Preggo labridichromis caeruleus

[russrimm]

Help. I'm pretty sure my electric yellow lab is preggo. The lower part of her mouth is pooched out. It wasnt like that the other day. Should I quarantine her? I think I want to try my hand at hatching fry. I have a 5 gal QT. What else should I put in the QT tank?

Also, how do "Sponge Filters" work? I'm looking at them on Big Als and don't see any motorized section. Are they designed to go inside your existing pumps intake or something?

Thanks

 

[TCTFish]

She should go into a tank by herself. Be gentle in catching and transferring her over to the QT. Once she spits the fry out, she can go back into the main tank. Raise the fry in the QT. Algae grown rocks are excellent sources of natural algae for them to graze on. HBH has a veggie flake that is great nutrition for them. If they do have algae grown rocks to graze on, then you only need to feed them a few times a week.

Tank should be bare bottomed or with sand with some rocks for the mom to hide in and around. Sponge filters are air pump driven. Thay have no motor and that's why. Just hook an airline hose to it from a air pump. Rinse the sponge in used aquarium water about once a week.

 

[russrimm]

Great! After about 30 minutes of trying to catch her we finally did. I was worried about her spitting them during the chase but she didn't. Now she's in the QT and catching her breath. I understand she probably wont eat much if any over the next 4 weeks. Should I try feeding her just in case anyway? Should I turn the light on each morning in the QT for the whole day like I do for the other fish as well or should I leave her in the dark?

I'm not sure how to get algae grown rocks. My pleco seems to make sure they're always algae free!

 

[TCTFish]

Do continue a day and night time cycle. She probably won't eat until the fry are developed enough to be spit out. Don't worry too much. If she's not skinny now, she'll be ok for awhile. Fish can go incredible lengths of time without food if kept healthy enough from the beginning. Put a good light on the QT. Something that would encourage algae growth and let the algae grow in the QT where there is no pleco to snack it all up for himself

 

[russrimm]

OK, she's been in the QT overnight now. This morning I am watching her and she's swimming around like crazy. It's almost a frantic type of swimming. She's kinda got me worried. She looks like she really wants out of there, swimming really fast up and down and all over the place.. Do fish get closterphobic?! She did go from a 65 gal to a 5 gal QT.

 

[TCTFish]

How big is she? Is there something in the tank that can provide a hiding place for complete privacy? Depending on how big she is, you may need to change the water in there frequently. Have a bio additive on hand as well or even Stability. It works well.

If you see she may need more room, a ten gallon tank doesn't cost much and you can use what you have in the five on the ten. If cost is still a concern, home depot and places as such...as well as walmart...carry rubbermaid bins. They work just as well. You just can't see through them.

 

[russrimm]

She's definitely smaller. Probably 3" long. We put a big cave in there and a couple of fake plants. We took water from the 65 gal tank she was in, so we figure that will keep the cycle going. She's also flapping her side fins really fast.

 

[TCTFish]

Using aquarium water doesn't keep the cycle going. The nitrifying bacteria are not suspended in the water. They cling on to things like rocks, plants, gravel...bio media. Take a rock out from the main tank and put it in there with her. That will have the nitrifying bacteria on it. What is the benefit of using aquarium water for the QT is lessening the radical change in water chemistry. That in turn lessens stress on the fish.

Make sure the temp is where it should be and stable. Check for ammonia and nitrite frequently. Use a bio aditive and do about 15%water change once or twice a week depending on ammonia and nitrite readings.

Whenever there's a holding female at the store, I put them in a tank on their own. They do seem to trip out a bit. Swimming fast from a rock on one end of the tank to another on the other side. The females I isolate don't even like being looked at...lol. If everything in the tank checks out good...no toxins, plenty of shelter, adequate heat etc. then the best thing to do is leave her be. Check in on her to make sure she's ok, but don't occupy yourself too much with her. She's carrying eggs or fry and she will be nervous about anything that checks her out. Maybe the light is too bright. Everything needs a day and night time cycle. That's important, but the brightness of the light may make her feel vunerable. You can use plastic floating plants to help dim it a bit or use an actinic or blue bulb. Let me know when she spits out the fry. They are just so cute. check it out...