How long will A. latifasciata hold?

[Chromedome]

I have been around a long time and bred a few hundred species of fish, but I haven't had a lot of experience with the Vics. And it's been a while since I had the ones that I did spawn.

So, I have a female latifasciata that started holding about a week ago. Yesterday I removed her from the 90 community to a 5 gallon tank for brooding purposes (with some weeds and a couple of half flowerpots for hiding places). This has been a standard procedure in the past, giving a mouthbrooding fish a week to establish an attachment to the spawn so that he/she won't eat or spit them easily, or if they do, the spawn should be partially developed and easier to save. For those wondering how I managed to move her without having the eggs spit out: catch gently (that's the hard part!) and lift out with a container of water so that she isn't exposed to the air.

She did let one egg slip out, had a very tiny head and tail attached. After a week, I expected more development. So, if after a week the eggs have barely hatched (big tank was quite warm, around 80 F.), how long is it going to take them to develop into free swimmers that she will release? Am I looking at a 3 week fast for the mother? Last mouthbrooders I had were Betta species, and usually if I give them a week, I have well-developed wiggler fry - 12 days and they are usually swimming.

Lats are a fairly common species, so I'm hoping someone can give me a reasonable time line for this.

[MisanthropeKitty]

21 days is usually a good estimate... i have had females hold for longer though. are you planning on stripping her?

[Chromedome]

I'll probably force the fry if she doesn't release within the 3 weeks. I don't like to strip, usually save that for fish that just won't hold. Since I don't keep a lot of mouthbrooders normally, it's not something I care to make a habit out of.

[deadman-1]

i have had them spit in 11 days in warm weather and up to 23 days when its not.

[Chromedome]

Well, she spit out about 20 fry today, and showed no sign of wanting to pick them back up. However, when I caught her in the net, her mouth still looked funny, so I tried stripping to see if there were fry still in there. I got another dozen or so out of her! They look like they aren't quite fully developed, though they are all swimming about. At least she spit most of them, rather than having to be forced.

Just over two weeks, despite the tank being a bit cooler than intended (saw the temp was 75 F. a couple days ago, had to kick up the heater a bit more). They look healthy, so far. Started the shrimp hatchers again; Geez, it's been a while since I've done that! Needed to anyway for the Goo Obo Gudgeons and the Betta coccina.

Thanks for the informational assistance, folks! :xmas5:

[RustyNut]

powdered flake is just fine for them at this stage... the shrimp are just high calorie junk food to keep them energized for growth.

[deadman-1]

the holding time sounds right,
did you know that its believed that this species is extinct in the wild and they
were collected from lake kyoga. all that remains to my understanding are thoes kept with in the hobby.
the correct name is astatotalipia latifasciata lake kyoga zebra,
here is my adult male.
good luck with your fry
http://www.cichlidforums.com/postimages/2008-12-23/241199-001.jpg

[Glaive]

(saw the temp was 75 F. a couple days ago, had to kick up the heater a bit more).

I see no issue with this, most people spend their time trying to match the temperature at the surface versus the temperature where the fish reside.

Congrats on the spawn. :)

[SuddenUrge]

I see no issue with this, most people spend their time trying to match the temperature at the surface versus the temperature where the fish reside.

Congrats on the spawn. :)

Can the difference vary that much in for example a std 55g or 125g? It never even occurred to me that the temp would vary that much

[Glaive]

Sudden, it is more a comment on the lake itself and not the tank.
While there are thermal layers in the tank they do not vary too much, perhaps a degree or two. However if you think about swimming in a lake the temperature varies quite quickly between the top 3 feet and what comes below. If you have swam down say 30 feet it gets even more drastic. My point being everyone cites the surface temperature of the African lakes and they often don't think that 15-20 feet deeper where many of our fish reside the water is much cooler. Perhaps I should just as Larry in his habitat shots thread?

[SuddenUrge]

Ahhh thanks for clarifying Glaive, always informative :)

[RustyNut]

Glaive makes a good point surface temperatures are taken at 1m depth, however the deep (50m+) temperature of the lake is 70F and it is consistent through out the seasons.... this means there is about 8-15F variance across the upper regions during the season. Most of the fish in the lake inhabit the upper 20m of the water column which means the majority of the fish we keep acutally live in temperature zones somewhere between 70F and 79F and I find 78F to be "ideal" for mbuna though peacocks and haps seem to like it a degree or two cooler than that.

Personally, I keep mbuna in my pond til Sept. and my pond gets down into the low 60's at night! The fish seem perfectly fine with it, although there is almost no breeding activity that I have seen.

I believe, for the most part...Its not the actual temperature that kills fish but fluctuations in temperature that kill fish. Obviously the fish will not thrive in cold 50-60F water, but it can survive if the temperature is consistent.

[Glaive]

Actually I lose the thermocline argument, but not the temperature argument.

See Larryochromis' response to my question about temperature variance in Lake Malawi in the following thread.
http://www.cichlidforums.com/showthread.php?t=33161