yellow labs....possibly breeding...HELP!!

[angelhf13]

I have one male and one female yellow lab in a 29 gallon tank along with 2 clown loaches and a huge angel fish. They have all been together for about 4 months and do very well, but Im worried that if the labs breed that the angel fish may eat the babies! How likely is it that the 2 will breed, and how likely that the babies will get eaten? Do I remove the babies? Do I put the mother with them if I remove them? Also, I think I read somewhere that labs keep thier babies in thier mouth, and my female's throat, or whatever, has gotten bigger, almost a swollen look to it, and she isnt eating as aggressively as usual. Could this mean babies?
Thanks to anyone out there who can help!!

[SGypsyMermaid]

[quote:a2c46cd0c9="angelhf13"]I have one male and one female yellow lab in a 29 gallon tank along with 2 clown loaches and a huge angel fish. They have all been together for about 4 months and do very well, but Im worried that if the labs breed that the angel fish may eat the babies! How likely is it that the 2 will breed, and how likely that the babies will get eaten? Do I remove the babies? Do I put the mother with them if I remove them? Also, I think I read somewhere that labs keep thier babies in thier mouth, and my female's throat, or whatever, has gotten bigger, almost a swollen look to it, and she isnt eating as aggressively as usual. Could this mean babies?
Thanks to anyone out there who can help!![/quote:a2c46cd0c9]

she's either got a mouth full of babies or eggs...if you want to save the babies, you should put the mother in a separate tank.--she won't eat the babies as long as you feed her when she spits them out. you should do some reading on the needs of angel fish and of lake malawi cichlids...they really don't belong in the same tank.

[angelhf13]

thanks for your info! I realize the angel fish and the labs do not belong in the same tank together...I didnt intend for it to be that way. I have another tank with just africans. Initially the labs were in the other tank but the other africans were really picking on them and I was afraid they would be killed, so I moved them. They did very well with the angel, so I left them there. I want to move the female, but I dont have another tank set up. How long should I have the other tank set up before I move her?
Thanks again!

[SGypsyMermaid]

when you should move her depends on how long she has been holding...most mbuna hold for about 28 days, so if you know about when they spawned, i would say move her at about 21 days. you can get the maternity tank started by placing a bubble-up filter in your main tank now so that it can become colonized with beneficial bacteria. don't put it into the maternity tank until you are ready to move the fish.

[angelhf13]

Just becuase she's holding eggs doesn't mean those eggs have been fertalized does it? I know she's got eggs, but the male doesnt seem to have much to do with her. They stay on opposite sides of the tank. Im not sure what to do, if anything at this point. I guess I do need to read a little more on the subject! :roll: Ive been reading lots of posts here, but havent found the answer to this question yet!

[SGypsyMermaid]

[quote:d5d5f2a4a3="angelhf13"]Just becuase she's holding eggs doesn't mean those eggs have been fertalized does it? I know she's got eggs, but the male doesnt seem to have much to do with her. They stay on opposite sides of the tank. Im not sure what to do, if anything at this point. I guess I do need to read a little more on the subject! :roll: Ive been reading lots of posts here, but havent found the answer to this question yet![/quote:d5d5f2a4a3]

of course it is possible that the eggs are infertile, but i think that that is unlikely. there is no way for you to determine if the eggs are fertile or not--you'll just have to wait...there is no reason for the male to have anything to do with the female after the spawning ritual is completed; the eggs would have been fertilized as they were picked up during the spawning.