When can they breed?

[ilive466]

I have two fish that look like they could be hold. They have the square jaw and that lower area beneath there chin is distended. Am I correct to think that they may be holding.

The Yellow lab is about 2.5 inches maybe a little bigger and it seems to hang out by itself and when feeding happens it some what goes after little particles of food sinking but that is it.

The same goes for one of my red empress. There is one male for sure. And the other three could be male or female. he has colored up real nice and at about 3 inches. they just seem to small to me but this is my first experience with africans.

any help would be nice

seth

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Does it look like this? If so, she's holding. Congrats!

 

[ilive466]

That looks about right but is the center under there lower jaw distended as well. Also The red empress is usually out and everything but it only came out for a minute and went back in. Is that a good sign or a bad sign.

thanks


seth

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Good sign. It means she is protecting her fry by staying out of the action.

 

[ilive466]

about how long should she hold the fry if she is in fact holding. Is it a different amount of time between the yellow lab and the red empress?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If she already has a substantial bulge, they are probably already fry, not eggs. The holding time varies between 3 to 4 weeks from the time the eggs are laid and held. She will hold longer if she feels threatened in the tank. If it's her first batch, chances are most of the fry will not survive.

 

[ilive466]

cool thanks. If there is any information you guys think I should know it would be much appreciated


thanks again
seth

 

[ilive466]

Its official. My red empress spit 8 fry out today and they are so flipping cute. I am hoping that the yellow lab will soon do the same.

thanks for all your guys help

seth

 

[rich311k]

Congrats on the fry!!