Labidochromis Mystery

[Sonny Disposition]

OK. So I started with some young Labidochromis caeruleus. Within a week or two, I saw that three were holding, based on the pouches under their chins. I moved them out of the main tank, and gave them a tank of their own. After all the fry had come out, I moved the three of them to a ten gallon tank, without males. I wanted to give them time to eat and grow up, so I could take the best female and mate her with the best male.

Yesterday, I saw that one of the females was again holding--she had a noticeable pouch under her chin and was breathing a little heavier than the other two fish in the tank.

What gives? Do mouthbrooders have sneaker males that inflate their chins and pretend to be females? Anyway, I guess I'll wait until one of the other fish has an inflated chin, and then remove the third fish, which is presumably the male.

 

[dogofwar]

Females can "hold" unfertilized eggs..

OK. So I started with some young Labidochromis caeruleus. Within a week or two, I saw that three were holding, based on the pouches under their chins. I moved them out of the main tank, and gave them a tank of their own. After all the fry had come out, I moved the three of them to a ten gallon tank, without males. I wanted to give them time to eat and grow up, so I could take the best female and mate her with the best male.

Yesterday, I saw that one of the females was again holding--she had a noticeable pouch under her chin and was breathing a little heavier than the other two fish in the tank.

What gives? Do mouthbrooders have sneaker males that inflate their chins and pretend to be females? Anyway, I guess I'll wait until one of the other fish has an inflated chin, and then remove the third fish, which is presumably the male.[/b]

 

[maddog10]

Magic!!












(yep, they will hold unfertilized eggs if no male is present)

 

[Sonny Disposition]

OK. I searched "Malawi" and "male holding eggs" and nothing came up. So it's a reasonable bet that I don't have a male in the tank and that I have three females. I also searched "mouth brooder" and "sneaker" and learned that there are sneaker males among mouth brooder species, but they do their sneaking when the eggs are being fertilized.

Which would be better--to flush the eggs out of her mouth, so that she starts eating again, or to wait until she spits them out or eats them?

Magic!!












(yep, they will hold unfertilized eggs if no male is present)[/b]

 

[toddnbecka]

Less stressful for all to let her figure it out on her own. I had the opposite problem for a long time, couldn't get a female yellow. I started w/juvies, turned out all 3 were males, and it took 3 swaps (then waiting for the fish to mature sufficiently) to find a female. Now there are 12, but at least they're a clean group. No black on the faces or bodies, not even big daddy in a bad mood.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Thanks. I've read or heard that if you're trying to get one of each, the mathematical probability that you'll have one male and one female is really high if you start with six fish. (No guarantees, though.)

I started with 6 from one store. To ensure some genetic diversity in the breeding population, I picked up two more at another store. I've got three females and five males. (One of the males died.)

Less stressful for all to let her figure it out on her own. I had the opposite problem for a long time, couldn't get a female yellow. I started w/juvies, turned out all 3 were males, and it took 3 swaps (then waiting for the fish to mature sufficiently) to find a female. Now there are 12, but at least they're a clean group. No black on the faces or bodies, not even big daddy in a bad mood.[/b]