So my female strawberry peacock is holding, looks like a lot of eggs. I want to strip her in the next couple of days before she spits them out, any tips? I've seen videos of guys holding the fish and opening their mouth with a small tongue depressor so they'll spit the eggs into a bucket. My concern with this is messing with her slime coat, injuring her, etc... This will be my first time so I don't want to lose a fish due to inexperience. Also, if you do hold the fish I'd have to treat her after to help her slime coat... correct? I have a cycled fry tank set up with an egg tumbler.
On another note, every where I've read says people strip their cichlids after two weeks. I'm not too sure how long she's been holding but it looks like she's ready to burst. Is there any harm in stripping before the two week marker?
Thanks in advance!