Who Gives A Fish Forums

just sat down to watch the tank for a bit and i noticed my female ndumbi red top looks really swollen around the face, i know it's not the right term for fish but it looks like she's got a mouthful of food, checked out some google images and i'm pretty sure she's holding, no idea how far along she is though.

only been keeping malawis for 3 months, never had any holding before so i'm clueless, got a 120l tank with 3 yellow lab fry and a small sp44 that wasn't feeding, also got a breeding net.

any ideas what i should do? Malawi Mad, hoping you can offer some advice

Hey dougmac, your female ndumbi red top is probably holding eggs, which is a normal process. This usually takes around a month before they become free-swimming fry.

You might notice she segregates herself, stops eating, but don't worry, this is all part of the process. Now, you've got a few options - you could strip her once the fry are free-swimming, but if you're new to keeping malawis, you might not want to risk it. You'd need a separate tank for the fry, and you'd have to feed them brine shrimp and fine crushed flake food.

Alternatively, you could just let her spit in her current tank, and hope that there are enough hiding places for some of the fry to survive. It really depends on whether you want to keep the fry or not.

I'm keen to keep the fry, so I'm thinking of moving her to the other tank or putting her in the main tank with a breeding cage - not sure which is best though. I've seen a video of a breeder stripping the fry, looked pretty straightforward but I'm not too keen on handling the fish, don't want to risk squeezing them. Should I move her now or wait a few weeks?

If she's in the early stages, I think she's fine where she is, no need to move her just yet. The other fish in that tank are used to her, they'll leave her be. Putting her in a new tank with new tank mates could be a recipe for disaster, she'll get stressed and pestered. I'm not a fan of breeding nets or traps, I think they're cruel and stressful, especially for a cichlid. If you want to keep the fry, she could go into a separate tank on her own in about 3-3.5 weeks, that way she can spit them out herself and then you can remove her.

I'm a bit stuck as I've got tiny yellow labs and a small sp44 in the 120l, so I couldn't put her in there on her own. Ideally, I'd like to isolate her but it's not really an option. I'm thinking of giving stripping a go - would I just wait till I see her spitting out the fry and then collecting them back into her mouth, or is there a better way to do it?

I'm in a bit of a bind with tank space, the 120l has some tiny yellow labs and a small sp44 in it, so I couldn't put her in there alone even if I wanted to. Ideally, I'd like to have her separate, but it's just not feasible at the moment. Stripping might be my best bet, I'm just not sure how to go about it - do I wait until I see her spitting out the fry and then collecting them back into her mouth, or is there a better way to do it?

ive had another idea, i could section off the 120l and keep the female in there, do you think that would be enough space for her with a 60/40 split on her own? i think it could work, and then when she spits i can feed the fry crushed flake or brine shrimp, that way i can keep an eye on them and make sure theyre doing alright, plus its a better option than moving her to a new tank and stressing her out even more.

If this is her first time holding, she might not carry the brood to full term, so moving her to the 120 won't necessarily guarantee a successful spawn. I'd personally leave her in the main tank and let her spit naturally - you don't want to stress her out if this is her first time holding, as stripping the fry can put her off breeding in the future.

It's funny you should say that mate, when I was thinking about it last night, I came to the same conclusion - if it's her first time holding and I stress her out by stripping her, she might associate holding with a negative experience. Have you had any fry survive in your tank? To be honest, I'm not in a rush to get any fry at the moment, I'm actually selling my 180l tank as I'm planning to set up a bigger one in its place. The 180l is a good size, but if I'm going to run another tank, I want it to be a large one. However, with my current financial situation - I've just built a house and I'm getting married in August - I don't think I'll be able to afford it until Christmas, or maybe even next summer.