MRSkz Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Ok I stripped one of my electric yellow fem's who was holding and found fry with the eggy bit still attached. Now every time I've done this before they always seem to last about 48 hours then the next day the eggy bit disapairs and the fry are all corpses. I've transferd them into a tank of there own, in a larg net with a filter (just barely going) right by them. I have also kept the lights off in that tank and the curtains pulled (it sits in a window) so not much light, other than the room light, gets to it. I've also been giving them microworms just incase. The last time I had them they were in the tank with the other fish, lights were kept on a fair bit and they weren't fed so I'm hoping this time they will survive. I'd really appriciate any advice here as I have atleast one more electric yellow that's holding and atleast one blue zebra. I'm reluctant to strip the others if this lot of fry don't turn out. It seems, when left to there own devises, the parents seem to hold and then......*poof*....nothing. It seems the only way, as far as I can tell, to get living fry from these guys is some interferance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 I stripped my red zebra and the egg sacks were huge so much so the babies couldn't move.. I stripped 25 and stuck them all in a guppy trap floating in the parents tank. Got my partner whos home all day to keep changing the water in it wheneva she realised and all of them survived to free swimming.. That was until the giraffe jumped in and ate all bar 5 a week ago Was pretty gutted, Maybe something like this is what you need to do? http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/tumbling_eggs.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Take a note of when u first see the females holding. Strip them at 2 weeks, that way the fry are free swimming. I would have the airation just under the net, only have it on lightly, so to keep the young tumbling slightly as this is what happens in the mums mouth. I know guys who strip early, they place eggs...in a flour sifter, & have an airstone just under them slightly bubbling away. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 hi Dont bother feeding the fry until the eggs sacks are completely gone otherwise you just end up polluting the water. I just put my fry in another small tank set up ready to go and use the same water when i strip the female. Fry just sit in small tank till egg sack are gone and they are free swimming. I dont really change water till the fry are feeding then its every 3-4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRSkz Posted May 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 ok so what I really need to know is 1. are the fry sensitive to light at this stage? 2. when you have 4 other females that all look similar how do you know how long any peticular one has been holding for? 3. what might have been happening to the fry after they stop holding (as they have yet to be seen) ? 4. Tropheus "Fry just sit in small tank till egg sack are gone and they are free swimming." does this mean you don't 'tumble' them? do you just leave them in a bare bottem tank without being moved around? Thanks for the info guys, it's all much appriciated. I have TRIED to make a tumbler before and have killed 2 batches of fry/eggs in it so that didn't seem to work for me. I also tried the net thing before, with the other adults in the tank...think the adults sucked them threw the meshing. As of yet these guys are doing great. They have the 3 foot tank all to themselves (in there large net though) they are being gently moved around by the restricted filter. This makes me keen to catch the others and strip them as well but deffinatly don't want to throw a spanner into the works at this stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 1. Depends on high strong the light. Just general globe/fluro, should be fine. 2. Easy, usually you can tell fish apart from their own markings. Some have a thicker black stripe{yellows}, may have an egg spot, a different shading... Another is to go by the size of the saggyness under the mouth. The bigger the sag, the longer they have been holding{generally} Everytime you note a female holding right down the date. 3. Either swallowed by mum or.... Spat out & eaten by whatever else is in the tank. or gone off & died. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRSkz Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Well just thought I'd update, all 15ish have escaped from the net (yea I droped it when I was repositioning it) into the 3 foot tank. Thankfully there's only 1 little baby panda cory in there for company. They fry seem to be swiming around just lovely. The egg sack seems to be all but gone so will continue feeding microworms making sure to get them as near to the fry as possible as I realize a 3 foot tank is a very large space for 15 little fry. I have kept the curtains drawn and the tank lights pretty well off except to check them and I only lost one, that was the day I decided to open the curtains. I have one question, I have a blue zebra that's holding and I was watching another fem zebra having a go at her. Looked like she was trying to "eat" her mouth first but when that didn't work she tried to "bite" her on her side. What is happening here? Is it as I suspect, the female that's not holding "smells" a tasty treat? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 Could be, hard to say. Female zebs can pick on one another. If one is holding, easier target.. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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