Breeding - something pretty neat I tried...

[Skip]

I've got a 70 gallon bow front all rock set up with a bunch of yellow, orange and blue Africans I've had for about two years now. I have probably 3-4 different generations in the tank, all that have survived on their own. My daughter discovered the first young a few months after introduction.

As most of you know, mouth breeders lay eggs and then gather them into their mouths where they remain and grow until they are ready to be released by mum. As the eggs develop and turn into fry, the area below the mouth of the fish (mom…or dad?), starts to distend. I noticed this yesterday in one of my orange guys. Looking at the fish up close to the tank, I could actually see the fry in its mouth.

I got this bright idea to see if I could get the fry out of its mum. So, I put the small screened in nursery I have in the tank, netted the expecting mum and began inducing labor. I gently squeezed the distended area and POOOOF….out come like 40-50 fry! I could not believe there were so many young in this fish! This fish is only 2-1/2” long! Pretty cool. Fish anyone?

Can anyone enlighten me anatomically on where these fish are keeping the eggs/fry?
:look:

[kyle3]

it seems to me that the fish would release the fry one his own when they were ready to be free swimming.

[Z Man]

You answered that question yourself. The area you saw extended below her mouth is called a 'bucal pouch'. Most females don't eat for the 3 weeks it takes the eggs to become free swimming fry. Thus they are called 'Mouthbrooders'.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Z man is right, and what you did to your fish is called "stripping" where you remove the fry yourself. Be careful though, if you remove them when they are too young and thier eggsacs are still large then you will need to tumble them in an egg tumbler or there is a good chance they will develop a fungus. Stripping should be done at about 2 weeks if you are not using a tumbler. Also there is a chance that the female's pectoral fins can get damaged, so I usually reserve stripping for circumstances where I cant allow the female to spit naturally, or if she's held so long its endangering her health.

:)
-Diana