At what size should fry be removed?

[Crawdaddy]

Noticed last night 1, and then 2 more yellow lab fry in my main tank tonight. Then I witnessed one becoming dinner for my feather fin tonight. Two questions, one, when should I try and remove them, and two, how can I tell when the mom is holding, so I can put her in a breeder pen to try and save the babies. My labs literally breed like mice. When I did my substrate change a couple of weeks ago, I found three then, and moved them to my community tank. They are doing great, growing like weeds. The ones in the main tank are tiny, So they must be a new batch.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

You can remove the female and wait for her to spit them out or you can strip her. If you notice her gills poped out, not eating and/or protecting a spot in the tank she is ether holding or about to let them out. They normally only hold for 16-21 days so if you notice it wait a little while then do as you wish as I stated above.

 

[garfy]

The best way to tell if a female mbuna is holding is look at what you will interpret as the chin.It will be swollen and distended.It will look like she is chewing gum permanently.

 

[CraigMac]

And don't pull the holding female right away, many of them hold for 3 weeks or longer. If you pull her right away she could lose her social status in the tank and be viewed as a new comer when returned to the tank.

 

[Crawdaddy]

How many will she be holding at any given time, and until what size will she hold them?

 

[Crawdaddy]

And how do you strip them?

 

[CraigMac]

My yellow lab just spit her fry, I counted a little over 20. I think they typically hold until the eggs hatch and the fry are free swimming. However, even after spitting they will take the back in their mouth for up to a week.