# Bumble bee / Red Zebra hybrid is holding....



## **CHRIS** (Jul 3, 2009)

My female bumble bee / red zebra hybrid is holding.... i have a 10 gallon already cycled and ready to go.... i just noticed she was holding yesturday, when should i move her to the 10 gal? kinda new to breeding cichlids, been reading as much as possible and wanna do it right, input would be apresiated.... btw the father is red zebra....


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

not to sure about you holding question, but i want to let you know that your fry you are about to get, are going to be very mean a$$ fish... i had a male bumblebee and female red zebra breed, and the 2 survivers in the tank, grew up and killed all the tank mates, including the father, who was a mean SOB himself... i was a newbie at the time, but just wanted to let you know that you might want to reconsider keeping your fry... 
HTH


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## **CHRIS** (Jul 3, 2009)

i dont plan on keeping them.... i dont want to over stock my 55... i just wanted to know when i should move her to the 10 gal....


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

if you dont plan on keeping them then let her spit in the main tank and let nature run it course


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## **CHRIS** (Jul 3, 2009)

not that easy... my fiance wouldnt apresiate that lol...shes all excited about the first babies.... probibly give them away...

btw to venus.... she is already a hybrid... shes not agressive at all.... not sure if u understood what i ment...


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

id advise against this....hybrids can be unpredictable and ntm pollute gene pools.....if she likes the ideas of babies then i would appropriately stock the tank and have fry that are worth distributing. IMHO it relly is the best way to go....too many hybrids now a day.


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

**CHRIS** said:


> btw to venus.... she is already a hybrid... shes not agressive at all.... not sure if u understood what i ment...


ya, i read it differently... sorry about that.

not that i really condone giving hybrids away, because who's to say, the next person doesn't try to sell them as "pure"... but i have, as mentioned before, had this combo of hybrid... the 2 brothers, i did end up giving away, but i gave them to the LFS i go to to buy all my fish... a very reputable store... not sure what they did with the fish, either sold them as hybrids, or euthanized them... i DO feel bad if he did euthanize them, because i "created" the hybrids, by not knowing about cichlids before i bought them... so if i would have read and learned a little bit before i went out and said, "oh i like that one, that one, and that one"... and of course the big box stores are not going to tell you no, they want the money... live and learn i guess...
i will not make that mistake again, i only buy my fish from a very reputable dealer now in the cleveland area... 
good luck...


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## Addesyn (Jul 1, 2009)

I would leave her in the main tank then when she's ready, strip her into the 10g. This way she doesn't have to be reintegrated into the main tank.


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## jfly (Feb 17, 2009)

whew !! let those babies be gone... its already hard to find good specimens locally.. if you are going let them live.. i say keep em yourself so you know where they are.


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## Addesyn (Jul 1, 2009)

jfly said:


> whew !! let those babies be gone... its already hard to find good specimens locally.. if you are going let them live.. i say keep em yourself so you know where they are.


I agree that you should keep them but I don' t think you should kill them just because they are hybrids. But definitely don't misrepresent them as purebred if you get rid of them.


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## klc9100 (Apr 14, 2009)

in my mbuna tank, the holding females would be chased and picked on until they spit out the eggs or swallowed them, so that they could defend themselves. i had two that were stressed to death &/or killed. i figured i would try something defferent. i had a red zebra show that she was holding about a month ago. the very day i recognized this, i took her out and put her in a 10g by herself. 18 days later she spit the fry. she is fine and the babies are fine. i left her in there with them for 2 days and then took her out. i put her in my peacock/hap tank because i knew they wouldn't pick on her while she built her strength back up. i plan to put her back in the mbuna tank this weekend.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

klc9100 said:



> in my mbuna tank, the holding females would be chased and picked on until they spit out the eggs or swallowed them, so that they could defend themselves. i had two that were stressed to death &/or killed.


This usually means one of two things - sometimes both.

Either your tank isn't large enough for the species you are keeping and breeding / your male/female ratios are off for the species you are trying to breed,


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## cichlidsrule113 (Jun 24, 2009)

You have a hybrid bumble bee red zebra? My bumble bee and red zebra just bread. Do you have pics of your fish? I am wondering what the fish will end up looking like? Are they cool?***CHRIS***


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

cichlidsrule113 said:


> You have a hybrid bumble bee red zebra? My bumble bee and red zebra just bread. Do you have pics of your fish? I am wondering what the fish will end up looking like? Are they cool?***CHRIS***


i do not have mine anymore, but here are what mine looked like when i had them:
dad:








mom with 2 of the babies:








one of the BAD A$$es that took over the whole tank and eventually killed everything but my pleco.


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## caseyof99 (Aug 5, 2009)

If you dont want to keep them then strip her eggs into a cup and flush em. Personally the last pic of the bad a$$ that killed everyone looks ****. I would just try to control the hybrid fry. I would much rather flush them than have them mess up a good line. I recently had hybrids from a bumble bee and a red top trewavasae and flushed em so they wouldnt have a chance of making more hybrids. Its a tough call but i felt i had to make it.


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

If keeping the girlfriend happy is the reason for keeping the fry then accidently leave the mom in the tank with the fry after she spits till they are all gone. 
Mbuna breed so much you will have more before you know it. 
Just my 2 cents: use them as feeders for your adult fish.


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