Foti Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 for the last two weeks or so my male red top has been displying aggression and has been full of colour i thought that it was the change of food that i was feeding anyways i had stopped feeding that way and had gone back to the old suff . but today i did a big clean and seen the female who had been hiding! her mouth is full plus it is moving around i know that it might sound dumb but i dont know any other way of explaining it i dont know how long she has not eaten plus how long she has been holding is this bad for me to not know ? or should i just remove her and wait? thank you to all foti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropifish Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Foti, I'm no expert but I think the reason your female fish has been hiding is because she is taking care of her new borns. Not sure how long she will stay that way, and you have to be careful if you want to keep those frys. I read a lot of forum and topics on the net and it said you might have to physically remove the fry off the female fish before it's too late (some of them "somehow" forgot that they have to take care of the fry) Good luck !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 tropifish thank you so much for your reply much appricated i also for got to post that i have some cuckoo cats in the same tank, i dont know when to strip or how long its been need someone to advise me on what to look for so i know when to strip. i know that cuckoo cats hatch faster than the red top afra ? so to make sure what ever is in the mouth servive so i can see if its the cats my disply is a mixed and i dont plan on ever selling any fish from this tank other than peppermints if ever and cuckoo if i am ever lucky thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant265 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 You can either get the fish and open her mouth to see what development stage the babies are at (eg. eggs, head n tails or fully developed fry), if they are head n tail or fry then possibly strip her or put the female in a holding net or tank with same water as main tank and just let her do her thing. HTH Ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 how big are the cat they have to be about 8 cm or more to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 You can either get the fish and open her mouth to see what development stage the babies are at (eg. eggs, head n tails or fully developed fry), if they are head n tail or fry then possibly strip her or put the female in a holding net or tank with same water as main tank and just let her do her thing. HTH Ant okay so if egg stage move the female if head tale or fry strip thank you Antz how big are the cat they have to be about 8 cm or more to i have three 2 @12cms and 1 @ about 9cms would like somemore cats i can only hope i guess thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 okay i did what was recomended check fishes mouth big mistake she spat the eggs out lucky she did so in the net i filled a 20lt bucket with about 6 litres and put a heater plus air stone running. with her and the eggs will she pick them up again ? will she eat them ? should i feed her ?? these may all be dumb questions but i dont have any idea on whats ment to happen now ??? please help thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey Foti, I would remove the female from the eggs. She would probably eat them. Do you have an egg tumbler at all? You could make one yourself if you like. Click >here< for DIY. Or alternatively you could buy one from one of the members here - Matthew. PM him to find out if he has any available. Click here At very least you should put them in a net and run an airstone under them to keep water circulating through them. Are the eggs still in good shape? If they are white, they are unfertilised. If they have hair on them, they are fungussed. They should have some colour to them - usually a yellow or peach colour, but depends on the type of fish. Also, you say you have cuckoo cats with them. Are these breeding age/size? about 2.5-3 years old and about 10cm plus? If there are two different sized eggs then the smaller of the two will be the catfish eggs. They are around 1-2mm in size. If moving eggs from the bucket, I make sure that the eggs are always submerged in water. Goodluck Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey Foti, I would remove the female from the eggs. She would probably eat them. Do you have an egg tumbler at all? You could make one yourself if you like. Click >here< for DIY. Or alternatively you could buy one from one of the members here - Matthew. PM him to find out if he has any available. Click here At very least you should put them in a net and run an airstone under them to keep water circulating through them. Are the eggs still in good shape? If they are white, they are unfertilised. If they have hair on them, they are fungussed. They should have some colour to them - usually a yellow or peach colour, but depends on the type of fish. Also, you say you have cuckoo cats with them. Are these breeding age/size? about 2.5-3 years old and about 10cm plus? If there are two different sized eggs then the smaller of the two will be the catfish eggs. They are around 1-2mm in size. If moving eggs from the bucket, I make sure that the eggs are always submerged in water. Goodluck Joel joel thank you for advice it was much needed i dont have a tumbler will not have time to buy one any time soon at the moment i put the female back and she is holding again she picked some up but there are afew still in there ill try do the net thing colour of eggs are a darker colour than peach more closer to a brown ? no hair on them the fish are a red top afra question the eggs in the 20l tub were lifted out may be 2-3 times quickly put straight back in are they still okay ? i want to mve them can i pick them up ?? () fingers)??????? lots of thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey, Yeah the brown tan colour means they are still good. I think they would be okay for a few secs out of water but I try not to do it anytime im handling eggs. i put the female back and she is holding again she picked some up but there are afew still in there ill try do the net thing I have found that females picking up eggs again is common in experienced adults but never in first timers... (I assumed your fish was a first timer ) Thats pretty lucky. You might leave her in there for a while to pick up the rest if she will. I usually move eggs using a turkey blaster. Maybe you could scoop them up with a cup or something. I wouldnt handle them with fingers - they are very fragile. Keep an eye on the eggs in the next few days if you put them in a net. If one starts to turn white and fungusses, it will quickly take over the whole clutch. Remove bad eggs ASAP. - Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey, Yeah the brown tan colour means they are still good. I think they would be okay for a few secs out of water but I try not to do it anytime im handling eggs. i put the female back and she is holding again she picked some up but there are afew still in there ill try do the net thing I have found that females picking up eggs again is common in experienced adults but never in first timers... (I assumed your fish was a first timer ) Thats pretty lucky. You might leave her in there for a while to pick up the rest if she will. I usually move eggs using a turkey blaster. Maybe you could scoop them up with a cup or something. I wouldnt handle them with fingers - they are very fragile. Keep an eye on the eggs in the next few days if you put them in a net. If one starts to turn white and fungusses, it will quickly take over the whole clutch. Remove bad eggs ASAP. - Joel male plus female are a new addition was told they breed quit frequently but i didnt think in the first 5-6 weeks i made a quick tumbler they are turning quit good if i was to say so, but not sure if i need to control the air flow ? they are spinning with alot of air rushing through! plus how long do they take ?? she could be holding for up to 2 weeks? i can be exact thank you once again for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 sorry my mistake the fish is not a a red top afra correction its a Red Top Black Bar Zebra i also have a white top; Cynotilapia afra "white top" (male) and i got confused thought i sould correct my mistake can any body help with the time line of the eggs ? thank you foti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey, They should be tumbling gently and not tumbling like lotto balls. Try and restrict it if you think it is needed. You could get a valve from Bunnings or similar. Assuming they are like all other mbuna: If they are at egg stage, they are probably up to a week old. If all goes to plan, they will develop head n tails within another week or so. They will then take around another two weeks to absorb the egg sack and become free swimming. All up it usually takes about 25-30days for an egg to develop into a free swimming fry. Once they are free swimming they should be removed from the tumbler into a fry raising tank. Cheers Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 just wanted to say thank you to tropifish ant265 yanke and joel for your helpfull and much needed advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dobbin4 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Just to let you know Keeping more than one zeb together meaning lg risk of cross breeding fry. Egg to fry from 14+ days,,heads & tails as they say,, at 21 days+ they are good size fry & spat out by female. Females will pickup spat out eggs even first timers. You will find the egg sack gone in a matter of days. then ready for food. You find new fish will spawn quite often when moved to new tank and new water. I've had it happen the same night they are at their new home. Add a air valve to your line to control the flow of air. You only want the eggs to move a little, Gently,,Remember your trying to do what Mum does in her mouth!!! You would know if there were muilti eggs as they hatch fast and eat the fish eggs in a matter of days. Hope helps John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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