Jump to content

brooding question


Go Big or Go Home!
 Share

Recommended Posts

I was watching my tank this afternoon and my big male and female rusty (Iodotropheus sprengerae) started to act very strange (going into a cave and circling each other and shaking like mad) when all was said and done the female came out and had a huge face and throat :w00t:

now the question is.... how long do i wait before i atempt to move her to a seperate tank or should i just leave her in the main tank

i believe this is her first brood

the tank mates are as follows

4 blue dolphins (Cyrtocara moorii )

4 rusty cichlid (Iodotropheus sprengerae)

1 sailfin pleco

3 clown loaches

i believe the brood time is 14-18 days (correct?)

any help appreciated

Link to comment
Share on other sites

THe holding time is usually 21-28 days. I prefer to move my females after about 2 weeks. That way i'm sure they are holding and not going to swallow the eggs. I've had countless inexperienced feamles swallow after a couple days/week. So now i wait a bit longer before moving them. No need to stress them out by catching them if i dont' need to. I do move them sooner if the female is getting picked on.

IF this is your females first time holding she may spit/swallow the eggs. Sometimes it takes them a few tries before they get the hang of it.

As for whether you should move them or not. Well thats up to you. DO you want to keep and raise the fry. If so then moving the female to her own tank is best. If you dont' want to raise the fry let them spit in the main tank. When i dont' have room for more fry i let my females spit in the main tank. 1 or 2 out of each brood usually survives.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd agree with degrassi. Two weeks is usually good to let them stay in the main tank. If they last that long, they'll usually make it the whole time. As far as another tank for them, 10's work great and are cheap. All I use in mine is a sponge filter (tetra brilli as they're off the bottom - others allow fry to go underneath and get trapped/die) and have it bare bottom until the fry are a little older (easier to clean, and small fry can get lost in gravel I've found).

Congrats! It's definitely exciting the first time!

Edited by African_Fever
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...