Pregnant?? or (another) disease

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Nikki J

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Apr 5, 2006
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Hey me again!

Another question.
I woke up this morning and noticed that one of my girls had a little pouch under her mouth. My first thought was that she had eggs in her mouth. But I just got her on Monday (today being Wednesday) and I was wondering....Is this too soon for her to be pregnant. Also, I have not noticed her eating, and she is banging herself off the heater like crazy. She's swimming around alot, NOT limiting herself to one area. The male generally stays close by her, but he's done that since we put her in. If the swollen throat/mouth is not babies, what else could it be?? any ideas?
 
If it's a mouthbrooder and she's eating, it would have to be something else. When they are holding, mouthbrooders don't eat. Infact, mine tend to swim away from the other fish schooling around where the food is.

I don't know what it could be... but I doubt she's holding.

Joe
 
She is a m.auratus female

I have not seen her eat...in fact, I don't think she has, but she's so new and it's really hard to tell.
She does stay away from the other fish. She won't chase them around or anything. But the male is always close by her. I thought it was because they're the same species but.....I don't know!
 
Yikes do you have her with other equally aggressive fish in a LARGE tank? Auratus can be really nasty.

It sounds like she's holding. A picture would confirm, but I'd put my money on it. It doesn't matter how new to the tank she is, she can still hold babies. She may have even been holding before you got her ;).

And female mouthbrooders holding babies can eat, and often do. Some of my females will eat while holding. I get a little nervous when they do this, but they know what they're doing.

:)
-Diana
 
I think that she is definetely holding as well. She's been doing this "chewing" thing, almost like she's chewing gum. I read that that was a sure indication that she is holding. I am moving her into a 10 gallon hospital tank so she can be by herself. The male keeps hassling her.
My next question is.....
all of my cichlids are pretty aggressive. I think that the surival rate of these fry is going to be next to impossible. So once the eggs hatch, how long do they have to stay in the hospital tank for? I can't imagine putting them in the big tank anytime soon at all. We have one baby already, and he's about an inch. No one really bothers him, but he was also one of the first in the tank.
Or is putting her in the hospital tank a bad idea? These are our first babies, and I'd hate to see them die. All of my cichlids range between 3 to 31/2 inches. I know once they see those fry, they'll gobble them up.
 
I misread your initial post, and thought you had said you DID see her eating. I missed the "not".

If she isn't eating, and has a drooping chin area, she probably is holding. You can check to see if she's "chewing", as this is a pretty good indicator that she has a mouthful.

Sorry for not reading your post clearly enough before.

Joe
 
How big is the hospital tank?

If you have tons of hiding places for the fry you may get some survive in the main tank (god know why you would want MORE auratus though!) ;)

Or, set up a 20 gallon tank for the fry to grow up a bit in. I think if they were 1", and you added them all to the main tank at once, then you'd get most of them surviving.

:)
-Diana
 
The hospital tank is 10g.
The main tank is 60g.
There ARE plenty of places for fry to hide when they arrive.
And does anyone have any suggestions about keeping the babies from being sucked up into the filter? I heard this can be a problem. Also..approximately how many babies should I be expecting?
Do these auratus breed more than other cichlids?
I was considering getting another tank only for auratus. I think I may have to do that, because these two are going to keep having babies. I can just see it now!
 
Getting a tank just for auratus would be perfect, just because of the temperment.

You can put a sponge over the filter intake if your worried about the fry getting sucked up. :) If it's the momma's first time holding (and she's still on the small side) then anywhere from 5-10 babies can be expected... but mbuna spawns can get pretty big! The largest I've had is 30.... but many more are possible!

-Diana
 
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