Stripping Females

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</STRONG></DIV><H1>Stripping my Yellow</H1><DIV id=Qtextbox><P><STRONG>Author: davidhooton</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi,

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I have a yellow who has a mouthful, she's had them before, but has never spat fry, I think due to the large number of fish in the tank she's in.

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I'm keen to get fry from her, but have never bred mouthbrooders before. I couldn't find any instructions on the forum for how to get the fry from her..

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Looking forward to any and all perls of wisdom!

</P></DIV><H2>Replies »</H2><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: calvus75</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi Mate,

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Let her hold for 10-14 days and then catch her and place into an ice cream container with a few centimeters of tank water. Cut a small piece of airline tubing at an angle of 45-60degrees and gently prise open her outer jaws - stress gently and don't overextend her jaw.

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Holding her upside down and very gently jiggling her from side to side - she will probbly spit. If you give her some slack in the jaw extension process you will usually find that she will do most of the work for you - please be gentle.

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A very dodgey mate of mine (who really wants his SCUBA ticket

) uses a blunted toothpick for the jaw opening process - this also works well - but be

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gentle.

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Its imortant to give her little rests during the process to catch her breath and reposition any remaining fry / eggs. Once, you feel that you hav exhausted the fry supply, simply take a peek into her bccal cavity and check for any stragglers.

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Then replace the female in the tank and put the fry in a tumbler, or fry saver (smaller tank - depending on stage of development) with plenty of aeration.

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HTH

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paul

</P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: davidhooton</STRONG><BR><BR>Thanks for your help!

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I've got her isolated at the moment, should I keep her isolated or put her back in the tank?

</P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: calvus75</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi David,

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I'm assuming you have done the deed. Personally, I would put her back in the main tank, unless she had lost a lot of conditioning and was looking very thin / weak. Although, a few days of good food without competition from others wouldn't hurt a bit.

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When you reintroduce her, perhaps wait until night, or feed the other fish at one end and put her back in the other end. This gives her a chance to reacclimate to her surroundings with minimal harrassment fro others.

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Congrats and Jah bless!

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paul

</P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: jonsey151</STRONG><BR><BR>Hello all, i just want to say that i have seen the way Lungy does it and it's excellent as the fish is always underwater.

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He uses a toothpic, with only enough pressure on the jaw

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to entise the female to relax at her will . He keeps her at

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ummmm about 75 deg underwater and lets her release in

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her own time and gives her breaks inbetween . After the

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extraction process is complete , they go strait back where they came from , as he says they are more comfortable in there normal enviroment ..

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Michael...

</P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: Luc44</STRONG><BR><BR>I don't know if you've already made her spit, but I hope not! Though it can certainly be done, I've found that if you simply isolate the fish it wil release the babies on its own, and suffer much less stress! If you have little experience with such things, just let nature take its course, and after she volunteers the young, do as was suggested above.

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I certainly don't meen to disagree with any knowledgable aquariests, but IME, that is the easiest, most stress-free way to do it.

</P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: davidhooton</STRONG><BR><BR>Thanks for the advice!

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I've left her in isolation for the moment and haven't touched her as yet..

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I'll see how she fares over the weekend.

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Regards,

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Dave