Re: pseudocrenilabrus

[Donald Nute <dnute@ai.uga.edu>]

On Wed, 26 Nov 1997 IDMiamiBob@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 97-11-23 02:28:54 EST, Ed Pon wrote:
> 
> << The easiest way to get fry out of a brooding pseudocrenilabrus is to 
> > wait till  it's been carrying the eggs for 10 to 14 days, to be sure the 
> > fry has hatched, and catch and strip the female.  Drop the holding 
> > female headfirst into a opened turkey baster, put the bulb back on, 
> > immerse the open end of the turkey baster into a container containing 
> > water from the fish tank, and slowly pump the water past the gills of 
> > the female.  The fry will be ejected into the container of water and the 
> > female can be returned to the fish tank when this is done.  >>
> >>
> 
> Ed-
> Isn't that a bit extreme?  I know if I were a fish, that would leave me
> emotionally scarred for life.  It has been my experience, however limited,
> with Pseudocrenilabrus, that the female will release fry into the tank
> whenever she thinks she is about to be eaten.  That may be scary enough, but
> it is a xhort-lived experience compared to the baster.  I suppose if you
> could trick her into the baster, then put the bulb on, it might not be so
> bad.  But physically, it would still seem to me to be kinda rough on a fish
> that is already weakened from a lengthy period of fasting.
> Just my own opinion-
> Bob

Bob,

This certainly sounds extreme, and I would only recommend it as a last
resort, but it works well in extreme cases. My experience is with African
mbuna which I used to breed (before I devoted all my tank space to Apistos
and killies) in crowded community tanks. I had to get the female out of
the breeding tank or lose most of the fry and maybe the female. But when I
netted the female and moved her to a smaller tank by herself, she would
often swallow the fry. So I started stripping the females of their fry. My
prefered method is to hold the female gently with her gills closed and
swish her head in the water. Usually, she will open her mouth in an effort
to breathe and release the fry. I have used the baster method in several
cases where this has failed. In every case I can remember, the female
recovered fine and bred again. I think it is probably less physical strain
than carrying the fry longer without eating and being chased all over the
tank in a weakened condition. I can't speak to emotional trauma in fish. 
By the way, I have stripped mouthbrooder fry early on occasion - so early
that they still had large yolk sacs and couldn't swim. I put them in one
of those livebearer maternity containers that hang on the side of the tank
and have a slotted bottom. Then I hung them near an airstone (but not in
the stream of the bubbles) and squirted baby brine shrimp at them. They
developed just fine. That's how I had my first success with L. fuelleborni
after having many brooding females go flat on me without producing any
fry.

Back to Apistos: I have some nice A. caetei ready to breed and some
smaller A. mcmasteri if anyone is interested in trading. I have enough A.
caetei that a shop might be interested if Tom Mroz thinks his friend would
be interested. A. caetei is not as colorful as A. cacatuoides or A.
aggassizi, but they breed at a small size, work well in a community tank,
and show all the other wonderful behavioral characteristics of these small
cichlids.

Don

Donald Nute
Professor and Head, Department of Philosophy        (706) 542-2823
Director, Artificial Intelligence Center            (706) 542-0358
The University of Georgia                       FAX (706) 542-2839
Athens, Georgia  30602, U.S.A     http://ai.uga.edu/faculty/~dnute