BROODING CICLIDS

Yesterday morning I decided to bring my two holding females up the MLF. The Yellow Lab is not expecting her first brood and she moved well and seems to know the routine. The strange thing about the Yellow Lab is that with two male Yellow Labs in the tank with her she still bred to a Red Zebra.

The second female I moved is a young Elongatus Mpanga. This is her first brood. She is about 12 days in now. I like to allow the first time moms to spit on their own but I have two more to move up yet so I'm not sure I'll have that luxury. 

I had only one brooding tank sitting and waiting for them. I have a couple tank dividers that I inserted making two 5 gallon tanks out of my 10. This is a perfect way to create more room without adding more tanks. 

I like to move my girls around the 10th day of holding. The young moms are a higher risk to spit if you move them before they have bonded with the holding process. I have learned this by experience. If you move them too early they have more stress, first from the new experience of holding and then being moved all contribute. If you move them too long after the ten day mark sometimes the moms will spit in a frenzy to avoid capture. 

Both moms are doing well. With the divider they can see each other and seem to swim together up and down the side of the divider. Once the introduction were complete they both settled in and look happy. They each have a few stones, a little plant and a terra-cotta pot.

The Yellow Lab I stripped last week will be returning to the community the middle of next week. She's doing well. Her fry are healthy and eating fine. This Yellow Lab I stripped twice. The first time I left her in the tank below 

the little breeder box I had them in. I

counted 17. The next day I checked on them and there were only 5 left. Mystery to me. I noticed she looked \like she

was holding again. I released the 5 fry that were left and watched her gobble them up. I left her alone and stripped her a week later. Yup she had somehow sucked her babies back through the slits in the bottom of the breeder box. Talk about a mother bear!

I figure the middle of next week I'll 

move the two remaining holding females into that tank and use a divider to give them each a room to themselves. My other 10 gallon is still holding my Red Top Zebra fry. Hoping to unload them soon.