my first stripping experience

[aquariaddictus]

Now that I have your attention.

Today was the first time I stripped a mbuna of her eggs. I was surprised at the size of them! (about 1/4 the size of a pea) I got 16 out, and then when I put her back in tha tank, she looks like she's holding still more?? Is this typical??

I have the eggs in a breeding container within the cichlid tank - I put a nylon stocking over it to allow water flow but prevent anyone from wiggling out once they hatch. Does this sound okay?? If they hatch, I do have a separate tank I can raise them in.

tanks
judy

[O-man21]

sounds good as long as the sock is clean.

[aquariaddictus]

All my socks are clean;)

[AikidoGuy]

such a tease:mad:

[Moreta]

Originally posted by aquariaddictus
Now that I have your attention.

.....I put a nylon stocking over it to allow water flow but prevent anyone from wiggling out once they hatch. Does this sound okay?? If they hatch, I do have a separate tank I can raise them in.

tanks
judy

It should work-isn't that why they call them fishnet stockings!?!?!?! :p Sorry, couldn't resist!

Good Luck!

[scholar]

Why strip them?

unless ytou are a commercial producer ans want to have her produce more eggs.

I once stripped her of the fries because she was not letting go of them. I thought even that was too cruel. :(

[aquariaddictus]

Trust me, it was easy, she came through it just fine, and she is still holding some eggs. I will never see these fry if I allow her to have them in the community tank, and IMO, removing her completely is even more stressful (tried it before - the fish up and died even tho I'd filled the holding tank with water out of the big tank)

So anyway, I expected the eggs to be clear. They're brown:confused: Does this mean they're not fertile?? They are also pointed at one end. Normal??

It should work-isn't that why they call them fishnet stockings!?!?!?! Sorry, couldn't resist!

LOL!!

[aquariaddictus]

Originally posted by AikidoGuy
such a tease:mad:

Like you would want to see a 100 year old stripper. You, my man, have a problem;)

[AikidoGuy]

lol ooh you read that 100 year old comment :cool: :p



hey i just noticed i lost like 1500 posts?? :( .. oh well. maybe il lshould go and post in the newbie area now..

[aquariaddictus]

No - read the sticky at the top. Dale will give them back to you - if you're nice to me!!

[Hatter]

Originally posted by aquariaddictus
Trust me, it was easy, she came through it just fine, and she is still holding some eggs. I will never see these fry if I allow her to have them in the community tank, and IMO, removing her completely is even more stressful (tried it before - the fish up and died even tho I'd filled the holding tank with water out of the big tank)

So anyway, I expected the eggs to be clear. They're brown:confused: Does this mean they're not fertile?? They are also pointed at one end. Normal??

It should work-isn't that why they call them fishnet stockings!?!?!?! Sorry, couldn't resist!

LOL!!

The eggs should be brown, if they are white, you have problems. Is there any water movement inside the egg container? There should be enough water movement to keep them from resting on any surfaces, but not too much so that they bang around on the sides of the container. What I am trying to say is that the females tumble the eggs in their mouth and if you strip them you should provide the same tumbling in your hatchery. I hope that makes sense.

Hat

[aquariaddictus]

It does. I posted at 'another site' and got the same answer. We are tumbling as we speak. Problem is, I tumbled 4 of the 16 out of the breeder into the tank, so we're down to 12. Oh well.

Interesting - I put a few of the eggs under my scope - the pointed end is clear - you can see through the sac. The brown is mottled (they're OB morphs) - differently in each egg - so cool looking at that magnification. If I only had a camera that could capture the pics through the scope. Anyway, no movement in any of them yet, I guess I caught them pretty early. Mom is obviously still holding some, so maybe I'll give it a week and take the rest, to see how they compare.

Thanks!!
j

[OCSupertones]

was there any reason you stripped her so soon?

i usually wait 2-4 weeks before stripping my mbuna...then i don't have to worry about tumbling, i've never had a problem that way...

i was just wondering if there was a benefit to it, or if it was just preference

[aquariaddictus]

Can we just call it 'Judy didn't know any better?' I'm new at this, and having a very hard time telling how 'far along' they are, that's all. I had no idea the reason she was bulging that big was because of the size of the eggs!!