# African's holding - Help and advice



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

So i have a few fish holding right now, a yellow lab, looks like she's about to spit, a blue eduardi, 2.5 weeks holding I think and a Kenyi, recently holding, 3 days maybe.

So I'm just curious as to what everyone would do. I would like to keep as many of the fry as I can, but I would also don't want to have to go through too much craziness. I'd prefer not to set up a bunch more tanks. 

OK....sooooo.....
1st - I have a Kenyi in a 30G tank holding. I believe its only been in the last few days as I only noticed when I added a 2 smaller female Kenyi on Saturday. I do remember her eating only a few days before. In this tank I have a couple of Brichardi, a pair I believe that I'm hoping might breed. There are also a couple of the females fry in the tank also. There are also a couple of small plecos and a yoyo loach. There are rainbow rocks with holes in them, a cave for the brichardi, some fake and real plants (they're hurting, LOL), and a small piece of driftwood.

2nd - I have an Eduardi (looks like she's been holding for about 2.5 weeks) in a 65 G tall with lots of other fish. There are a bunch of other Africans in this tank of various sizes. I also have a couple of plecos and a couple clown loaches in there. This tank is full of lava rock with holes, tons of hiding spots, a few small pieces of driftwood, and some real and fake plants.

Lastly I have a yellow lab that I got towards the end of boxing week and was already holding. She is in a 10G tank with a rainbow rock with holes. Looking at her today, I think she could spit any day. Looks like the fry in her mouth are moving around pretty good. 

Now I have a bit of a dilema with this tank. I have a pleco in there due to the algae. When I got this pleco, I think I also picked up a few snails that must have been eggs or something because they could not be seen in the bag. This tank was originally set up to hold some Eduardi fry about a yr ago. So when I noticed the snails, I bought a clown loach to try to get rid of the problem. Well when I got the yellow lab, I took everything out. After about 4 days ago, the algae got kinda bad so I put the pleco back in. Then I noticed the snails again. So I took a clown loach I recently got from Tom G and put him in the tank, along with a couple assasin snails, to try to rid of the snails. Well I noticed ick on the clown loach. I have turned up the temp slowly over the last couple days and added salt.

Sooo....in order to try to keep as many fry as possible. What would you recommend?? All my tanks are over filtered so cycling a small tank will and can easily be done. Could I put all the females in one tank? Keep in mind one is about to spit, one in maybe a week or two and the other is only recently holding. 

Should I use the 10G I already have set up? If so, I'm guessing I should take out all the other inhabitants? Pleco, clown loach with ick and the assasin snails. The yellow lab is in there now, I could put in the Eduardi in a week or so and then the kenyi when she is ready to spit. 

I have a 15 long and a 20 long that I could also set up if I had too. I would prefer the 15 G because of space that I have right now. 

Should I keep the the lab in the 10 and when she spits, move the fry to the 15 G. then I can put her back in my 65G and move the Eduardi into the 10 G and do the same thing? Wait till she spits and move those fry into the same 15G and the lab fry? then do the same with the Kenyi when she is ready? 

Also, what should I do with the clown loach in the 10G with ick? I could set up a little plastic container I have for him, maybe 1 G?? put in an air tube and use some of the ick remover stuff??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully I will have some labs, eduardi's and kenyi's for people soon!!  

Thanks
Wil


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

So the lab spit a couple days ago!! Didn't get to count as everytime I came near the tank, she would start to take them back in her mouth. Hopefully she will leave them out so that I can take her out of the tank and put her in with my other labs.

1 down, 2 more to go! LOL I think the Eduardi will be spitting soon!


----------



## tooslow (Apr 16, 2008)

*multiple fish holding*

I find myself regularly dealing with the problem of having multiple fish holding at the same time. i have a 20 G set up so that i can put the fish holding into it when the need arises. I would suggest taking all the fish holding and putting them all in the same tank. Once the mothers releases you pull her and put her back into her respective tank. I would leave all the fry in the tank but provide many hiding spots for them. As the mothers release you pull them and put them back. i have found that after the mother has released she will not eat the fry, maybe because she thinks they are all hers, and so then i pull her as soon as i notice she is empty. I would suggest setting up one of your other tanks you said you have just for the mothers. I have been putting all the holding mothers in one tank for a long time now and never had anymore problems. I have had 2 yellow labs and 2 electric blue hap alis holding all in the same tank and everything worked out fine. hope it helps.


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the advice tooslow. I have her in a 10G right now. Just waiting for her to spit them back out. When I got home from work they were out and about, when she saw me, she started taking them all back LOL. Once she does then I'll move her.

