mouth brooder questions

[illpoet]

so all of my experience with (intentionally) breeding mouthbrooders has been done through the use of an egg tumbler and fry tank. lately i've been thinking that since one of the reason i love african cichlids (and cichlids in general) is the way they mother/nurture their fry. that being said i was thinking of instead of using an egg tumbler i would set up a "maternity tank" used to seperate the mother so she could raise her fry away from the colony. these questions are meant to be general involving mouthbrooders but specifically i would be using A. Rubescens and Hap sp. 44.
1. Is a ten gallon tank sufficient for 1 mother and her fry?
2. is there a point where the mother stops caring for fry and becomes dangerous?
3. Is it possible to put a brooding mother in a grow out tank containing another generation of fry? or will the mother eat the other fry once she has spit her own?
4. Are the things i've read about not removing a female from a colony because it screws with her place in the hierarchy true for all mouthbrooders or are there only some species where this is a problem?

thanks for your advice!

 

[semperfires]

I have done 10 gallon nursery tanks before and thats usually plenty room. I would not mix the holding mother of one with the fry from another. Putting her back in after a period of time can sometimes be hard on her, especially since she does not eat while holding. I found the easiest on me, mom and babies is to strip the mom. I wait until I think shes gonna be spitting them out at any time. Then hold her in my hand over a specimen cup and use a piece of flex air line tubing to "flush" them out. Once they are all out just drop her back in like nothing. Shes out 5-6 min tops so re-introduction is never a problem.

 

[Tony]

In my experience, it's going to be hit or miss with Malawi mothers eating or not eating their newly spit young. I've had it go either way. Large haps are the least likely from what I've seen and from what goes on in nature (since they're generally on the move in open water).

Currently, I strip anything that I want to keep.

From what I hear, your ruby reds have been quite prolific. Considering this, then I'd feel free to experiment if I were you.

 

[illpoet]

extremely prolific! i've got 2 females holding right now and a ton of fry growin out! i'm not super worried about losing the fry since i've got so many just thought it might kind of neat to have a mommy in my empty 10 gallon!