lump in throat

[Phoenixphire55]

I have a yellow labidochromis and yesterday I noticed she has a lump in her throat. She hasn't been eating I don't think, but she does chase the food a little bit. What could this be from? A disease? The other fish in the tank include 4 brevis and one acei cichlid. Actually, I'm not sure that my yellow lab is a female either. I think it might be male.

 

[Zagz]

You are sure it isn't a female holding? Can you get a pic? If it is indeed a lump it is most likely a tumor.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Sounds like a female holding. A pic would be great!

 

[Quartz92]

My yellow lab is doing the same thing, I have been trying to look inside her moth for the past 2 days only got one good look and I saw something move! It is probably a female holding fry.

I am fairly new to cichlids, do they hold eggs in their mouths too?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yes they do...they hold eggs and they hatch in their mouths.

 

[DizzCat]

Mouth brooders will hold the eggs/fry in their mouths for about 21 days. They pick them up as soon as they are laid and then tumble them around in their mouths until the fry have totally used up all the egg yolk. Once they have they are fully developed and the mom will spit them out one at a time over a couple days in a rock pile. Batches differ in size, depending on how big a mom is and how experienced she is. An example is my Yellow Lab only had 8 her first couple times, but now that she is over 4" she holds up to 30!

You can tell they are holding if you look and they look like the underside of their mouth is swollen. They will make chewing motions, like chewing gum. They will also swim up to food, but then swim away without eating. Some more experienced mom's will eat some smaller flake foods at times. It is really easy to tell in some fish and not others. My Red Zebra and Yellow Lab mom's are fairly easy to tell, yet my big dark Acei its hard to tell for sure. The way I make sure is to watch when I feed. If one of my total pig Acei do not eat I know she has a mouthful of eggs.

Here is a cute picture I got of my Yellow Lab holding. You can see the fry peeking out of her mouth!