He's...er...she's holding

[Fishyfanatic]

We purchased an Acei Ngara several months ago. I was told that it was a male. This morning when I turned on the lights to feed the tank I noticed that SHE was holding fry. We don't have a Ngara male in the tank but we do have regular Aceis. We're going to pull her from the tank this evening.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Maybe she took male colouration to fend off the others? Malawis can do that sometimes: females do it especially when they're holding.
My M:F ratio with my mbuna, which I thought was off at 2F:5M, has turned out to be 4F:3M. A bit better. Two of my 'males' - the runty ones - were actually female (again, spotted when they started holding!).

Odd things, cichlids! They aren't half confusing sometimes!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We have about half and half when it comes to male/females except for the labs. Those we're not sure about. But I do know that we have one female and one male. The other 4, not sure. I'm pretty excited about this and I wonder what she will end up spitting. Obviously it will be a mix, but I wonder if it will be an Acei mix. If they come out with a purple body and white fins, I know where that cmae from.

 

[SeanMurphy]

I bought two yellow labs, hoping one was male and one was female by coloring. Turns out today that the "male" is holding. She's got distinct black markings, which are sometimes an indicator of males, and the other one is smaller, and has no markings at all.

 

[Zagz]

Congrats FF! How exciting. LOL have fun getting her out of the tank. I know what a process that will be.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We haven't been succesful at pulling her yet. We don't want to stress her out so we're letting her stay in as long as possible. Tomorrow evening we're going to pull her after she falls asleep. She's about to burst. Here's a pic I took this evening.

 

[Zagz]

Oh she's close to spitting. Good luck catching her. She has quite a brood in there.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Here they are! Im assuming they are Acei fry since an Acei spit them, but the stripes threw me off.

 

[Jchillin]

Congrats Fishy, looks like another healthy brood you got there. Did you have to pull them or did she/he spit them all?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

She spit them in the net. I started a log regarding the fry. I hadn't seen one done yet on Acei so I figured I would give it a shot. Their growth is going to be a surprise for me too since I don't know who the father is. Too bad I can't take them on Maury for a surprise DNA testing.

 

[Jchillin]

LOL! Ace-I, you ARE the father!

 

[DeFeKt]

Im assuming they are Acei fry since an Acei spit them, but the stripes threw me off.

I know for certain that Acei ngara do have stripes when they are young.

Very nice brood though, I lost count at 40.
Whats for the plan for them?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

My husband thought they were Kenyi fry. Our female Kenyi just spit in the tank a few days ago. Several months ago our Peacock held a few labs after the female lab spit in the main tank. She just included them with her own fry. It was pretty cool. She's VERY motherly. He thought maybe the Acei did the same thing. It's obvious that it's not since they lack the blue coloration. It's hard to believe that she held all of those fry in her mouth when they were that big.

We are going to keep them in the 10 gal QT for a few weeks until they get a little bit bigger. I'd rather the weak ones pass in the 10 gal instead of a bigger tank. They will then be moved to a more suitable tank. I was going to put them in the 29 but IMO that's not big enough for a grow out tank. We are in the process of purchasing my brothers old 55 gal tank.

This morning I received an e-mail from one of the lfs that we sell to and she's asking about our fry. I'm VERY hesitant to even sell them. I'm almost certain they are a mix between a regular Acei and the Ngara. I just don't want to release cross breeds into circulation.

 

[DeFeKt]

I would keep a few to grow out and see what they come out like, purely for interests sake.

The rest I would feed off so not to contaminate the already declining gene pool.
I'm sure you will make the right choice anyway. Whichever that may be.

Just saw the other thread before, keep us updated on their lives

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I won't put them back into the main tank for survival of the fittest. I always feel so bad when a mother spits in the tank and the fry are eaten. I also refuse to feed live food. It's just one of those things that I can't stomach.

A friend of ours has shown interest in setting up a 75 gal exclusively for the fish when they are older. He's interested in African Cichlids but is hesitant about the cost. For quality Africans you'll pay at least $20 to $30 each around here. He'll be saving $600 easy by taking ours. We'll see how it pans out.

I'm just not really interested in releasing them into circulation. Maybe for a show tank in a lfs, but not for resale. I'm very picky when it comes to selling our fry. And if they end up being black with yellow tails, I'd hate for people to confuse them for Tanzanian.

 

[Zagz]

Nice looking fry you have there. Congrats.