# good news and great news in one day



## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

Well i cant say enough about this forum and all the knowledge and help from everyone here. I am the guy who took my friends brundi front. tank, do to his spliiting up with his wife. They were neglected and over crowded 19- 3 to 6 inch fish with the breeding pair male 11 inch, female 7 inch all in a 5 foot 95 gal tank. *** since got good filtration,2 emperor 400s tons of water changes and have found homes for some. all color has come back in the fish ,have a huge appetite ,no fighting everyone is doing great. But still to many fish for such a small tank,and i need to get a good canister filter for them, fx4 is what im looking at.Anyways sat night i get on craigslist and there it is a 150 with stand lights canopy for a 100 bucks.So i get the set up yesterday for 75 bucks its acrylic very few small scratches 6 feet long 24 wide and 20 tall,ooooh yaaa.im way stoked now im setting up a new tank for these brundi's ..happy happy.then i look in my 95 gallon at my big female and she has a whole mouth full of eggs,super happy now ,but i have nowere to put her for now so i think ill get a tank seperator ,she has had atleast 4 broods naturally that i know of, so i think ill just divide her off from the rest and hope for the best untill i get my 150 set up.pics are coming of my 75 $ 150 and stand and pics of my female with eggs..thanks guys


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

that is great news indeed!!..... once youve finished the setup the 95gal will be a great spawning/growout tank!!!

Congrats!!! :thumb:

can't wait to see thse pics!


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

That really is good news.

im currently also trying to get a second big tank (all ready have 135 6 foot) now i need a second one for my mpimbwe. Im trying to work a deal with a guy 2 hours away. Your tank prices in CA make me sick LOL. He did want 1,500 for his 4 year old 7 foot 265 gallon tank but im trying to get him to trade it for my 72 bow and 70 tall and breeding stock for his breeding program. I hope it works out. Have not heard back yet. I just cant get over how cheap you all sell your used big tanks for.

Anyway congrats on your holding female. Does she swallow the eggs or is she a good holder ? You could try the septerator if she is harrassed, if she is left alone you might want to let her be.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

Ya im blown away on the deal i got too,well as far as the holding female this will be my first experience with this,The guy i got her from said to just seperate her from the rest with a tank divider and leave her alone and she will produce alot of fish,but the lfs said in about 2 weeks to strip her and put her back in with the colony.i dont know what to do


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Most front breeders strip them so they dont risk the fish swallowing the eggs. If you are not setup to care for the fry seperately i would leave her in there. You will lose the babies in the main tank. Your other option if she holds for two weeks is to get a 30 gallon tank and after say 18 days put her in there and when she feels comfy she will spit on her own (provide a cave for her), then put her in the main tank right away and feed her. That way the babies are in the grow tank right from the beginning.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

thanks for the help it just so happens i have a set up 30 gal with two 4 inch fronts in it now,i just hope if i transfer those two guys in with the colony that they will be ok ,they wont be the smallest fish in there but they have never been with so many fish before,they are all brundi,think it will work out if i do the transfer at night and with moving the rocks around in the tank,im just worried about the big 11 inch male..thanks for the help


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Your very welcome.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Wow, that's great news.

Here's a good article on how to strip fry, thought you might like. Also, once you get everything set up and are comfortable, perhaps you can strip the eggs and tumble them. Not sure, but I think some folks strip at 5 to 7 days and tumble (perhaps others can help with this topic if you are interested).

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/stripping.php

Good Luck,
Russ


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

thanks razzo im hoping to get my new 150 gal tank set up by the end of next week . just ordered a xp4 and emperor 400 and 2- 250 watt jager heaters today , they should be here mon,tues,of next week. I think my best bet is to do what cichildgirl wrote and put her in my set up 30 gal by her self untill she spits and then put her back with the colony. Its hard to decide what to do being my first breeding mother and all .to strip or just let her spit,I guess will see, ill post some pics of the fish and my new used 150 .thanks for the help everyone


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

big-t said:


> thanks razzo im hoping to get my new 150 gal tank set up by the end of next week . just ordered a xp4 and emperor 400 and 2- 250 watt jager heaters today , they should be here mon,tues,of next week. I think my best bet is to do what cichildgirl wrote and put her in my set up 30 gal by her self untill she spits and then put her back with the colony. Its hard to decide what to do being my first breeding mother and all .to strip or just let her spit,I guess will see, ill post some pics of the fish and my new used 150 .thanks for the help everyone


