Cynotilapia afra breeding

[Knewm32]

I have a pair of afras who I believe are beefing. The females mouth appears full. I am not sure if the eggs are fertile or not. I currently have her in her own 10 gallon baby tank. Should I put the male in as well to ensure fertility? And are afras protective parents, or will they turn around and eat their own fry?

 

[joel618]

I have a pair of afras who I believe are beefing. The females mouth appears full. I am not sure if the eggs are fertile or not. I currently have her in her own 10 gallon baby tank. Should I put the male in as well to ensure fertility? And are afras protective parents, or will they turn around and eat their own fry?

How big are the fish? Pics? I wouldnt add the male and ime they will eat the babies.

 

[garfy]

Definately don't put the male in there he will not protect fry but eat them.As soon as the female has spat the fry I would put her back into the main tank with the lights out.The fry will be fine on their own.

 

[Ukdans1k]

+1 leave them seperate.


I put all my holding females in a holding tank, and remove her once she's spat. She will not feed during holding. Currently I have:

Two batches of afras.
Two batches of yellow labs
Two batches of chalousi
Batch of salousi
Batch of membe deep wich are rare! All done this way

The baby's will be fine on their own. Do pwc every day if you can or every other day and feed with hikari first bites. And they wil grow big and strong quick!

Good luck

 

[Knewm32]

Here she is. By her lonesome in the holding tank. Any e.t.a. on average brooding time before she will spit them out? Is the female known to eat fry as well?

 

[garfy]

If you leave her too long she will eat the fry.Remember she hasn't eaten at all whilst she's holding.it varies from female to female as to how long they hold,but most of my female labs hold for a full 4 weeks.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have an afra female who appears to be carrying. Currently, she is in 10 gallon tank by herself. Is this ok? Should I put the male in with her? Should the eggs already be fertile? Are the parents protective, or will they eat the fry?

Once the female is carrying the eggs, they should have already been fertilized so there is no need to put the male in with her.
The 10 Gal is fine as she won't be eating or moving around much while she is holding. You do want to make sure that there is some form of hiding spot or protection for the female as she will feel very vulnerable while she is carrying. Make sure you have a sponge filter in the tank and no other type of filters that can suck up the babies once they are swimming around.
If you let her carry to full term (which I suggest) once she spits out the fry you can take her out of the tank. Some breeders keep the female with the fry even after they spit so that the fry can go back into the mouth when they are scared or at night time. The choice is yours.
For now, it's just a waiting game. Try to disturb her the least amount you can for the best results.

Hope this helps...

 

[Knewm32]

Its a huge help. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Threads merged.