Isolating incubating female C.Leptosoma

Red Fin · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

Hi All,

Just started a Tanganyikan biotope a few months ago.
This is such a great hobby.

I was wondering when is the best time to isolate incubating female
C.Leptosoma? Anyone here has any experience with these mouth brooders? I
just witnessed my dominating male in action with the hatching female and
this was amazing!

Thanks!

Red Fin

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>freshwater>cichlids

Malawi Man · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

Steve Wolstenholme wrote:

> After spawning they can be a problem. I find them impossible to catch
> so I make no attempt to isolate brooding females. If you can catch
> your female wait for 20 days. The fry are fully developed after 20
> days but the female may hang on them for much longer. Some females
> brood too long. I have had a female hang on to the fry until they
> died.

That happens, especially if its their first or second time and the
female is large and there are no hiding places in the tank.

-- !
Best regards, milc, 500L Mbuna tank, 500L Aulonacara/Haplochromis tank

Malawi Man · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

Steve Wolstenholme wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:37:29 +0200, "Malawi Man"
> wrote:
>
>> Steve Wolstenholme wrote:
>>
>>> After spawning they can be a problem. I find them impossible to
catch
>>> so I make no attempt to isolate brooding females. If you can catch
>>> your female wait for 20 days. The fry are fully developed after 20
>>> days but the female may hang on them for much longer. Some females
>>> brood too long. I have had a female hang on to the fry until they
>>> died.
>>
>> That happens, especially if its their first or second time and the
>> female is large and there are no hiding places in the tank.
>>
>
> Just one female does it. She has spawned many times. There are plenty
> of places to hide but she doesn't even try. It is a real pain because
> she has big broods.

Maybe she's just an overcaring parent. It happens to humans, too,
and with somehow similar results - kids have no life Smile

So you HAVE to catch her if you want the fry to live. Try to build
a trap, I'm using one to catch my cichlids. I have to, because
of the tank setup - lots of large rocks, which makes the fish
impossible to catch by net. With a trap it's doable, it just
takes some time.

Here's the design, I'm using it just slightly modified, also
to catch the larger fry as to not overcrowd the tank:

http://www.klub-malawi.pl/artykuly_klubowiczow/zrob_to_sam/pulapka.html

-- !
Best regards, milc, 500L Mbuna tank, 500L Aulonacara/Haplochromis tank

Malawi Man · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 4

Steve Wolstenholme wrote:
>
> When I was a serious cichlid breeder with lots of tanks I used a
> similar method to catch brooding females. The main difference was I
> used very large plastic bottles attached to pull cords.

I had no way to know you have such a formidable expirience.

As to breeding and fry - having a lots of rock in setup, sometimes
I dream about some kind of breeding control medicine - I have
28 adults in 500 liters, and there are always 2 - 4 carrying
females, so I have lots of work to catch fry, because I don't
want to overcrowd the tank.

I don't want to catch brooding females. It requires a separate
tank, and, with mbuna, there are always serious problems with
introducing the female back to the tank.

Here are some photos, made a year ago, when fish were mostly
young:

http://www.milc.pl/baniak/

Now I have put a pair of S. fryeri in the tank, but two
of them in the whole tank of mbuna are too few to control
the fry effectivey.

In the other, Hap tank, this is not a problem, as there
are much less rocks and the adults (especially C. borylei)
have no problem catching the fry as the mommy lets them go.

-- !
Best regards, milc, 500L Mbuna tank, 500L Aulonacara/Haplochromis tank