I am not familiar with the xp4 but I assume it's a good canister. I have a similar setup: FX5, Emp 400 and same heaters as you. Good luck and I look forward to those pics :wink:


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

i've never Q'd a holding frontosa. when i had burundi, i stripped at 20-25 days. there are some southern variants that need to be stripped much sooner, but as a rule, northerns are good moms. HTH.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

hey lloyd sorry for my ignorance but what does (Q'd) mean ,and also is there southern and northern burundi fronts . thanks for the help


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Q'd i think meant quarenteened. I think that there are different collection points spread around the lake: 
Bulu Point
Burundi
Karilani
Kavala
Zaire North

Here is a map of the general species collection areas. If you click on the fish it tells the name and gives info about them and has thumbnails of different examples of the different collection points etc.. Pretty nice just wish it had the cities of export marked since that is often where the name comes from with collection point nearby but not always the same location as the name.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/frontosa_variant_map.php

I had not seen this map and info before . I really liked it. Chocked full of info and good photos. :thumb:


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

Wow thanks alot cichildgirl, great info, the map and info really helped.Here are a few pics of my burundi type.A few have some feathering on the fins,but they look 10 times better now than when i adopted them 45 days ago,plus the tank will be cut in half population wise and i will have some happy burundi in my 150 gal. my holding female wont come out of her cave for a pic,but ill catch her with her mouth cracked open for some egg shots soon,thanx for everthing.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Wow, those are some very nice looking burundi. High quality. I can only hope mine will look as nice with time and care. you are doing a great job. Really.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Wow, those are some very nice looking burundi. High quality. I can only hope mine will look as nice with time and care. you are doing a great job. Really.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

thanks cichildgirl,it's funny you say that ,i think they are very nice looking burundi too,originally i was going to sell 10 of the 20 fish that i have. one guy was very interested in the whole colony,and wanted to see pics so i sent them to him and he wrote back and said he wasent interested in the fish cause he wanted better quality fish,which kinda sucked to hear but i think he was wrong and that they are quite nice fish and getting nicer every week ,there color is gettin very blue,the breeding pair were solid black when i got them,and now the female has all her white stripes back,and the male is showing three white stripes and there getting briter by the week.he is about 11 to 12 inches and from what i understand the older the burundi the darker they get right?


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

I dont know about that. My fish are all young still. This is my first experience keeping them. *** had mine for about 6-8 mo now. I really like them. I liked my burundi so much i bought some mpimbwe to compare. My burundi are maturing now and squabble all the time. Its annoying. LOL.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

ya mine squabble a little to but never actually nip or hurt one another,they just go mouth to mouth and basically show off to each other. on another topic i just cleared out my 28 gallon bowfront tank today and made a big cave for my holding female frontosa but a few things im afraid of is transfering her to the 28 gal without to much stress , and when to net her and do the transfer *** noticed eggs in her mouth for 4 days now .when should i put her by herself in the 28 gal? thanks for the help.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Are you going to strip her or leave her to do her own thing. I guess if your gonna strip her then do it when ever you feel like it. If your going to let her do her own thing then if she is not stressed in the main tank i would leave her there for several weeks. Around day 18 pull her out and put her in the other tank. If she acts stressed now and is having to run away from ohter fish like the alpha all the time i would put her in it now. When you transfer her try to have some tank water in a bucket to set the net in while you walk to the new tank (keeps her less stressed) After you put her in there make sure the lights are off and the room stays quiet. Let her be quiet for several hours, over night might be a good idea. It is possiable she might get scared and swallow the eggs when you net her , my other africans dont but i heard it on forums that it happens sometimes. Try to net her quickly and painlessly. If you have to block off escape routes with a tank divider etc.. You could probably get away with leaving her in the main tank with a tank divider if you have a six foot tank(i cant remember what size tank you have ). I have heard that you can offer two or three flakes of flake food every 3 days or so. Tiny amount, she supposedly can consume it, but my fish never touch food, they look at it and want it but refuse it.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

*** been watching her and everybody seems to be leaving her alone for now . my tank she is in now is heavily populated and only 5 feet long . all these fish have been in this same tank for a few years now.The p.o. of the tank and fish said she has carried 5 or 6 broods full term and been succsesful , but that he never sepperated any of the fish so only a few fish per brood would survive in the tank with all the adult fish around. I want to keep as many as possible so i can pick my favorites and put them in my new 150 gal. And sell or give away the rest. My rena xp4 and emperor 400 with 2 jager heaters will be here tues.and i will set up my 150 gal. But will be very premature even with bio-spira to put fish in and be safe,i think? Atleast right away.I guess im just really not sure what im going to do , when you strip the female early you need to have a tumbler right,and if i wait say 15 more days when i strip her the little ones should be swiming on their own? is that right .thanks


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

super cool Burundis!!!! 

this proves that they'll grow traitor fins also!!! which, as I hear, is hard to manage!


