Removing a mouthbrooding Aulonocara female

[fam1197]

This is a long shot, but does anyone have any advise on removing a mouthbrooding female Aulonocara without having to remove all the stone work ??? I am going to put her in a separate tank in a few days.......

[Verse914]

have you tried putting a net on both sides of the cave and then sticking your hand in one side? How long has she been holding? Its best to wait a week, so if she does spit, the fry will be ready for a breeder net.

[fam1197]

She has been holding for a week or so, I actually wanted to wait til at least 11 days, just thought I'de inquire for advice now.... I have tried the two net thing but she gets real nervous and I don't want her to spit them out. 1st batch maybe i'm too nervous.

[Verse914]

you can also try doing it at night after the lights have been out for a half hour or so. She should be in her sleep mode and easier to catch.

[Z Man]

I usually place a cleaned out mayonaise jar close to where she is staying. They sometimes come out on their own and other times I have to start probing a little with a long syick. When she is inside, quickly put a net over the opening and slowly remove it. This way they don't usually spit out the eggs.

[fam1197]

Thanks to everyone for the tips

[valerie]

When I remove holding females form my 90g african tank i use the divider method. I take out a few rocks on one side of the tnak and place in the divider(i use corregated(sp?) plastic tha i had around the house). I then guide the female i'm trying to net over to the divided side and close it off. Then I just net her out.

I had to remove 8 fish from this tank befor eand i tried ofr 45mins without sucess. I then tried with the divider and it took 10mins to catch all 8.

Make sure when you are taking the female out to keep her in water. i have just used the net in the past and found the females usualy spit the fry out in the net when taken out of the water. Use a little container with water to transport to teh new tank