Marmalade Cat Holding Time

[Me76]

I'm new to the cichlid breeding world, this is the first time I've ever had a female holding. On August 10th, I noticed our Marmalade Cat and Cobolt Blue Zebra going round and round in circles wiggling their whole bodies on a rock, and chasing everyone else away. Kept an eye on them and could see within a day or two that the Cat was holding. It's been 3 weeks and 4 days now, and I'm starting to get worried about her. She's definitly allot skinnier than she was, and she acts as though she wants to eat so badly, everytime I feed the fish, she's right there "sniffing" the food, but can't eat. She doesn't go into any of the holes they have dug out beneath our logs and just sits in the front of our aquarium (100 gal.) She chases everyone but the Johani and the Barchardis away. Should we try moving her to her own tank? I also saw something about stripping a fish, how and at what point should I consider that? Please help, I'm worried about her, and don't want anything to happen to her. Thank you.

[SGypsyMermaid]

mbuna females typically mouthbrood their fry for 3 to 4 weeks, so i don't think that there's anything abnormal going on there. she's probably going to spit them soon. are there cracks and crevices, or rockpiles for the babies to hide in? you could take her out, and put her in a tank by herself with a small rock pile for the babies to hide in. she will probably spit them right out if you do that. the problem that you may encounter then is re-introducing her to the community. she's likely to be treated as a newcomer. i personally don't go in for stripping, but that's just me. let me know what you're inclined to do.

[Me76]

I'd like to take her out, I'm worried about the babies surviving in the big tank, there's not really much for them to hide in, and the other fish seem to eat anything floating in the water, including fecus and plants, and spit it out if they don't want. The Johani has already killed 2 Med-Lrg Yellow Labs in the last few weeks. I'm not worried too much about her becoming a "newcomer" when she goes back to the tank, she's fairly dominant in the tank, except when it comes to the Johani and Barchardis, but the Barchardis don't really bother anyone else. How long should I keep her with the babies before putting her back in the community tank? Also, any idea what color babies a light blue (cobalt blue zebra) and a bright orange with black spotted (the mom) fish will have? It's been the burning question for the past few weeks. Will they look like the mom, dad, or possibly a combination of both? Thanks for your help.

[SGypsyMermaid]

since the fry will be hybrid, there's really no way to know what they're going to look like, unless you're versed in advanced genetics! :shock: you'll just have to wait 'til they make their appearance--exciting, isn't it?

even though your female is dominant now, that may change when she is re-introduced. to be safe, i would re-arrange the furniture in the tank before putting her back. (if you are planning to add new fish to the tank, it would be good to add them at the same time that you add her--dilutes newcomer aggression/multiple targets) i would keep her in the maternity tank for 2 weeks, so that she gets her strength back before returning to the community. some people advocate separating the mom from her fry, but i would leave her there, make sure she gets plenty to eat, and make sure that the babies have plenty of hidey holes just in case she decides to go fry-hunting. good luck!

[wkwan]

As a hobbyist/breeder I understand the excitement of having frys (I really do), however with regards to hybrids unless you're planning to keep them for yourself, I would not release them into the public. It's bad enough that LFS sells mislabelled fishes. We as hobbyists have a responsibility to keep hybrids out of the hobby.

This is just my opinion, you can do whatever you want to do.

William

p.s. I do not mean to offend anybody if I did.

[Me76]

we plan on keeping them :)

[Guard Bum]

So how long did the M fuelleborni hold? I have a female holding now, just noticed last night and wandering what to expect. I was wandering if I would be able to tell, but it is clearly obvious. This is my first. :D

[Me76]

She held for 3 weeks and 5 days, and surprisingly she didn't spit when we moved her, even though it took 3 hours of trying to wait paitently for her to check out the net, then giving up and chasing her for 30 mins. She held on to them for 3 more days after that, then spit. We now have 25-28 babies in a ten gallon tank on our kitchen counter who follow me where ever I go around the kitchen. :) This was our first also. Congratulations!

[SGypsyMermaid]

:lol: congrats!!

[Guard Bum]

Got up this morning and the female wasn't holding any longer. She is still moving her mouth funny, but she is out of hiding and isn't holding. She isn't eating yet, but I expect she will eat soon. Maybe next time. :(

[SGypsyMermaid]

if she's still moving her mouth funny, she's still got a couple of them in there. if she were empty, she'd be eating...ravenously.

[Guard Bum]

Gypsy,

I believe you are correct. She is still reclusive and appears to be holding, though considerably less than before. Hope she holds on for the duration. We're bracing ourselves down hear for Hurricane Isadore, but I have the generator ready should I lose power to run the filters periodically and save the fish (and the refrigerator).

[SGypsyMermaid]

good luck with the fry...and with isidore :wink:

[M_sfan87]

Move her to a new tank (10 gal. something small) or if she holds for longer then 4 weeks try stripping her. When she is bare bones shes been holding way to long. Here is an artical about stripping http://www.vatoelvis.com/BreedingCichlids.html :D