Our Species 44 got their groove on!!!!

[dangerouslady]

SO, after a few weeks of tail wagging and male aggression, it seems our beautiful species 44 are mouthbrooding!! We just bought the fish about 6 weeks ago, and they seem very young, so we're pleasantly surprised. We are new to cichlids, so this is a very exciting and nerve racking time for us!!
I've done some research on the topic, but I better trust the opinions of you guys, the real breeders and owners!! Today is the first day our female, Bonnie, has shown puffiness in the cheeks, she's super shy, so i can't see eggs yet, but i'm sure we will. We currently have her in a community tank with a few other breeds, and all fish are pretty young, none overly aggressive. The most aggressive her mate, Clyde(who is BEAUTIFUL!!)....so, I'm just dying for advice!! i've read not to strip her until at least 3 weeks, which makes sense. but is stripping the best route?? and the articles i've read say to leave her in the tank till then. The male is still chasing her all over, is that ok?? How long should she stay in this tank?? we have a 10 gallon already set up just in case. and is it best to strip her, then isolate her before returning her to the community tank, or should she stay with the fry for a few days?? oh, and for the fry tank, is it best to go bare bottom so the fry can easily see the food??
Because she's so young and this is her first brood, i'm wondering if we should even gets our hopes up for fry?? I'm more nervous now than when i was pregnant!! any advice is more than appreciated!!!

 

[Fish on Fire]

Wait a few weeks before stripping her of the fry. Put her in a the 10 gallon cause it seems like your male is going to stress her out too much. How big is the community tank? But yeah, separate her from the male cause he will soon get mad that she isn't trying to breed with him anymore and attempt to kill her. When you do the transfer, try to do it by scaring her into a ziplock bag so that it'll be less stressful for her. If she spits the eggs out in the process, set up an egg tumbler.

 

[dangerouslady]

Wait a few weeks before stripping her of the fry. Put her in a the 10 gallon cause it seems like your male is going to stress her out too much. How big is the community tank? But yeah, separate her from the male cause he will soon get mad that she isn't trying to breed with him anymore and attempt to kill her. When you do the transfer, try to do it by scaring her into a ziplock bag so that it'll be less stressful for her. If she spits the eggs out in the process, set up an egg tumbler.

thanks SOO much!!! our male, Clyde, is still doing his little booty shake at her, i thought maybe the eggs weren't fully fertilized, but i see exactly what you mean now...we have 8 africans in a 30 gallon, they are all very small right now, so they still have lots of room until the upgrade to a bigger tank. Do you see any problems having her isolated for 2-3 weeks?? will she be okay when we stick her back in??
Thanks again!

 

[Fish on Fire]

She should be fine, just make sure the water parameters are the same in each tank. As long as you have plenty of hiding places for her, there should be nothing to worry about. Yeah, the male tends to try to keep forcing females who are holding to mate with them.

 

[fsc46]

thanks SOO much!!! our male, Clyde, is still doing his little booty shake at her, i thought maybe the eggs weren't fully fertilized, but i see exactly what you mean now...we have 8 africans in a 30 gallon, they are all very small right now, so they still have lots of room until the upgrade to a bigger tank. Do you see any problems having her isolated for 2-3 weeks?? will she be okay when we stick her back in??
Thanks again!

You could move the male instead. It will be less stressful for the female.