Pregnant cichlid???? :)

[fishyaddict]

Our red zebra seemed to be acting strange but in good health... but today we got a better look and her jaw/mouth seems to be bigger, and hopefully carrying eggs!! :clap: But I figured I'd find out for sure from the help of everyone on here. So here are some pics I took today....

Sorry for the pic quality, she's been hiding toward the back and a bit protective. Also isnt eating as much. The pics dont do much justice for how she really looks, but we are pretty sure by the way her mouth looks and how she is acting that she is carrying eggs.

Also, if she is.... we have a 10g quarantine tank, should we move her to there to have them, or would it be too much of a shock moving from the 125g?(In a couple of days we were planning on leveling the tank, so maybe she would be better off going to the 10g since we were gonna completely empty the tank while we do it) Or just hope for the best with all the 10 cichlids and 1 syno cat?

Thanks,
Tricia

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yep she's holding!

But I would be cautious moving her, often times young mothers will spit in the net or prematurely if they are stressed.

Are the babies pure (ie- do you know who the father is and is he the same species?). If not, I would let her spit in the tank. If so, then I would wait a couple weeks and then attempt to move her. That way, if she spits in the net, the babies are old enough to survive on thier own anyways.


-Diana

 

[fishyaddict]

Are the babies pure (ie- do you know who the father is and is he the same species?). If not, I would let her spit in the tank. If so, then I would wait a couple weeks and then attempt to move her. That way, if she spits in the net, the babies are old enough to survive on thier own anyways.


-Diana

So should we wait to do the tank leveling, where we planned on taking all and everything out while we level it a bit (it's ~1/2 inch unlevel on one side)?
Don't know if it's the same species, although we do have a male red zebra in there too. Is it safe to try to keep them anyway (for us to keep, not sell), we'd like to see how they turn out, since it's our first cichlid egg experience.

Thanks so much though Diana!

 

[fishyaddict]

bump

 

[fishyaddict]

bump....again...
:OT: It's funny that we have got more responses to a Pran thread(that was under general chit-chat even) than the ones that we really need help on. For us being fairly new on this forum, it's hard to look at it at this point as a very helpful/friendly one. My b/f put the Pran thread up as a joke on gcc, like many of the other funny threads on gcc, and now it has taken way too much of a serious turn... even though it seems pran has taken it lightly too.
I'm genuinely grateful that LuvMyKribs has given us friendly/useful help, but isnt a forum used to get a few opinions/responses to help you make a educated decision?

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

This forum goes through stages during the week of being busy/not busy. Usually weekdays get more action than on the weekends, but not always. Its best to be patient when waiting for responses, that way you know that people are only chiming in on the questions that they actually know about, instead of just answering with a half-youknowwhat answer.

If you are planning on taking everything out of the tank to level it then thats a great time to catch her. When were you thinking of doing this?

She'll probebly hold for 2-4 weeks, young mothers usually spit earlier rather than later. I would try and move her around 1.5-2 weeks into her "pregnancy".


-Diana

 

[fishyaddict]

Thank you soooo much, again. Now I know what I'm gonna do. Wait the 1.5-2 weeks to take the tank down, then carefully move her to the 10g (which will give me time to set up the 10g better, ie. water change, add more plants/hiding spots for the fry), then hope for the best.

My friend at the lfs (who has been in the business/hobby for 30+ years) told me that if there is another red zebra in the tank, than most likely she was impregnated by the other red zebra. So now I definitely want to find out for sure if the babies will be red zebras also, then we can keep some (when they get big enough) and if there's enough find good homes for the rest.

Sorry for being impatient, I was just so excited and worried at the same time(wasnt sure if we needed to take action right away)... We LOVE our cichlids, and wanted to know how to not only keep her safe and healthy, but the possible new offspring. :dance:

Tricia