Yellow lab with eggs?

[RedRain5]

yellow lab holding eggs but the other female lab is picking on it & it's fins look a bit nipped I thought the one that is carrying was male but male is ignoring the holding female

I bought the fish as juvies I thought I had a male and two females then it looked like two males and one female but now one I thought was male has "eggs" and the female is bothering it and the dominant male ignores it what's up?

o yea I also have 3red zebra and 3cobalt zebra along with an african butterfly fish and a well mannered golden CAE in the tank with the labs they totaly ignore the little yellow fish
water and all is good nice and hard just the way they like it I'm surprised but it dosn't seem to bother the CAE or the butterfly

should I get a breeder net or something? the tank has loads of rocks and caves and some plants java and mellon sword something else too but they are rather sparse I have no idea what do do with cichlid babys what do they eat? that is if the female docent swallow her first batch of eggs

should I put the female that is pestering her into a separate container or breeder net to keep her away from the one holding
the male is now dancing at the other female but she is much smaller and shows no intrest in mating just pestering the one holding

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Welcome to AA!

Labs are impossible to sex as Juvis. They are difficult to sex as adults unless you vent. I had a female that looked EXACTLY like a male. I thought it was a male until she started holding fry. Labs are one of the most difficult specie of African Mbuna to sex. The "female" that is bothering the holding mother could actually be a male. Until you vent, there is no sure fire way of knowing.

I would remove the holding female completly from the tank. A breeder net will just constrict her and stress her even more. Set up a cheap 10 gal with a sponge filter and heater. You dont' even need lights. Just some plants (real or fake, doesn't matter) for the fry to hide in. The mother will appreciate a hiding place where she can feel safe in the QT. This will releave the stress from her.

You can leave the fry in the QT for a while. They will eat crushed up flakes or fry food. I have small New Life Spectrum pellets that I feed all of our African fry.

 

[RedRain5]

I'm woried about her swalowing the eggs if I move her.
my fish hide alot they feak if i even move near the tank so moving her may not be a good idea and as far as catching her my tank is planted along wint loads of rocks meaning hinding places running her out may scare her
but since this is her first clutch she will probly swalow them any way right?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

There is always the risk that she will swallow. I wouldn't say that she will definitely swallow though. Our Cobalt spit her first batch (picture in my gallery) and so did the Jacob. It really just depends on her. If she is being harassed, it may be a good idea to move her even if she swallows.

 

[RedRain5]

thnx for the info

and Wow! Guess what! I went to feed my fish today and a tinny blue spot came out to greet me. My cobalt zebras had fry and I didn't even know the female was holding it's about the size of my pinky nail I put it into a nice breeder box so it wouldn't get eaten it has a rock and some plant cover to hide in it seams happy and is picking food off the plant. I haven’t been able to find any other survivors I think the filter got them but it now has a sponge over it so it can't eat any more fry XD I'm glad the mother got it right the first time and didn't eat them or any thing hopefully she will be a good breeder and the other female will too
It’s my first fry not from a live bearer fish yay!…it needs a name

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Congrats!!! Fry are always a nice surprise.