lmsmith Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 How do you sex dems? Mine are getting pretty big now, most about 5 - 6cm, and I'm aware that they might be having babies. I haven't noticed any who look to be holding, and they're all eating, but I don't really know what I'm looking for. So, how do you sex them? How do I know if they're holding? Pics would be best if you have any Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 Females will be smaller and slightly duller they will also be rounder in shape.. It should be relatively easy to tell by how they are behaving.. Give away for holding would be the fish stopping eating and hiding, mine usually swim around or hide in the plants or around edges of rocks and you can see they are holding. What else do you have in your tank? How many dems do you have? And are you planning on stripping them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted May 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 I've got 13 dems, but also some lionhead cichlids in the tank that'll probably eat the babies. I was thinking I'd have a go at stripping them into a container in the top of the tank. I'm sort of worried about putting the mum back in - I know if you have her out recovering, sometimes the others will harrass her when she goes back in, but then she probably does need a break as well. They're pretty laid back and I haven't seen any signs that would point me one way or another with them. Maybe I need to watch them more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted May 17, 2009 Report Share Posted May 17, 2009 I think I saw one of the electric yellows at HFF mt roskill holding yesterday. I hadn't seen that before - pretty cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I wouldn't recommend removing her thats for sure, I tried removing a couple of females from my colony when I stripped them and conditioning them by themselves and then reintroducing them with a rearranged tank and they still got beaten up so much one got killed and I had to rescue the other and try again later.. Best thing to do is to remove them and strip them and then put them straight back in, if you wanted to let them recover maybe you can put them in a net breeder in the same tank as the colony so that she might hold her place still as she is in the tank, unsure if this would work I usually stick them straight back in and they recover. Another thing to add is if you haven't had much experience stripping fish dems are very difficult to strip, I have stripped hundreds of fish now and I still struggle with the dems especially the smaller females. It can be very easy to injure them when stripping them. Lots of people have said that leaving your dems in a fully rocked up tank and letting them spit works better. I have also had trouble with aggression between the babies recently and them actually killing each other off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc360 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 have a go, just be gentle take your time give her a chance to breath again and have another go. If you catch her just use a meat skewer open her mouth and have a look inside you'll see the babies in there. Another give away sign is her throat will be fuller than usual. If your squemish its not a very nice job, because you know its not fun for the poor fish but on the other hand if you strip her quickly get her back into the colony she can begin to put weight back on. ive stripped dems a couple of times with my class and now they the children are getting really good at identifying females that are holding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I leave my females in the tank to spit naturally - mostly cos there's no way I could catch them! :lol: :roll: But the tank has lots of rockwork as well as huge val plants that float to cover the surface. The fry hide up top, as well as any dems that need to get away/recover. Just looked in and saw another female holding - her throat sags down as though she's got a mouthful of pebbles. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 hey, its good to hear that the demasoni are doing well! I strip mine after they have held for a couple of weeks. If they let them hold till full term and spit, they end up taking quite a while to recover their body weight. The small females are initially a little tricky to strip, but you get use to it after a while and its quite straight forward. Maybe you could post a pic of the female you suspect to be holding? The best way to tell is to see if she is eating during feeding time. Holding females will usually avoid eating and stay near the bottom of the tank. Here is a pic of my holding female. More pics are available in this thread. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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