish the lineage and if they do want them it is usually for store credit.

Fair enough, saw the stripping somewhere...

If these are fry of wild parents they are F1?

Store credit is great, LFS where I live are sparse and have slightly better stock than PetSmart and inflated prices.

I think this may be the second mom holding, I’ve been away from the tank at work and not been following closely.

 

[The Morning]

Victorians are seldom seen in my local stores so you will probably have better luck. My local will take my calvus but not mbunas or peacocks

 

[dr exum]

Got 100#’s of this for next 75

Tank being used for qt currently...

 

[dr exum]

Update:

Gonna try and net out some of the moms “holding” and try to raise a few fry...

Have seen 0 survivors at this point.

out of my random 12 - Redfin Piebold, I think 8 were male... I’ve only seen 4 that are female looking, should i take out 6 males and leave 2?

the M Lutea, are mostly silver, few showing bars, not sure if these are the boys... if so I’m pretty certain this group is heavy male too7/5 at least...

Not seen the large marbled syno out in some time, no real pics unfortunately

 

[dr exum]

Got fry!

Pulled a female Redfin Piebold in order to get 4-8 females to add to my group as the current ratio is 9male - 3 female ...

Will start a male / overflow group in an adjacent 75...

 

[The Morning]

Please continue to update this one. I enjoy the progress

 

[dr exum]

Soo...

My first go round with mouth brooders...

Mom in solo tank with fry... at what point does she stop taking them back in her mouth?

Is it a situation where I gotta sneak up and pluck her out while the fry are outside her mouth ? I’d imagine they will not fit eventually or do they eat some? I’d prefer to recover as many as possible...

Oh, crushed up flake food sufficient?

Thanks!

 

[The Morning]

I have always been fine feeding fry flake food.

 

[ryang85]

Soo...

My first go round with mouth brooders...

Mom in solo tank with fry... at what point does she stop taking them back in her mouth?

Is it a situation where I gotta sneak up and pluck her out while the fry are outside her mouth ? I’d imagine they will not fit eventually or do they eat some? I’d prefer to recover as many as possible...

Oh, crushed up flake food sufficient?

Thanks!

Strip the fry from her mouth into a brooder net. It's super easy and you dont have to worry about her deciding those fry are now a snack. I generally strip my females of eggs after 10 to 14 days. That way females can go back into the main tank and not get to skinny and I seem to have better survival rate when I dont need the tumbler and can go straight to the net. And any good finely crushed flake or pellet works fine. You want something with a higher protien for better growth.

Here how to strip the eggs or fry in your case.

Get a mid size plastic Tupperware or bucket with about 2 inches of tank water. Gently catch the female and put her into the bucket and grab her and hold her head down into the water at roughly a 45 degree angle. Use a zip tie or plastic mechanical pencil tip( or something plastic and not sharp) to gently open her mouth and dump the fry out. Dunk her head a few times and youl be surprised how they keep coming out. And thats about all there is to it. Watch a few videos on YouTube if your still unsure. Make sure your hands are wet to not damage scales when you grab her.

 

[dr exum]

Crept in early this morning in the dark, grabbed her quick before she could swoop up all the fry... appears to be 35-40... that’s a mouthful for sure!

i have got one of the M Lutea holding currently, I think their ratio is bad too - 8m / 4f

Pretty full here until my “monster” tank comes...

then I’ll have some tank space back...