Fish holding

[roo]

hi all

What are the tell tale signs that fish are holding a mouthfull?

I found two fry in my tank on Monday night, and was caught by surprise. ( I am excited as this is my first experience with fry)

[Matthew]

Congrats Roo

With mouth brooders, their mouths tend to get larger and by that I mean below their jaw. It extends downwards.

With some fish it is quite subtle eg. Big female Lithobates, but with others it can be grossly obvious. Eg. Electric yellows after 2 weeks +.

hth

[roo]

OK now I am confused, my electric yellow was displaying that trait below the jaw but she is only about 3cms ( I thought they needed to more mature to breed). The fry are a distinct yellow colour.

And now that might mean that one of my Elongatus 'Likoma island' is now holding as well.

[benno]

Im no African expert but i have seen a few fish holding before. All it looks like is that the fish appeas to have its mouth full. Its cheeks will be puffed out to the sides, and the lower and upper jaws will be extended quite a way out from theyre nornal position. HTH Benno

[MrOrange]

I came home yesterday to a female holding.

So very obvious, this is the biggest mouthful she has had yet, looks like she can barely keep her mouth shut.

On smaller mouthfuls she's had, the bulge isn't as noticable. I could however see her swirling the eggs around in her mouth, or on certain angles with the light behind her could actually see the eggs inside the mouth.

[TropheusQueen]

hey hey,

Congratulations on the bubs .

As already mentioned some fish are easier to spot holding than others but with both yellows and elongatus there usually isn't any problem.

At 3cm she would definately be a bit young although she may be older than her size would indicate if she was not given the initial room required to grow (this may rectify over time) - or she is just starting early - are you certain this is your mum?

Holding females also look as though they are chewing as they move water to rotate their eggs.

With some species their lower jaw will turn almost black as the fry reach maturity and spitting is imminent

Cheers

Aline

[roo]

At 3cm she would definately be a bit young although she may be older than her size would indicate if she was not given the initial room required to grow (this may rectify over time) - or she is just starting early - are you certain this is your mum?

Not 100% certain, but I did noticed the little yellow with a what looked like a full mouth a few weeks ago. It could be one of my pulu point zebra's but I have never noticed any thing different with them.

[Skyedge]

Hi Roo,

Congrats..

Another way to id is to observe the fish during your feeding time. The fish will come but will not take the food. She will fast for around 3 weeks.

Having said that, it has been reported that some bigger haps (like fronts. etc) do eat during holding.

[rosco]

Congrats it is really cool when it finally happens. Another description I use when showing non-fish people is "it is the one that looks like it has a double chin" that may help you.

cheers

rosco