Red Zebra has a mouth full of eggs

[Hammerman]

Hey Gang,

I need some advice, my female red zebra has a mouth full of eggs and I'm not sure when or if I should move the pair to a tank of their own. She didn't have them yesterday, I notice it when I got home from work, so I think it's safe to say she was busy last night or today. The pair are in a 120gal semi-aggressive and I would like to keep as many babies as I can without the roomates having a field day.

Should I wait till the eggs have hatch then try and move the pair while she has them in your mouth? Any idea of how long it will take till they hatch?

Any and all advise is most welcome, as I am a nervous expecting Dad right now.

 

[morleyz]

She'll be holding for 20-21 days or so. They'll hatch 3 to 5 days and be free swimming in around 2 weeks. Usually around the 2 week mark, you should definitely have her out of the tank, but I would recommend stripping her of the brood at this point. 2 weeks is long enough to go without food...but 3 weeks is just that much more stress on your female.

here's some instructions on how to strip a female off of the GCCA website:

How to strip a female:

1. Get a clean bucket or large plastic container, a turkey baster, a clean toothpick and a net. Have a tank ready for the fry.
2. Siphon some water into the bucket. About 4 inches or so.
3. Net out the fish.
4. Wet your hand and hold the fish in your left hand if you are right handed.
5. Gently use the toothpick to pry open the female's mouth and keep it open. Be gentle and do not insert the toothpick more than one-eight inch or so or you could damage the fry and/or female.
6. Hold her under water and move her back and forth in the direction of here body and she should spit out the eggs.
7. Put the female into a recovery tank or back into the main tank if there is enough cover for her.
8. Use the Turkey baster to move the stripped eggs into your grow out tank.
Note:

If the eggs are not developed, you will need to bubble them in a egg tumbler. If they are heads and tails, I usually just drop them into a tank with a seasoned sponge filter and use the turkey baster to move them a bit two or three times a day until they are free-swimming.

 

[Z Man]

I don't believe in stripping myself although I know a lot of breeders do it. If you don't know exactly what you are doing you may injure both the eggs/fry or the mother. I usually place a quart mayonaise type jar in the tank and with a net, try to coax the female into it. That also takes some practice. Once in the jar I place the net over the opening very tightly and lift out of tank and put it in an already conditioned tank that has water from the original tank. Just lay the jar on it's side and she will come out on her own. If you try to remove her with a net, she may spit out the eggs and not pick them up again. These fish are not stripped in the wild and do very well without eating for as long as needed.