Help with separation....

[mattdaddy2]

I have 5 female multi's and one male. Within the last month I have averaged about 15-23 babies a week. But getting them separated from the mother and into a separate tank is getting old. And there are so many that when they begin to reach adult size its hard to tell who is who. Any ideas or suggestions as to how to do this without picking up the "mother" and transferring her as well since she shares the same shell 80% of th time?

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[dogofwar]

Why do you want to separate them?

I've found the moving the shell approach is best...

Matt

 

[mattdaddy2]

I want to move them because being in a 28 gallon nano 70 babies.a month is a bit much. I have been doing the.shell relocating but the female is in with them and I'm back to square one

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[Leffler817]

If the offspring are still fry or relatively small, you could try removing them with a turkey baster. If they are too big, you could try catching them first thing in the morning or whenever they are sleeping. However, I'm not sure if they sleep outside their shells.


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[Tony]

Get a 5 gallon bucket. Cut a piece of eggcrate so that fits inside. Throw in 3 tall-ish flower pots upside down to support the eggcrate (or wedge eggcrate inside so that is sits flat). Toss a bunch of PVC rubble in the bottom and set the shells atop the eggcrate. Add bubble stone. Leave them alone.

The next morning, 90% of the shellies will be in the PVC rubble below.

 

[mattdaddy2]

So I took the egg crate idea and kinda twisted it around. I cut the bottom portion of a five gallon bucket.(since I have about 10 spares anyhow) drilled some holes and placed zipties in and out of the holes to help with removal of the cut portion. Then I drilled many different size holes in it. Now all I have to do is make my pvc rubble add my air pump and hope it works just as well as the egg crate idea.

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[rsretep]

I used to separate the mother by using a net to keep her at a distance while i removed the fry (in shell) into a net breeder hanging in same tank as parents...also found adding an airstone in the net breeder keeps more of the fry alive