nyererei fry!

[fish speaker]

I've had my female P. nyererei in my maternity tank for a couple of weeks (I think:rolleyes: ). Tonight, when I looked in the tank, her mouth was not distended at all...but she WAS surrounded by fry! As I watched, she swam around and gathered the fry back into her mouth, until it was once again bulging! Really neat to see that, for someone who is used to that kind of behavior only from a fish that is feeding.

Any ideas about how long she'll do this until she's ready to let them go? She is really doing well, so I'm not worried about her needing to eat, but any suggestions on when/if to separate her from the fry?

Thanks :rock:

[SGypsyMermaid]

now that she has released them, you need to feed her...and them. she'll keep taking them in for several days. once she's confident that they'll be safe, she'll stop taking them in, then i'd remove her. i love watching the moms taking the babies in and out of their mouths. what's really funny is the ones that try to escape and refuse to go back in, and also, the ones that keep trying to get back in once she's decided that she's finished mouthbrooding! enjoy.:D

[fish speaker]

Thanks! She told me the same thing (well, she SHOWED me) when I came in this evening: she swam to the top front of the tank without any babies in her mouth, virtually begging for food, which she then ate with gusto! She then gathered the fry again. I'm not sure they all still fit in: there were already some little yellow fry in the tank (lab released a couple of days ahead of her), and there is a C. afra that is going to release any minute (based on appearance of her mouth). When she fills her mouth, not all of the fry still out of her mouth are yellow.

Yep, this is definitely a very fun time!

I have a related genetics/breeding question. I only have 1 male and 1 female adult nyererei. Should I keep some of the fry, or find new homes for all of them? My guess is that it's not quite like with us, and breeding between parent/child isn't a genetic no-no...but with the experienced fishkeepers we have here, I don't think I'll leave it to "my guess."

Thanks,
David :party:

[Glaive]

Breeding parents to children will slim the genetic pool, but it is a common practice in line breeding when people breed for specific traits

[fish speaker]

Thanks, Glaive!

BTW, do most mouth brooders take the fry back into the mouth periodically? I have a couple of mbuna in the maternity tank, and haven't seen them do this...but my timing may not be right.

[Matt V]

Originally posted by fish speaker
BTW, do most mouth brooders take the fry back into the mouth periodically? I have a couple of mbuna in the maternity tank, and haven't seen them do this...but my timing may not be right.

Yes.

All of my mbuna that have held have done that.