How long will she keep the babies in mouth - Aquarium Advice

oneoffcustom · 05-13-2008, 03:52 PM

hey, i finally have a cycled tank and levels have been stable. i just recently inherited a pair of haplochromis obiquidens from a friend, and noticed the females mouth was buldging. I read online and it seems she has a clutch of babies in her mouth. how long will she keep them in there for before i can enjoy being a grand parent to the babies?

thatmagicguy · 05-13-2008, 04:17 PM

Hi.

It depends. If she is holding hatched babies then the time is less, if she just laid them then it will be a few weeks. "Obliquidens" by the way can be a name given to a few fish by dealers, so you may want to check on line photo catalogues to ensure you are really dealing with the fish you think you are. In any case a few weeks is the average time, up to 3 I believe. If there is no where for them to hide when they come out then they will be history.
Bill

oneoffcustom · 05-13-2008, 05:57 PM

they are something like hp red or something like that, ther are alive so ive been told but i have not seen them come out yet.

**Zagz** · 05-13-2008, 10:38 PM

If you want to save the fry, you will have to remove the holding mother to another tank until she spits. If the fry are already hatched it could be any time now.
Congrats.

pitt420dude · 05-14-2008, 11:19 AM

Sweet, good luck protecting them and raising them to adults! Do you have a fry tank or a breeder net or somethign you can use to protect them?

oneoffcustom · 05-16-2008, 05:24 PM

ok so what i was told was wrong. they were not live babies in her mouth. i have a high current tank, what with the maxi jet and the oversized filter. i came home today to find her mouth empty with no sighns of babies or eggs that i can find. what could have been in her mouth would they have eaten them. maybe she laid her eggs somewhere or what please give insight.

thatmagicguy · 05-16-2008, 09:43 PM

It could of been babies or it could of been eggs, we have no way of knowing with so little information to go on. In either case if you "inhereted" her from a friend with the eggs or young already in her mouth then you did well to have her hold them while being transported and aclimated to a new environment without her eating them.

If she was holding developed young and you have rocks and hiding places in the tank then there might be live young hiding and you just don't see them.

More than likely if she was only holding eggs then she spit them out or ate them. You said in the original post that the tank was newly cycled, young tanks fluctuate alot in parameters and certainly malawi cichlids contribute alot of waste and will play havoc on a newly "cycled" aquarium.

If the adults are fed well and you are taking care of them then it will only be a short time before she is holding again.

Of course all of this is just conjecture, again, we have so little to go on and on any internet forum it is difficult to say for certain what is what. I would educate yourself as much as you can by reading and then applying what you learn to your own tank.

Happy learning, Bill.

05-13-2008, 03:52 PM	#1
oneoffcustom Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 24	How long will she keep the babies in mouth hey, i finally have a cycled tank and levels have been stable. i just recently inherited a pair of haplochromis obiquidens from a friend, and noticed the females mouth was buldging. I read online and it seems she has a clutch of babies in her mouth. how long will she keep them in there for before i can enjoy being a grand parent to the babies?

05-13-2008, 04:17 PM	#2
thatmagicguy Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: florida Posts: 57	Hi. It depends. If she is holding hatched babies then the time is less, if she just laid them then it will be a few weeks. "Obliquidens" by the way can be a name given to a few fish by dealers, so you may want to check on line photo catalogues to ensure you are really dealing with the fish you think you are. In any case a few weeks is the average time, up to 3 I believe. If there is no where for them to hide when they come out then they will be history. Bill __________________ Billismad.tripod.com

05-13-2008, 10:38 PM	#4
Zagz Aquarium Advice Addict Community Admin Join Date: May 2005 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 10,879 Images: 92	If you want to save the fry, you will have to remove the holding mother to another tank until she spits. If the fry are already hatched it could be any time now. Congrats. __________________ ------------ Anne My Profile Page My tank & fish photos. Have you voted for AA today? Like the advice or comments someone gave you? Show your appreciation with the reputation button!

05-14-2008, 11:19 AM	#5
pitt420dude Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pittsburgh! Home of the 5 Time Superbowl Champs! Posts: 949 Images: 11	Sweet, good luck protecting them and raising them to adults! Do you have a fry tank or a breeder net or somethign you can use to protect them? __________________ Thank you so much for all your help. I'm now going green. LOOK! A NEW LEAF!!!!!

05-16-2008, 09:43 PM	#7
thatmagicguy Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: florida Posts: 57	It could of been babies or it could of been eggs, we have no way of knowing with so little information to go on. In either case if you "inhereted" her from a friend with the eggs or young already in her mouth then you did well to have her hold them while being transported and aclimated to a new environment without her eating them. If she was holding developed young and you have rocks and hiding places in the tank then there might be live young hiding and you just don't see them. More than likely if she was only holding eggs then she spit them out or ate them. You said in the original post that the tank was newly cycled, young tanks fluctuate alot in parameters and certainly malawi cichlids contribute alot of waste and will play havoc on a newly "cycled" aquarium. If the adults are fed well and you are taking care of them then it will only be a short time before she is holding again. Of course all of this is just conjecture, again, we have so little to go on and on any internet forum it is difficult to say for certain what is what. I would educate yourself as much as you can by reading and then applying what you learn to your own tank. Happy learning, Bill. __________________ Billismad.tripod.com

05-13-2008, 05:57 PM	#3
oneoffcustom Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 24	they are something like hp red or something like that, ther are alive so ive been told but i have not seen them come out yet.

05-16-2008, 05:24 PM	#6
oneoffcustom Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 24	ok so what i was told was wrong. they were not live babies in her mouth. i have a high current tank, what with the maxi jet and the oversized filter. i came home today to find her mouth empty with no sighns of babies or eggs that i can find. what could have been in her mouth would they have eaten them. maybe she laid her eggs somewhere or what please give insight.

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