is malawi brooding behavior normal?

[Tangazo]

Hey guys, been a while since I last posted but I've got a bit of a situation with my cichlids. So, I've got a 225 litre Malawi cichlid tank and I noticed my female yellow lab breeding with my Maylandia Greyshaki male. I didn't think much of it at first since they're different genera, but 23 days on and the yellow lab's not eating, her mouth's extended like a pouch. I'm pretty sure she's got fry or eggs in there. Should I take her out of the main tank? Not sure if I should try to open her mouth to check, but I'm worried the eggs might not be viable and she's still holding on.

[Tangazo]

I think there's been a mistake - they're actually different genera, that's why I was surprised they even bred in the first place.

[willie32]

It's likely the fry will be viable due to the close relation between species and genera. You could try stripping her, but I'd rather let nature take its course and see if any survive. The issue with hybrids is that they can be difficult to rehome, so hopefully, you'll have some natural predation, like a synodontis catfish, to help keep the fry and eggs under control.

[Tangazo]

It's likely the fry will be viable due to the close relation between species and genera. You could try stripping her, but I'd rather let nature take its course and see if any survive. The issue with hybrids is that they can be difficult to rehome, so hopefully, you'll have some natural predation, like a synodontis catfish, to help keep the fry and eggs under control.

I'd expect her to release them anytime now, considering it's been 24 days already. Generally, the incubation period for cichlids is around 3-4 weeks. After that, she should return to her normal behavior, so fingers crossed it's soon.

[willie32]

Hey guys, been a while since I last posted but I've got a bit of a situation with my cichlids. So, I've got a 225 litre Malawi cichlid tank and I noticed my female yellow lab breeding with my Maylandia Greyshaki male. I didn't think much of it at first since they're different genera, but 23 days on and the yellow lab's not eating, her mouth's extended like a pouch. I'm pretty sure she's got fry or eggs in there. Should I take her out of the main tank? Not sure if I should try to open her mouth to check, but I'm worried the eggs might not be viable and she's still holding on.

I'm fairly new to cichlid breeding myself, but from what I've gathered, it typically takes around three weeks for the female to release the fry, so it could be any day now, considering it's already been 24 days.

[coltin]

If you don't see any fry within the next week or so, you might want to consider milking the female to see what's going on. To do this, you'll need to catch her and hold her over a container of water, then gently stroke the underside of her throat to see if she'll cough up whatever is in her mouth. If she has babies, you can put her in a separate container with them - if she has clear eggs, it's probably best to put her in a tank without the eggs. On the other hand, if the eggs have embryos, you can put her with the eggs and see if she collects them back up.

[Tangazo]

It's likely the fry will be viable due to the close relation between species and genera. You could try stripping her, but I'd rather let nature take its course and see if any survive. The issue with hybrids is that they can be difficult to rehome, so hopefully, you'll have some natural predation, like a synodontis catfish, to help keep the fry and eggs under control.

Thanks a lot for the help, really appreciate it.

[Tangazo]

If you don't see any fry within the next week or so, you might want to consider milking the female to see what's going on. To do this, you'll need to catch her and hold her over a container of water, then gently stroke the underside of her throat to see if she'll cough up whatever is in her mouth. If she has babies, you can put her in a separate container with them - if she has clear eggs, it's probably best to put her in a tank without the eggs. On the other hand, if the eggs have embryos, you can put her with the eggs and see if she collects them back up.

Thanks for the advice