Ishkabod Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Two of my electric yellows are holding fry. Any idea on how to keep as many as i can alive once they are spit out?? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Firstly Congrats, You either require a lot of hiding places for the fry or you need to scoop them up and put them into another tank. You may even consider removing the holding females into another tank, once she spits remove her... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 IF you want to keep the fry your best bet is to remove the female from the tank around 2-3 weeks into holding. Put her in her own 10g and let her spit in there. Feed the female a couple times in the 10g and then place her back in the tank. If you leave her with the fry for too long then she can start eating them. I've never had luck with letting the femal spit the fry in the tank. Even with lots of hiding spots 99% of the fry get eaten. Its also really hard to catch tiny fry in a big tank if you want to try and save some. You can also "strip"(manually remove the fry from the mom's mouth) the fry from the female around 3 weeks. Its a big scary to do at first but works ok once you get the hang of it. Since its your first batch of fry I wouldnt' really recommend it. Letting the female spit naturally in her own tank will be the easiest and you'll get the most fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Val has basically covered it. Though I don't like to strip my females because the fry are usually smaller, and it can stress them out more. I usually remove my females from the main tank about day 15-18, then put her in a separate tank. They usually spit them between 21-28 days, and once my female has spit them for good I will remove her from that tank and then put her in a recovery tank for a week and let her recover, then placing her back in the main. If I don't want to keep any fry I will let them spit in the main tank. Usually a couple fry will only survive this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishnut Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 If I want to keep the fry I will strip the female once she's been holding 3+ weeks. The fry go to their own tank after that. I've found they don't last long in the main tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Thanks for the advice everyone. someone told me once not to move holding mothers as they will spit the fry out early I guess i was misinformed. Anyway thanks again now if only my 30 gal tank hadn't cracked i could quarantine the new fish and have a baby tank. Any tips on water changes in a baby tank so i don't remove the babies?? Thanks L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 The mom can spit the babies while moving. But usually, if she spits them during the move she will quickly suck them back up.But if she doesn't, thats why I wait untill atleast 2 weeks before moving. They are old enough to survive by themselves at that time. Its pretty easy to clean a fry tank. The babies usually huddle together and are easily avoided. I usually use a smaller gravel vac and bucket. That way I can keep my thumb on the hose and quickly stop it if I do suck any up. The bucket lets you see if any ended up in the bucket before pouring the water down the drain. I also keep my fry tanks barebottom, so its easy to quickly suck up the poop and food Then I just suck out the rest of the water from a corner, far away from the fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Thanks for the info It's very usefull L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Good luck with the babies. Let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 The mom can spit the babies while moving. But usually, if she spits them during the move she will quickly suck them back up.But if she doesn't, thats why I wait untill atleast 2 weeks before moving. They are old enough to survive by themselves at that time. That's why I wait about 2 weeks to move as well. My elec blue female was easy to strip this last time, she spit all her babies in the bucket, I removed her and didn't even have to wait So sometimes spitting early isn't a bad thing. I would feed the fry some tiny crushed foods, baby brine, and grow out formula. Change the water every 2-3 days. These things will help the fry grow fast and healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted October 31, 2008 Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 I agree with what most everybody else is saying, put her in her own tank then remove her after she has regained her strength. I have tried this method as well as leaving her in the main tank to spit. In the main tank all of the babies evertually disappeared, whereas if they are in there own tank you can control things better. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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