What do I do with a Pregnant White Cloud?

[unknown_7]

I already posted this in the General Forum and did not know how to move posts between forums, so now this is the copy and paste of the previous post:


Hello, I didn't know if I should have put this in the breeding section of the forum or here. I figure there is more user traffic here so I would just post it here, but MODs please feel free to switch it to another board. Lol. Anyways, I have two white clouds, one should be male and the other is this white cloud with a REALLY REALLY big stomach, it had been that way for a couple months and I suspect that this fish is a pregnant female. Its a 15 gallon with otos, snails, and 4 black skirts, as well as the companion white cloud male. So basically my question is, if I want to keep these babies. What should I do?


Thank you.

[BillD]

If the female overfills with eggs, she can become eggbound, and will be unable to drop the eggs. White clouds like cooler water, and aren't really tropical. A big water change with cooler water of around 60 to 65 F might induce the spawn, but your tetras probably won't like it. Having a floating plant such as hornwort might help by providing a spot to spawn. With other fish in the tank, it is unlikely that you will get any babies, or if you do, that they will survive. Whiteclouds have been known to spawn and have babies survive in species tanks, but in this csae, the tetras would likely take care of any eggs or babies,probably before you saw them.

[unknown_7]

Thank you soo much for posting a reply. Egg bound? Hmm...Is there anything I can do to help her release her eggs if this happens. I have seen her stomach swollen for awhile now and hope this is not the case.

[BillD]

Try letting the temp drop, by unplugging the heater, and try a 50% water change with water that is a couple of degrees cooler than the room temp. I can't say that will guarantee results, but is worth a try. I would give it a couple of tries, a few days apart.

[Billsgate]

I wouldn't try to breed them in the same tank as your tetras, It might very well be that once they do spawn, your tetras will swim right behind the female and eat any eggs that fall out.
I've bred white clouds in a seperate tank though, no heater in the summer, 3g tank with sponge filter. Only 3 fry made it for me, but considering the terrible state of the tank they were in *I didn't know what I was doing* I think these are pretty hardy fish and quite easy to breed if u put them seperatly. I put in one fat female and 2 males, looked out for eggs, and they were there after one day. Then I removed the parents and let the eggs hatch. Didn't know much about fry foods back then, so I fouled up the water with some big flakes

Good luck anyways!