P. Saluosi or M. Johanni Holding

[KrisG23]

I have a female that is either a saluosi or a johanni (not sure) that has been holding for two weeks. Should I be concerned??? I have her isolated in a small breeding/injury tank that attaches to the main tank, is this the problem...Perhaps being in the large tank would be a better situation for her.....I have no idea. I have raised the temperature in the tank a few degrees...up to approx 83-84. Any other suggestions...I am concerned that because it is her first time holding, that she may hold to long and die, I have heard about that happening in the past. Also, could the fact that the male is an Electric Blue Hap. be any cause for concern???

[Overawed]

Two weeks is mid-term. She has about 1 1/2 weeks to go.

The small tank will keep her from being harmed by the males of the big tank.

I would not raise that temp any more, you might want to bring it down to 81-82F.

They babies will be hybrids. Don't trade them into a store. Most people use them as small feeder fish. I however am interested in seeing what a Saulosi and Electric Blue look like. :D

I just can't imagine what the Elec. Blue was thinking. His females look nothing like a Saulosi. Are you sure about the name? Could it be a male Elec. Blue johanni?

[KrisG23]

To be honest, I 'm not sure if I know what either fish really is, I posted pictures of both of them and the consensus was that the male was an electric blue hap, and the female was a m. johanni or a p. saluosi, the pictures of both are in the threads just below this one. They were both purchased from a large tank of cichlids at a large chain pet store, and the salesperson was a young kid who didn't know anything about them.

[merlyn2221]

Are you sure the Blue hap is the father? Do you have a Johanni male? Like OA said, the two females look nothing alike.

[SGypsyMermaid]

good to see ya back, merlyn!:D in the absence of mates of their own species, lake cichlids are likely to mate with any fish from the same lake that swims past.

[EcoMarine]

If your really that concerned about the term in which your fish has been holding you could always strip her. At our hatchery when a female has been spotted we write down the future date of no less than 9 days next to the species. Then on that day we clean out a one gallon jar, (pickle jars work great) and fill the jar with water about 85% of the way. Note: We use the very same water as in the tank with the parents. We then fill a mid size bowl with a bit of water. (Usually we just pour the water into the bowl right from the jar so that afterwards you can just pour your babies in and not worry about having to much or to little water.) My father used a pen cap however my brother and I grow our little fingers nail out slightly. Making sure our hands are wet we then catch the female and hold her in our right hand with our thumb underneath her throat. Take our fingernail and carefully open the females mouth and submerse her in the bowl with her mouth open repeatedly while softly stroaking her throat until you can no longer see fry staring back at you when observing the insids of her mouth. Carefully place her back in her tank and pour the babies into the one gallon jar. If the fry still have yolk saks we tilt the jars slightly on a shelf and drop in our air hose so that it is near but not touching the fry and give plenty of air but be careful its not to much that your small wigglers are being thrown everywhere. Replace any deco from the parents tank you may of needed to remove to catch your fish and when the fry are free swimming begin feedings immidiately with live baby brine twice a day. Make sure you do water changes to the jar though and that there is absolutely no bad eggs or dead fry in the jar. Just one can knock out the whole community. We do daily water changes of at least 50% to our jars. Doing it this way will give a much better success rate with your babies survival and allow your female to eat again and even breed again sooner.