Need some quick information

[jjhgoodguy]

:help: I have a Kenyi cichlid ready to "spit" her fry any day now. It's been 2 weeks yesterday since she began holding, and from everything I've read, she should be spitting sometime this week. As you can tell, I'm a "first timmer" for this situation.

I put her in a 10 gal tank when she started getting pestered by the male and I'm worried that the filter intake on that tank has openings that may or may not be too large for the fry.

Here are my questions - 1) Can anyone tell me how big the fry will be when she spits? 2) Approximately when during the 3rd week will she spit?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

[wataugachicken]

i can't help with the fish-specific questions, but as far as the filter intake just buy some cheap pantyhose or a pair of thin trouser socks, rinse very well, and slip it over the intake. or buy a sponge at your LFS made for this purpose (and priced much higher).

[jm1212]

what kind of filter is it (brand wise)? penguin filters should be fine with or without anything over the intake because the slits are small.

they should be pretty big and well-developed. mouth-brooders tend to have less fry than egg-layers, but they are better equipped to survive because they are significantly larger when they leave the parents.

[kay-bee]

....I'm worried that the filter intake on that tank has openings that may or may not be too large for the fry.

Here are my questions - 1) Can anyone tell me how big the fry will be when she spits? 2) Approximately when during the 3rd week will she spit?

Newly released African cichlid fry, in my opinion, may be small enough to be drawn into a filter intake. I've found live fry in my XP3 canister filter and my Aquaclear 110 hang on back filter (however in both of those instances the fry were spat in my main tank).

In my smaller growout tanks I either place a mesh media bag over the intake tube or wrap it with blue filter pad to prevent fry from being drawn in. Some use sponge prefilters on the intakes. New mbuna fry are approx 1.5cm in length, give or take a few millimeters, and about 2mm-3mm thick:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/y2kenny19/African%20Cichlids/demfry1.jpg

Hard to say for sure when in the 3rd week the fry will be released. I've had mbuna's spit fry as early as day 14 and as late as day 35. though day 18-21 is typical (so basically, any day/any week now). :grinyes:

Keep in mind that even after they're released, the mother can reclaim them if she's kept with them. I had a mother spit fry one day and the next day gathered them all up when I got too close to the tank and held them for several more days.

[jjhgoodguy]

Thanks for the info. The filter is a Whisper HOB filter that came with the tank set-up. I like the filter sponge idea. I have some filter floss for my next canister filter clean out that should work fine as an intake screen. Thanks K-Bee for the picture. A big help with good information. I appreciate all the input.