As for the other 2 I'll wait till they are a little closer to spit to move them into another tank. When all the fry are all a little bigger, I can put them all together into one tank.


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

So my yellow lab lets the fry out for most of the day from what I can tell and then towards the end of the night she takes them back in her mouth. This weekend I'm hoping that I can get her away from the fry when she spits again and separate her.

Then I think the task will be to get the Eduardi out of a 65 tall with lots of lava rock. My other problem now is....apparently I have a pair of N Brichardi in that same tank. I just found that out because I have a bunch of almost microscopic fry. LOL  I didn't think the female was old enough or big enough yet. But I was definitely wrong, although it would have helped if I knew I had a male and female too. hahaha

Now I'm not sure how to get the Eduardi out without disrupting the Brichardi. Do you guys think I'm best to just leave the Eduardi in there and wait till the Brichardi fry a larger to try to take out all the fry?


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

I would just leave it...

You'll have another shot at stripping them next time.


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

gucci17 said:


> I would just leave it...
> 
> You'll have another shot at stripping them next time.


Thanks Gucci! That's what I figured I would have to do. It kinda sucks because I did want to take a few other fish out of the tank. I guess it will be a little while yet!!

BTW....What do you feed your fry? I have Hikari first bites and I also use Hikari baby brine.


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Tbird said:


> Thanks Gucci! That's what I figured I would have to do. It kinda sucks because I did want to take a few other fish out of the tank. I guess it will be a little while yet!!
> 
> BTW....What do you feed your fry? I have Hikari first bites and I also use Hikari baby brine.


It may be sooner than later when you get a chance to take some of the fish out. I'd be suprised if many of the newly spit fry survive with other adults in the tank. I guess you can call that natural selection for the ones that do make it. Survival of the fittest right?

I usually feed crushed up spirulina flakes and crushed up nls grow to my fry.

I haven't tried the products you use so I can't comment on it's effectiveness. It should be ok. Brine shrimp is very common for new fry be it live or freeze dried.


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

gucci17 said:


> It may be sooner than later when you get a chance to take some of the fish out. I'd be suprised if many of the newly spit fry survive with other adults in the tank. I guess you can call that natural selection for the ones that do make it. Survival of the fittest right?
> 
> I usually feed crushed up spirulina flakes and crushed up nls grow to my fry.
> 
> I haven't tried the products you use so I can't comment on it's effectiveness. It should be ok. Brine shrimp is very common for new fry be it live or freeze dried.


No your right I'm not sure how many I'll have survive but it was exciting to see them!! I thought the Yellow fry lab were small but these guys are sooo small. LOL They have a pretty good spot in the tank, front corner with some plants and a decent piece of barnacle for them to hide in.

I'll try your mixture as well. I have some spirulina and I'll be getting some grow from John on Sunday. Now its finding a way of getting some down to them. LOL

So hopefully in a couple months I'll have some yellow labs, Eduardi, Kenyi and Brichardi


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Always nice to see baby fish growing up  
The more spots to hide the greater chance of survival is how I see it. Most of the time they get picked off at night when the lights are off it seems.

In a situation like yours, what I would do is crush/grind up the food and put it in a yogurt container. Then add some water from the tank into the cup with food. Take a turkey blaster and suck up the food so you can gently release it near the babies. Just be sure to feed the big guys on the other side of the tank so there isn't a feeding frenzie going with baby food and fry for dinner. 

If you're picking up some nls grow. I would think 1lb would go along way for you. John has no problem mixing and matching NLS food to make it 5lbs. 

Goodluck with the babies!


----------



## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

gucci17 said:


> Always nice to see baby fish growing up
> The more spots to hide the greater chance of survival is how I see it. Most of the time they get picked off at night when the lights are off it seems.
> 
> In a situation like yours, what I would do is crush/grind up the food and put it in a yogurt container. Then add some water from the tank into the cup with food. Take a turkey blaster and suck up the food so you can gently release it near the babies. Just be sure to feed the big guys on the other side of the tank so there isn't a feeding frenzie going with baby food and fry for dinner.
> ...


That's what I was hoping for when I set up the tank. Lots of hiding spots for all the fish.

I'm definitely going to try that! The turkey baster is a great idea!!! I'll have to go buy one sometime later today.

Ya I'm getting a bunch of stuff from John on Sunday. Spending too much money. LOL He seems to have almost everything, he's been a little slow to some questions I've asked which kinda sucks but oh well. do you know what kind of frozen food he has? Is it any good?

Now do you feed all your fish NLS only?

Thanks again for all your help!!


----------

