Topic: Yellow holding! Yay! Help!

[altaaffe]

If you can give her some cover for the fry, this may tempt her to spit them knowing that they will now have somewhere to hide.  I used to used small pebbles with bits of slate on top and the odd shell.

[dustbowl_debutante]

Just a little update:

I ended up with 17 fry in the fry/maternity tank, and apparently Little Mama spat one into the mbuna community tank that she was originally in, but once that baby got a little size on him, I moved him over to the fry tank as well.  So, eighteen babies total...and SO cuuuuute....   

Little Mama stayed in the fry tank for about a month with the babies, then I put her back into the mbuna tank.  Within one week, she was holding again.  Less than a week after that, I spotted another yellow lab holding.  My mbuna tank is a baby factory....or a brothel, depending on how you want to look at it...lol.  In the meantime, I finally found homes for all 18 babies this last weekend and drove all over Oklahoma re-homing them.

Then I went home to my empty fry tank     Then, my son came home from his dad's and saw the empty fry tank       He demanded to know what "mean ole mama" - meaning me, of course - did with HIS baby fishies!  So I tried to explain, but it finally ended with him picking out new fish for the fry tank    Obviously, Little Mama and her little friend will be spitting the next batches into the community tank...there is no way I can keep finding homes for all of the babies, and no one wants to buy yellows in this area, as there seems to be a surplus of them.  However, we bought George (our betta) a wife, so I guess we're gonna see how bettas make babies next!

Thank you so much to everyone who talked me through this one!  You guys are the best!

[altaaffe]

Nice one with the fry but you'll soon get sick of them !!

The catfish I added to the Mbuna tank now have constantly full stomachs !!

[tommyc]

Congrats exciting time
Tom.

[tracey]

Congrats    Sounds like you have some pretty prolific breeders there

[dustbowl_debutante]

Congrats    Sounds like you have some pretty prolific breeders there

I'd say so!  Anyone know if there are "Fish Birth Control" drops or tablets that I can add to their tank???   

And correct me if I'm wrong, but if I just let the two who are holding spit the fry into the Mbuna community tank, I'll only end up with a few from each brood surviving, right?  'Cause I simply don't have the time or money to run around finding homes for 20 or 40 more babies...  That was a pretty big job! 

[tracey]

The largest number of fry I had survive in my community was 5.  Usually it was only 2 or 3.

[Ezekial]

I would think the adults would whittle down that population, yes.