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

big-t said:


> I've been watching her and everybody seems to be leaving her alone for now . my tank she is in now is heavily populated and only 5 feet long . all these fish have been in this same tank for a few years now.The p.o. of the tank and fish said she has carried 5 or 6 broods full term and been succsesful , but that he never sepperated any of the fish so only a few fish per brood would survive in the tank with all the adult fish around. I want to keep as many as possible so i can pick my favorites and put them in my new 150 gal. And sell or give away the rest. My rena xp4 and emperor 400 with 2 jager heaters will be here tues.and i will set up my 150 gal. But will be very premature even with bio-spira to put fish in and be safe,i think? Atleast right away.I guess im just really not sure what im going to do , when you strip the female early you need to have a tumbler right,and if i wait say 15 more days when i strip her the little ones should be swiming on their own? is that right .thanks


It will help to speed the new tank along if you put the used filter media from your existing tank in your new filters. Or if you have two filters on existing tank to put one whole filter on the new tank. Also if you are using the same color substrate take some from the existing tank and spread in the new one. You will be suprised how fast it will cycle. Called cloning a tank.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

chago said:


> super cool Burundis!!!!
> 
> this proves that they'll grow traitor fins also!!! which, as I hear, is hard to manage!


Yes, burundi can grow nice trailers too. Here is a couple pics of my burundi juvie (4-5 inches) You can just see the beginning of a trailer growing on his dorsal fin and his anal fin as well. His other two fins are growing as well but appear to be several filiments not one.

Here he is:


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

wow!!!!!...... he's got great color!!!, mine are starting to grow them too, but it takes time!


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Thanks, those pics were taken with tank lights on, with natural daylight, no flash.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

very nice fish cichildgirl ,i think your fish have very nice color ,and you can see they will have very nice traitor fins very soon . Very nice fish...


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Yes, i like their color. Its pretty blue for burundi. you should see them when i put the lights with the blue spectrum (marine glo bulbs) . BLUE FISH !


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

i just talked to the previouse owner of my burundis and he told me that the guy he bought them from said they were wild caught ,but who knows,actually nobody will ever know.But makes no difference to me i just like the fish regardless.What would you guys do in my situation as far as my holding female goes , put her in my 28 bow front by herself with a big cave ,which i have right now. Or put a tank divider in my overpopulated 95 gal 5 foot long tank . Or wait and set up my new 150 on wed. and transfer over my old emperor 400 on to the new 150 and put the new 400 on to my 95 gal to help speed up the cycling process.well the 150 gal. will also have a new rena xp4 with the already cycled 400 thats on my 95 gal. tank now . aahhhh i just dont know.. help.. and thanks just wanted to this forum is great...


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

*cichlidgirl1*
thanks for all your help ill keep an eye on her and transfer her to my 28 bowfront around day 18 or so ,my 28 bowfront has been cycled with fish for around 60 or 70 days, but yesterday i sold the fish that were in there to make room for my female .Will the tank be ok for the next 14 days with no fish in there? no poop no bacteria right?? uhh this was supossed to be a p.m. but somehow i screwed up sorry everybody


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

Thats ok LOL

No, i dont think it will be ok empty. Why dont you just put her in there ? That way you can just get it over with . Then you can stop worrying about what to do . You seem kind of overwhelmed . LOL


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

lol ,Ya just new at all this i guess . I think ill do a very mellow low stress transfer with my divider even if it takes a couple days to get her seperated from the fish in the main tank.thanks for all the help ill keep ya posted how everything goes


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

your welcome. Keep us informed.


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## big-t (Mar 20, 2008)

well this morning i did a very melow and easy transfer of my holding female into my 30 gal. with a big long deep cave in it ,no struggles all went smooth,i covered up the tank with a towel to keep her calm up untill an hour ago and she came out of her cave and said hi and seems happy.she still wont let me get a pic with her mouth open but ill catch soon. my fingers are crossed.


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## cichlidgirl1 (Sep 17, 2007)

FANTASTIC !!


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