Venustus holding, now what?

[Arborist131]

I noticed Friday night that my largest female venustus is holding eggs in her mouth. It must of happened thursays night or Friday during work. I'm just wondering what the best options are. I've got a 40gallon tank already cycled and ready for her but will netting and moving her stress her out?

I think I have three options, move her to the 40 gallon and let her spit in there and provide lots of small hiding places for fry.

Try stripping the eggs from her (never done it and it worries me, don't want to
Injure my fish)

Or should I leave her in my 130 gallon to spit fry in there?

What's the safest? What will save most fry? What will put little stress on her?

 

[HUKIT]

I never strip my holding females, I have two choices. Let her spit naturally in the display tank which all or the majority of fry will be eaten. Put her into a holding tank to let her spit then place her back into the tank at night to ease the transition. The problem I have is catching them, with a couple hundred pounds of rock per tank and her determination not to be caught means tearing out rocks. You also need to consider what your going to do with the fry.

 

[Arborist131]

Yea I would have lots of large pieces of slate to remove in order to catch her. I should be able to remove the slate from half my tank and divide the tank. Should I be transferring her soon, or can she stay for bit longer? I just redid the slate a Few days before they did the deed, and don't want to change it soo fast.

I plan on growing the fry a bit(depending on number) and eventually rehoming them. Not to sure where will take them though.

 

[HUKIT]

She will spit in 21-28 days so you have some time. I wait 12-18 days till I remove them, I figure less time in a tank solo tank the better.

 

[Arborist131]

Ok thanks. Ill wait a while then since it's only been about 4 days. Any idea on how many she'll have or does it depend on size of the female, if its her first time etc ?

 

[HUKIT]

It depends how large she is, I've had first timers spit between 15-20 and as they get bigger I've seen spawns of 30-40. Most of my females breed 4-6 times per year on average.

 

[Arborist131]

Ok thanks, hopefully she doesn't have too many the first time. She's the largest of my female venustus', about 6-7" with the male being a bit larger. All other females (3) are 4-6 inches. Does that mean every female will become pregnant 4-6 times a year even with one male?

 

[HUKIT]

No it seems to be just like our society where only certain ones breed more often. All of my tanks are stocked properly with a 1m to 4/5 females and out of those 4/5 there are couple that breed constantly where as the others maybe once or twice per year. So there must be something the males see that they would breed more with them or maybe they're just easy.

 

[Arborist131]

Yea hopefully there is a couple females that only breed once or twice a year. Some females are still an inch or two smaller then the male so I'm hoping that their not fully matured yet.

Any idea on what works good for the fry to hide in from the mother? I've got a bit of lava rock and slate in the tank I plan on putting her in. Should I just make a pile of river rock that the mother won't fit into?

 

[Arborist131]

Just noticed today that another female venustus is holding. So I figure their about a week apart.

Is it fine to move both holding females into the same tank or do I need to separate them?

 

[HUKIT]

I use the same tanks for my holding females but I use a tank divider.

 

[Arborist131]

I'll have to divide the tank I guess.

The tank I'm going to be putting them in is running a ac 70 HOB filter, which is more then enough for the tank. Just wondering what I should do to modify the intake so fry don't get pulverized by the impeller. Im going to be getting a sponge filter for the fry's grow tank soon. Could the females survive on sponge filter alone or should I leave the HOB filter on and modify the intake?

Anyone know a good link that has a basic walkthrough/guide for breeding venustus and raising fry?

 

[HUKIT]

I use six 20g modified tanks with dividers for holding moms and fry. Once the fry are spit the mother is returned to the tank at night to ease her transition, then the fry make their way from one compartment to next depending on size until they are ready for sale. In those tanks is a HOB and a sponge filter, they have full sand substate with very few decorations. The fry are then fed exclusively NLS grow until they are around an inch or they're able to eat 1mm Cichlid.

 

[Arborist131]

Thanks that should help. The tank their going into is a 35 gallon heavily decorated with various rocks and sand. I guess for now I'm going to need to divide the tank and start a sponge filter. I'll post updates once I've done that and added the females.

Will the females immediately start eatting the fry if there's not food available and if so how do would I manage that? would adding a live feeder close to arrival help? Possibly brine shrimp or something?

 

[kay-bee19]

If the mothers are kept with the fry she won't resort to eating them. Though I'd recommend returning the mother to the main tank as HUKIT suggested.

Nimbochromis mothers can be very protective of their fry.

I would always know one of my venustus' spat her fry because all of the other fish in my 180gal would be crammed at the far 25% sector of the tank with the very aggressive mother preventing any of the fish from getting over to the other side of the tank where all of her fry were huddled.

I was interesting to see how she'd temporarily dominate all the usual dominant males of the other species I had in the tank in defense of her fry.

Matured females can produce relatively large broods (60-80+).

 

[Arborist131]

Wow didn't realize I would have that many fry on my hands. I plan on growing them for a bit then getting rid of them, any idea how many could be homed in a 35 gallon and for how long? I'd prefer to keep them in one tank but if not I've got multiple 20gallons I could set up.

Thanks Kay-bee didn't realize they would be so protective. Not letting them ever spit in my main tank, don't want my other fish getting upset.

Any idea on good places to sell cichlids to or does everyone just sell through craigslist or something. I realize I'm not a reputable breeder but I take excellent care of my fish and was kind of hoping to get rid of most of them in one. Any ideas?

 

[HUKIT]

I sell my peacocks/mbuna through Craigslist and a few LFS. I've never kept Venetus but I'm surprised to hear they guard the fry, where as most mbuna only watch over them for a day or two then fry start disappearing. So I'd be curious to hear how long they'll guard them.

 

[Arborist131]

Guess I'll just call around and post on craigslist when the time comes.

I plan on watching her for a while to see her attitude/behavior towards the fry. There won't be any other fish in the tank for her to aggravate. I'll make sure to take pictures and post them as I wont be keeping her with them very long

 

[kdpuffer]

My recommendation is to leave the mother in her home tank for about three weeks (she will be most comfortable there, and less chance of prematurely spitting the fry/eggs out, provided she has plenty of cover) then while doing a water change net and strip her. Stripping fry is actually very simple, grab a bowl and fill it with tank water then net the holding female and with wet and gentle hands, hold her in one hand and use a finger on the free hand to open her mouth. While holding her mouth open dip her into the bowl of water and then pull her out, do this repeatedly until all the fry are in the bowl. I have tried egg tumblers and separating the female and found this works the best, just stripped my yellow lab female and got 19 fry.

 

[Arborist131]

I'm just going to try putting her in the 35g tank. Don't like the idea of holding the female and dunking her in and out of water. Wouldn't that cause more stress then just netting and letting her spit in her own tank then rehome during night time?