I watched my T duboioi spawn today about one hour after the weekly water change i saw her take 4 eggs in her mouth but they were already started when i saw them so do not know how many she has .
this is the first time for me and do not know what to do any advice whould be appreciated.
thanks Dan
Dan they might hold to term. now that they have spawned they will continue to do so. after day ten if she is still holding i would strip her.
i personally always strip strait away and hatch them myself. most proberly she will only have 4 or 5 eggs max i ever have gotten was 10. :)
How do you strip the female i know it involves catching the female but how do you get the eggs out
thanks Dan
you really need to see someone do it first , but this is how most ppl do it.
once you have her out, holding her firmly in your hand place your thumb and fore finger either side of where her jaws pivots.
with your other hand, it helps if you have finger nails, gentle pull down on her bottom jaw. this is done by puting your finger nail into her mouth.
once you have done this squeeze gentle on her jaw and it will keep the mouth open.
have a fry saver/fry net or small tank that you want to put the fry in handy now just wash her back and forth thru the water and they will wash out.
not really the sort of fish that you want to be practising on, but you have to learn somewhere.
if you worried about how hard to squeeze get something else you have heaps of and have a go on that so you will feel how much to squeeze.
also when washing her thru the water,point her head down, this will help the water wash the eggs out.
Thanks for help fellas i got her out and had a go at getting the eggs out i managed to get 2 out she had more in her mouth but i was worried about hurting her so i put her back i then caught another girl that i saw playing with the boss male last week and she had eggs as well but let her keep them in there .I have the 2 eggs in a small tank with meth blue and air stone and will see if the girls hold the ones they have left .
The girls on the poles at the clubs make stripping look easy but i was very nervous with my first go at it .
Dan
was that nervous with the girls on the pole or the the fish :lol:
Both times I think .
The females seem to be swiming around with fat mouths so I must not of hurt them might have another try to strip them in a night or so .
Would like to come and get a few off them 7 bar fronnies you have gasnitro if you still got some left .
Dan
Dan if there is no other fish types in teh tank i would just ensure that there is a nice rock pile for the fry to live in, ( and the parents cant get into) and let them be, they may not hold full term the first fewtimes but after a few goes they will hold 4-5 weeks no worries..i let them hold so they learn what to do, if you keep stripping them they will never hold.
I love watching my fry cruzing around with the adults, and its much less stress for everyone involved.. just pulld apart the tank every 6 months pull out 60 or so fry and sell em and then kick back for another 6 months.
good advice mick,
thats what i would do too,
cheers lloyd
Quote i let them hold so they learn what to do, if you keep stripping them they will never hold.
This is a bit of a myth about this and no support of the claims ether way. As any person that has had Tropheus, the males can be Quite aggresive. But all to there own.
would hate to mislead a newbe ;)
Hmm no myth... :-X
The myth i think you are thinking of is that stripped fry wont hold, and yes thats a myth, But over many generations they will hold less as the instinct is not being reinforced, but this would be over 50 generations atleast i would feel.
What i was pertaining to was that it takes time for a female to hold to full term, they always loose or spit/swallow the first mouthfulls, some get it after 2 or 3, some take longer, with mouthfulls eventually getting larger as she becomes more accustomed to having a mouth full of wrigglers and not eating very much.
Having said that... if you strip at 2 weeks you will get the most fry. and some fish will never hold full term even after 20+ attempts.
At least that is what i have found with the 7 different colonies i have had over the last 6 years..