Is she ever going to release all of her fry?

[angelhf13]

My yellow lab's first time holding. She's been holding for about 30 days. She's been in the "nursery" tank for 2 weeks. She let go of 3 fry 2 days ago, the kept chasing them around trying to suck them back up. Finally I had to scoop them up and put them in a free floating breeding trap. She constantly nudges the trap in attempt to still suck them back up. She's acting so nervous! Swimming all around hitting the trap and up and down the sides of the tank. Is this normal? She's got hiding places in the tank, and has been in there plenty of time to get use to it. The water tests fine. She didnt act this way until she released those few fry. I tried putting a little food in there thinking she may be getting hungry...maybe she was trying to eat the fry? I also thought maybe if she saw the food, she would release the others to eat. But she didn't. This is my first experience with fry so maybe this is normal, but if not, any suggestions?
Thanx!......oh, one more thing....the nursery tank is a 10 gallon. I normally do 30 percent water changes in my 29 gallon tanks every 2 weeks...should I do partial water changes in the 10 gallon more often since its a smaller tank, or not?

[tom]

Hi angelhf

Your fish's behavior sounds quite normal: IME, it's very common for mouthbrooders to want to return fry to the safety of the buccal cavity (particularly when stripped, which isn't the case here, but which I include for your future reference). Thirty days is a bit long to hold, though, and it's likely owing to the fact that she's a first-time mother. It puts you in the uncomfortable position of perhaps having to decide whether to strip (stressful on the mother) or waiting further (risk losing fry and, more importantly, also stressful on the female since she's not eating). (Hopefully, she'll release the rest over the next couple of days, though.)

<I>If </I>you decide to strip the female, here's one way that's worked for me: Position the net and wait patiently until the female can be quickly captured (i.e., without being chased all over the tank). Upon being trapped, she may immediately spit the remaining fry into the net. If she doesn't, hold her head down gently <I>underwater</I> with one hand, and with the other gently pry her mouth open. After the fry are out, separate mother and fry (if you don't, she'll likely scoop them back in): If you have a relatively docile community and the main tank has plenty of shelter, she might be ok in there, although if you can hold the fry in their temp quarters and the mother begins taking food after the fry are out, that would be the better option as she can quietly regain her strength.

Don't expect many more fry, particularly for a first-timer (the Lab, not you :D ): I recall broods of 8-13 or so.

As for the water change: The water in the nursery tank is identical (especially in pH) to the main tank, right? You can do lower percentage, more frequent changes.

[angelhf13]

Thank you so much for all your info and suggestions. You've been a great help! She did release 2 more this evening...I havent been able to capture them yet though. I still see at least one more in her mouth, so I'll wait another day and hopefully she will let it go.

The ph in my nursery tank is a little higher because the nursery tank is newer, less established (It was set up for about 3 weeks before I had no choice but to move the mother) and my tap water has an extremely high ph. I never attempt to lower the ph because all the fish seem to thrive in it as is. But of course over time, the ph lowers some naturally. So the ph in the main tank is somewhat lower. I plan to keep the fry in the nursery tank until they get big enough that they wont get eaten in the main tank...so that switch shouldnt be a problem at all as the ph in the nursery tank will probably be the same as the main tank by that time.....but do you think its going to be a problem moving the mother back to the main tank with the ph difference? (ph in main tank is around 8.0, ph in nursery tank is just off the scale at probably between 8.5 & 9.0).
Im also a little worried about the nitrite level in the nursery tank...it being a new set up, the levels are a little high. Ive done a water change and lowered it some. I know it should continue to lower as the tank becomes more established. The fry seem to be doing good at this point. What else if anything can I do to lower the level that will be safe for the fry?

Thanxs again!
Angel

[tom]

Re the pH difference: Acclimate your Lab using whatever procedure has worked for you when bringing fish home from your LFS. Here's one option: Place her in a container into which you slowly--over the space of a couple of hours--add water from the main tank to that of a small amount from the nursery tank. Be mindful of tank temperature differences, as well. Best to do this in the evening.


Re the nitrites: More frequent water changes. Adding a bit of substrate from the main tank should help, too.

[angelhf13]

Just a quick update and a big Thank you.........
She released a total of 13 fry, and all seems well. I did put her back into the main tank because she kept hitting at the breeding trap, and wouldn't eat. She's still not eating at this point, but seems in good spirits. The male seemed happy that she was back....he immediately started doing his little mating dance in front of her. He just will not give her a break! I really do need to get more labs in there to take some of the heat off of her! I'll probably do that this weekend. My next problem after these fry get bigger is where to put them all!!! Time for another tank!
Thanx again for all your help!!
Angel

[WorldNation]

cograts on the babies:)