bigfishhead Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Hi Guys, This is my first time have fish holding... :slfg: :slfg: :slfg: She is in my big tank. She is holding about 2~3 weeks now. :happy2: I think... I bought a breeding hatchery and going to trying to catch her this weekend and put her into the breeding hatchery this weekend. :smln: Is there anything I need to be carefull when I catch her? What should I do to get baby demasonis successfully. Like when should I remove the female dem from the hatchery... what should I feed the baby dems when they free swim? mashed NLS pallets or eggs? small enough for them to swallow? :bounce: :bounce: Thanks!!!! Jack --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some UPDATE I leave the dems and I believe that batch did not survive.... Yesterday I found she holding again ... ... Then my blue powder holding. I took her into the hatchery and open her mouth three times in the last 4 weeks. Today is the third time and I believe she holding for at least 4 weeks. The little fish she dropped out still not free swim yet.. I can see the little head and tail grow out from the egg and try to swim... may be another week.... :facepalm: Funny enough, Two yellows which I believe are both male turns out are a breeding pair. I got 10 baby around 1cm from her... they free swim in another hatchery :slfg: . Finger cross they can survive :digH: :digH: :digH: :digH: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey_1975 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Hi ya, I have bred dems and I learned from a youtube vid. I put rubber disposable gloves on then placed her in a small dish of tank water. Picked her up in one hand just under the water then with a toothpick gently pressed her lower jaw down to release the babies from her mouth. Hope this helps, just google youtube demasoni breeding. Malcolm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Thanks Mikey... So when should I do this then? How can I know if she is ready or baby is ready... I only know she is holding the baby for around 2 ~3 weeks... :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey_1975 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Its hard to know exactly but I did it a couple of times and the babies still had egg sacs attached, this is too early. The female actually gobbled them back up when I put her back in the water. 3 weeks after they have hatched is a good time i believe. Give it a try, you may loose one or two but at least you know. I just feed them flake food or cichlid pellets crushed up. M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 cool.. I think the hardest thing for me this try to catch this little female in my fully stocked tank.... I need to remove all rocks I think....OMG.... And some pic for my tank's new look.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 You can catch and strip her if you want But you have to weigh up how much you want the babies, dems are very hard to catch, quite hard to strip without damaging them and if it is her first spawn then she will only have 5-10 babies anyway so you can spend several hours catching her stripping all the rocks out of the tank and then get 5 babies for it.. I usually leave them to hold and spit the first few times by themselves and the babies survive in the tank, and they learn to be better parents and how to hold their babies full term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Thanks Ryan... Good point...I will give it a try this weekend. If she is too hard to catch...then I give up, hehe... So how do you exactly strip the babies out? Just put female in the water and force her to open her mouth and pull the babies out?.... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Hey bro, congrats on the Dem holding. It's pretty exciting having the prospect of your first batch of fry. Dem fry are super cute too! If the female has been holding for 2-3 weeks then I am pretty sure she is ready to strip. I have stripped 6 Dems in the past 2 weeks so here's what I do. 1. Take the opportunity to do a water change and drop you water level to 50%. Put some of the water in a shallow-ish, clean container. You want to be able to get at the fish so high sides are awkward, but you don't want the fish jumping out and flopping around your living room either. Choose you container carefully grasshopper :sage: 2. Take out all your rocks and bog wood. I know this sucks, but do it. As ryanjury said, Dems are buggers to catch and you need to remove all hiding places and obstacles to catch them successfully. Plus the more you chase fish around the tank, the more you upset your community. Trust me, this is the fastest and safest way. 3. Catch the fish! (Da!) I use two nets. A big black one and a small white one. They hate the white one and often will find security in the black one. This is also a good time to mention the value of tank dividers. I wish I had one for my bigger tanks. It would certainly make it so much easier to catch fish by sectioning of the mum. 4. Once said fish is caught, place her quickly and carefully in the stripping container. Now you are ready to strip her. I use cotton buds on my Dems as it seems a bit gentler but be aware that they soggy up pretty quick and swell, so have a few on hand. Everyone uses different things, but you want something that will pry her mouth open, not damage her, and not get in the way of the fry swimming out. 5. Gently take the mum in your less dominant hand (I'm a lefty, so it's my right) and hold her just below the water. Make sure you don't damage her pectoral fins so try to have them laying against her side. Then with you other hand, using the toothpick or cotton bud etc. pry her bottom jaw open. You can gently massage her gills to "squeeze" the fry out, but with some patience and the right technique, they normally exit on their own accord. 6. Put mum back in the main tank and place your fry in a fry tank or fry saver. I make my own fry savers out of 2L ice cream containers and just float them in my main tank. Hope this helps and good luck! :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Oh and P.S. by the way.... Your tank looks awesome! Good job bro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 thanks fishy! Very detailed! I will give it a go this weekend. I will get some pic if successed :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 thanks fishy! Very detailed! I will give it a go this weekend. I will get some pic if successed :bounce: Do we have Dem fry??? :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 :facepalm: I tried 30 mins and give up...too hard to catch such small fish in my tank.... I took Ryan's advice leave her in the tank for the first spwan. BUT...I got my powder blue hold again!!!.... I caught her last weekend and put her into the breeding net now. :happy1: :happy1: he mouth looks pretty full mabe more than 10+ fish inside LOL... I will see how many I get this time I will put some photo up this or next weekend. Depend what time I got fry free swim :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 I just did demasoni day, have 6 females holding only 3 were ready but had to catch all 6 to check and got 60 fry so that's not bad One female had around 40, 1 had 12 and 1 had 9 obviously all based on size/maturity. Most of the smaller females have grown up in the colony from batches I have missed or left for the smaller females to mature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy-fish Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 I just did demasoni day, have 6 females holding only 3 were ready but had to catch all 6 to check and got 60 fry so that's not bad One female had around 40, 1 had 12 and 1 had 9 obviously all based on size/maturity. Most of the smaller females have grown up in the colony from batches I have missed or left for the smaller females to mature. Nice work ryan. I have a couple of dems holding, but might give them another week before I pull everything apart again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I tried last weekend gently... 13 orange eggs dropped out but I think there at least another 20 in her mouth. She ate all those back in again later on. I think the baby fish are not ready yet. Probably another two weeks? What you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I usually leave mine a min of 2 weeks (at 26C it is temp dependant) before stripping, but as long as they are hatched and wriggling you can usually stick them in a breeding trap with an airstone and keep them moving and they should be fine.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted August 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Hmm,... could be the temp is a bit low. I set the breeding trap in my smaller tank and I think it is abit cold in there.... around 25 I think? I will get temp up to 27 tonight and wait for another 1 or 2 weeks and see... Thx Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 25 is fine might take 1 extra day maybe? No biggie.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted September 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2011 27 degree and I just put some updates on the first post.... I guess temp does play the magic. I hope my little powder blue can free swim soon. Otherwise their mum could die because of hunger and over stress .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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