# blue dolphin holding, now what?



## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

I have a group of 6 and for the first time on Christmas night I caught my newly aquired male, about 5 inches with my 2nd largest, didn't know the sex yet but now I know female who is about 3 inches. Needless to say I'm very excited about this

I never would of thought that the 3 inch female was mature enough to mate and I didn't even think the male was either. the other 4 dolphins are about 2 - 2 1/2 inches all unsexed.

So my question is what to do? they are all in my community tank mixed with other haps and peacocks. I've heard that a holding mother will release her eggs when being chased or when frightened so I wouldn't want that to happen. I have other tanks for her but should I wait more or just let her be and strip around 3 weeks from now?


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## AFRICAN-FISH (Oct 16, 2011)

I put mine in a seperate tank and I am not a fan of stripping them, I don't know why, but I let them release fry by themselves.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

Congrats!
You can catch her in 3 weeks, but don't be disheartened if it doesn't work out the first time.


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## mokujin22 (Jan 19, 2010)

They will learn to hold on to term. It often takes more than one try.

Yeah, don't worry. Pretty soon, you will have more moori fry than you know what to do with.


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

thanks for all the feedback, I guess I'm more worried about her releasing her fry prematurely while I chase her with the net. I've heard that dolphins will do this.


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Hey, how did it go with your first batch of Blue Dolphins? Did you net her and move her successfully? Just last night I noticed mine spawning, a 5" male with a 4" female. Like you, I'm worried about her spitting since every website mentioned that they do that easily.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

empty the tank of all rock decor, turn off the light for an hour, or until they calm down then try catching her... It is how I did it with my c.moorii, and it was her first spawn too. If you fail to catch her after a couple minutes, leave her alone for a while and try again later. She might spit in the net, but dont worry if she does that, just put the eggs with her and she will pick them up.


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

OK, that's kinda what I was thinking of trying. Should I wait further along? Or just do it right away? I was thinking if i waited a couple weeks, then they should be hatched, so worse case they might just be wigglers.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

I try to wait 18days from the day she started holding, I move her sooner if she is getting picked on. The less time she spend out of the main tank, the easier it is to reintroduce her


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

OK, perfect! Thanks for the advice!


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## mcbdz (Jul 5, 2011)

Hey, I recently went through the same thing. Check the thread out here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=
Make sure you have a big enough tank to grow them out. Starting to run into that problem now that 40+ 1 inch fry are in a 23gal. :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Definitely sounds like I'm going to have no fun at all trying to catch her


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

In stead of chasing her....corral her first then net her. Or use a clear container like a large water bottle bottom....corral her into it and then scoop the whole thing up into the holding pen.

I use a pen hung in the main tank...


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Hey that's a good idea, something clear and large that she hopefully won't see coming instead of a big blue net. Awesome pic by the way!!


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

thanks everyone but she swallowed them.


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

al7601 said:


> thanks everyone but she swallowed them.


What mean by swallowed ?


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Awww, sorry to hear that. At what point did she swallow them?


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## al7601 (May 10, 2011)

cmjdjm1 said:


> Awww, sorry to hear that. At what point did she swallow them?


She held them for 2-3 days only. We'll see what happens next time.


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

So far so good, mine has been holding them since the 27th. I'm going to try to move her next weekend I think, which should be day 18 or 19. If I can't get her quickly enough, Ill wait a bit longer, that way if she does spit in the net, theres a good chance the fry will live.


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Well, all is well. I managed to get her into her own tank without spitting or swallowing. I used a massive Rubbermaid pitcher for juices and laid it on the bottom of the tank, and put sand in the bottom of it. The pitcher was a translucent white, so it didn't stand out too much or scare them. I used a large net to follow her across the back of the tank and she went right into the pitcher. Then I just picked up the pitcher and moved her to the new tank, and let her come out on her own when she was ready. This was all last night, and today when I got home from work, I was surprised to see her surrounded by at least 30 tiny fry. I'm ecstatic! If I can, I'll try to get a picture of her with the fry later on, although when I turned on the light she almost instantly scooped them all back into her mouth. Amazing how fast they can do this!


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

lol caught mine today and she spat her fry 1h after being released in the nursery tank... looks like I was just in time!!


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Sparrk said:


> lol caught mine today and she spat her fry 1h after being released in the nursery tank... looks like I was just in time!!


Thats great to hear! Did she pick them back up at all? Mine has still been scooping them back up whenever I get near the tank. Any idea how many fry yours had?


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yeah she scoops them up everytime I get near, so I cant count them, think she had between 20-30 not sure at all


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Well, mine has finally stopped scooping them back in, and I'm counting somewhere between 38-42. Hard counting them when they keep moving around so much. I'm going to have to run out and buy a couple more tanks. I noticed today I have a Yellow lab and a purple acei both holding too! Must be something in the water lol


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

cmjdjm1 said:


> Well, mine has finally stopped scooping them back in, and I'm counting somewhere between 38-42. Hard counting them when they keep moving around so much. I'm going to have to run out and buy a couple more tanks. I noticed today I have a Yellow lab and a purple acei both holding too! Must be something in the water lol


it time to sit back and enjoy those baby grow :fish:


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Yep, now I just have to get her back out of the tank without scaring the **** out of the fry, and put her back in the main tank. She's had a couple days of eating, so hopefully that's long enough to get some energy back. She wasn't holding very long at all. 14 days total from the day I saw them spawning.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

I have to sneek on her so she dont have the time to scoop her fry back i her mouth :roll:


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

I hear you can leave them out with the fry for a week or so, but every time I tried to feed her, she'd grab a fry or two in the process. thankfully she spit them back out, but I figured I'd get her out before there were any accidents, or before I woke up and went downstairs to find no fry left.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

took her out today she is back in the main tank  have at least 20-30fry... they are hard to count since they blend in so well with the substrate lol...


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Holy ****, after having 49 fry, I waited a couple days before I put her back in the main tank and within two days, she was holding again! *** got her again in a tank of her own, so we'll see how many she has this time. She should be spitting again any day now. Within a week of the first batch, I had a purple acei spit 44 fry, and an electric yellow spit 6. Now I've got a different electric yellow holding and the blue dolphin holding lol. My fry tank is overflowing lol


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

looool, my tank is too, but I dont keep them all, when my female C.moorii was holding, all mature female kenyi were holding too, *** let them spit in the main tank. They all spat in the main tank, but they are all holding again... Someone on this forum already said that male kenyis are feisty, well, he is totally right lol!


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

lol, must be something with the time of year that gets them all horny!


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

Thought someone might want to see this. I got a video of my dolphins spawning yesterday. Around 39 seconds in you can see her drop the first egg. By the time they were done I counted at least 50 eggs, but I had even left for about 10 minutes too. Funny thing is, he's at it again right this second with one of the other female dolphins. ****, now I have 2 dolphins holding, 2 yellows holding, a 20g long with over a hundred fry in it at the moment. I need more tanks!!!


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

very cool, my male does the same thing, mate,chase,continue mating, chase off the other fish and come back to mate lolll


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

ya it was cool to watch, its a 6foot long aquarium, and he kept every one of my fish in about 8 inches of tank until he was finished.


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

Fish-p-o-r-n 
But love it 
Thanks for sharing 
Nice capture


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## cmjdjm1 (Feb 12, 2011)

lol, funny you should mention it. I was thinking of adding some stereotypical porn music to it lol. I guess hearing things banging around in the dryer will have to do as a soundtrack


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