Breeding

[Bedge]

So our Malawi tank is set up. Most of our stock are babies .. so I don't think any breeding will happen any time soon.

I just have a few questions about breeding. I'm not to phased about the breeding, but it would be nice if it happened - of course.

Whats the general process once you suspect a female is holding? We have a small aqua one tank I could set up for mothers and fry - but I wonder how necessary it is? Are the other tanks mates bound to eat the fry? And what is milking?

Any info appreciated.

Thanks so much.

[Eddie Salita]

Begde, once a female is holding... its pretty obvious, she wont be eating, and her mouth looks like it is full of something. There are a number of options. Eggs depending on water temp will take about 5 days to hatch, then about another 5 days or so to develop and consume their eggs sacks. So after roughly 10 days the female will be looking to release them for short periods to feed. In a populated tank as opposed to a lake where there are places she can go to have some secure privacy, the is a good chance that the babies will be eaten at some stage. If there is lots of good cover with nooks and crannies, its not that uncommon for some percentage of the young to make it through the risky food size period. If you want to save all the fry, This is where milking/stripping comes in. Once sufficient time has passed for the egg sacks to be pretty much consumed, you can catch the fish and manually remove the babies. Check on youtube for a demonstration of the stripping process. Some people dont like to strip for various reasons, so the other option is to catch the female and place her in a tank on her own. Its not uncommon to have several holding females in a holding tank, as they arent generally a danger to each others babies because of the motherly instinct. Some females will readily harass other holding females, but not generally to eat their young. In such a tank, you can observe the natural process of her releasing her brood to feed, and then take them back in her mouth. Its a special thing to observe. Once they have outgrown their mums care, she will refuse them entry and resume her normal ways. Some females will eat their young at this stage, but generally only if they arent very experienced, and or have been left with them too long after they have been permanently released. It is rare, but bear in mind she is very hungry after not eating for 2 or so weeks. If she is young, she may make a mistake. But most female malawians have a very strong motherly instinct. The next step is catching her as soon as she begins to refuse them entry ind putting her back in the big tank to do it all over again.

This is my condensed version. Others may do things slightly differently or have different experiences.

cheers,

Jason

[Bedge]

So would it be easier to just remove her from the tank once you notice she is holding, and keep her there until the fry aren't aloud back in her month? Then put her back with in the main tank, and keep the fry in a smaller tank to grow out a little?

At what stage or size, is it ok for them to go to other homes? We have 1 standard four footer display tank ... so I would like to move the majority of the offspring on.

What is the right temperature to encourage breeding for Malawi's?

Ta.

[Eddie Salita]

I think so. It gives you the chance to observe the natural process, and her a break from being harassed. Experiment and gain experience on what works best for you and what gives you most enjoyment. It also saves the fiddly sometimes stressful process of stripping.

Fish like these are usually sold when they are 4cm total length... give or take a cm. Much younger and they can be a bit fragile.

Temperature is much the same as any tropical. Malawi mouthbrooders will breed in water from low 20's to high 20's. Mid 20's is optimal. Generally, optimal tropical temp is considered to be about 25-27. Much above 30 and much below the high teens can be dangerous.

cheers,

Jason