the mouth breeding process

[dave]

I am having a little trouble understanding the process of mouth breeding. Am I to understand that when the female is holding the eggs that they have been fertilized? And at this time move her to an isolation tank, once there she will not be pressured and release the fry (swimming) on her own? Or do you pull the eggs if the latter what is the timeline on pulling the eggs? And do you leave her in this tank with the fry for a period of time or once that the fry are swimming do you pull her and return her to the breeding tank. And I understand that when you return the female back into the breeding tank it is best to keep her in a floating tank for a week so that the male gets re acquainted with her and does not kill her? The fish I am referring to is Aulonacara ruby reds my breeding tank consists of 2 males and 9 females they are the first batch of some f-1 that were wild caught

[fishmaven]

Hi Dave,
Lots of questions in that paragraph.

1 "Am I to understand that when the female is holding the eggs that they have been fertilized?"
With an experienced female this is true. Not every instance works without incidents. The first time female may pick up gravel too. Sometimes the male doesn't cover all the eggs…

2. "And at this time move her to an isolation tank, once there she will not be pressured and release the fry (swimming) on her own?"
It's safe to leave her in the spawning tank in most cases, especially with 9 females in the colony. However, if the babies are valuable, many breeders pull the female at some point prior to her spitting the eggs. Yes, sometimes she'll even spit during the collection process.


3. “Or do you pull the eggs if the latter what is the timeline on pulling the eggs?”
No firm answer. I usually wait around a week.

4. “And do you leave her in this tank with the fry for a period of time or once that the fry are swimming do you pull her and return her to the breeding tank.”
Well, she's hungry. Leaving her in a bare tank with babies is an ill advised experiment. With only a few females in the colony, I wouldn’t advise returning the female directly into the breeding tank. I’d prefer to set-up an interim holding tank for recovering females, being careful not to mix easy to mix up species. I only know of one person I’d rely on to distinguish between different female peacocks.

BTW, don't cheat the system. Right now you're working with one species, one color form. When you start dealing with multiple species DO NOT mix the babies unless you can reliably tell them apart.

5. “And I understand that when you return the female back into the breeding tank it is best to keep her in a floating tank for a week so that the male gets re acquainted with her and does not kill her? “
I may miss some of the possibilities but… I don’t like putting the female back immediately. I don’t like putting the female in a small box teasing the male either. If the female is rested, after recovery in a holding tank, I’d slip her in after a good feeding of the breeders. There’s no guarantees… some put some sort of cover into the holding box to make her feel more secure. (We don’t really know how fish feel. We can only mimic what we think is best from our experiences.) When I’ve done this I’ve had the female jump from the box either out of the tank or into the tank. If that might happen, why use a box?

“The fish I am referring to is Aulonacara ruby reds my breeding tank consists of 2 males and 9 females they are the first batch of some f-1 that were wild caught”
I’m glad you found something you like. The procedure I mentioned would work with most mouthbrooders.
I hope this helps.
Dan

I am having a little trouble understanding the process of mouth breeding. Am I to understand that when the female is holding the eggs that they have been fertilized? And at this time move her to an isolation tank, once there she will not be pressured and release the fry (swimming) on her own? Or do you pull the eggs if the latter what is the timeline on pulling the eggs? And do you leave her in this tank with the fry for a period of time or once that the fry are swimming do you pull her and return her to the breeding tank. And I understand that when you return the female back into the breeding tank it is best to keep her in a floating tank for a week so that the male gets re acquainted with her and does not kill her? The fish I am referring to is Aulonacara ruby reds my breeding tank consists of 2 males and 9 females they are the first batch of some f-1 that were wild caught

[NotoriousSway]

I leave my female in breeder tank and strip her of the fry two weeks after mating has occurred, put the fry in a separate growout tank, around that point the fry are free swimming and can start eating, then I put the female back in the breeding tank. Everyone has their own way of doing it, just find out what works best for you.

Also just to add, Im not sure if you misunderstud or the seller missenformed you but there is no such thing as a "wild caught" Aulonacara ruby red. Aulonacara ruby red are a line bred (man-made) fish that does not occur in the wild, so its is not possible for a wild caught one to exist. Just thought I would clear that up.

[Narwhal72]

Notorious is right dave. There is no such thing as a "wild caught" Ruby Red Peacock. It is a man made variety.

Personally I let my females hold for 5 days, then I move her to an empty 10 gallon for 7-8 more days. Then I strip the fry and put them in a hanging incubator tank for a week. I keep the female in the 10 gallon at the same time. After a week goes by I put the female back in the main tank and let the babies have the 10 gallon to themselves.
Andy