# Should i relocate female mouthbrooder?



## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Hey guys i'm new to the forum so forgive me if i sound like a rookie. I have a mouth brooding salousi and she is holding eggs at the moment in my main tank. From what i can tell it hasn't been long since this has happened,maybe a few days cause i saw the male harassing her and they did a little dance and then started lip locking.

Anyhow whatever the male has done he as succeeded in getting her to bear eggs. My problem at the moment is that the male occasionally not every minute but every 5 to 10 goes up to the female and continues to do his mating ritual and sometimes chases her around the tank  . \will he continue to stress her out and will it make her babies die? will he stop?

My question is should i move her to my 10 gallon tank? The water checks out and is perfect, pretty much the same as the main tank. 8.4 ph, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, 5-10 nitrates. I have the 10 gallon with a bit of slate so its formed a cave for her when i do. Should i wait until her fry are hatched, representing black under her mouth? i am just worried that breaking down all the rocks in the 2x2x2 main tank and netting her and moving her will kill her cause this happened with a yellow lab the first time i had a fish holding, i think it was due to stress?

Also when netting her and transferring her to the 10 gallon should i acclimatize her or just net her straight into the 10 gallon?

Thanks guys i really appreciate the help.

"benzo, new breeding rookie"


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

Could you be more specific concerning the dimensions of the tank? Units?

What other fish do you have in the tank with these? How many males/females per species (saulosi in particular)?

Moving a holding female is not necessary for fry survival, but proper male:female ratios are necessary for female and/or subdom male survival in general - saulosi are more forgiving, but you still need a harem.

How are you maintaining the cycle in the 10 gallon tank?


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

The tank is a 60 gallon with only one other male that is a salousi. There is also other kinds like a electric blue. Couple of electric yellows. And also a kaiser and a trewavasae. The 10 gallon is being cycled with a sponge filter and has bacteria in a bag at the bottom. Sometimes the male can leave the female alone for like an hour. She is slightly bigger than him. She is fully grown. She is about 8-9 cm


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

The dimensions of the "footprint" of the tank would be most valuable - length and width.

Are you saying you have 2 male saulosi and a single female? You should be shooting for a ratio more like 1 male to 3-4 females if you are intending to include any females in the tank at all.

All of the other fish will need to be in appropriate ratios as well to avoid harassment. The lone kaiser and trewavasae will in most cases not fair well for several reasons. Kaiser have special dietary requirements as well.

Also, bacteria in a bag will only live if it is being fed (with either ammonia or fish excrement). I would not consider the tank cycled unless you can verify your water conditions under a bio-load. In other words, you may see an ammonia and/or nitrite spike when you actually put fish into the tank.


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

I did use the water out of the main tank. I only have a single salousi male and a single salousi female. The kaiser and tevawasae are doing great. I have loads of places they can hide. My tank is a 2x2x2.


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

And at the current time all the fish seem to be living harmoniously except the male salousi that advances the female.


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

I'm guessing you mean 2' x 2' x 2'? I asked you to verify the units because 2 doesn't signify much - 2' 2m 2" 2 miles, etc. etc.. Using feet does add up to a volume of ~60 gallons.

How old are the fish? The ability for everyone to get along, especially in a tank that is only 2' long, will undoubtedly be short lived. The trewavasae will be a huge fish at maturity. The electric blues will be too large and aggressive. I would trust a harem of saulosi in that tank, or maybe the labs, but not much else.

I would probably stick to one species of fish in a tank of that size.

I realize you didn't ask for this advice, but one thing leads to another. Today, you are having trouble with one holding female, 2 months from now, a single male may start tearing your tank apart.

If you stock right from the start, a holding female should be just fine in an appropriate tank. Your male simply needs other females to advance :thumb:


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. So do you think I should put her in her own tank or wait until she is further along and then move her?


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

IME, she will end up being harassed to death in the bigger tank unless you are quite lucky. Two males vs. one female is a recipe for disaster.

I would move her out if you are sure the 10 gallon is cycled.


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Only one male salousi


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Well the levels are good and the mother won't be producing much waste. I have been once s week putting bits of flake. Very small quantities to keep the cycle going


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

I would pull her out mainly because she may be killed by the male. One female saulosi is not enough for that male.


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Ok I will pull her out. The male won't stop annoying her will he?


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

Also will she be ok for like another day?


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## Len1 (Jul 8, 2013)

I would also like some questions answered through this thread without making a new one.

I am also very new to this forum (may show as first post) and to cichlids. So I hope I am typing correct info and I may use generic terms.

I have 1 male 1 female of this








(not my tank/female)

My Female has eggs in her mouth.

-Are the eggs fertilized if she is has them in her mouth already?

-She is acting weird and being harassed by the male. I don't have a secondary tank setup, and I'm worried for her safety. I do have a very large Net, can I temp hold her in there?

-She held before, and didn't spit. This time seems different. She is hiding by the top of the tank by the thermometer. I heard you need to let her spit in main, but mine is stocked with a lot of other Africans and again worried about eggs/female.

If anyone can breeze through my questions, or PM me it would be great, thanks in advance.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

mecasadys said:


> Also will she be ok for like another day?


He will not leave her alone, the desire to breed is too high. He needs another three females to spread out his agression. Another day may or may not be ok. I don't know what your tank setup is like. Do you have caves she can hide in?


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

The aggression issues that you are experiencing are symptoms of at least 2 larger problems that you have. Temporarily moving females into other tanks or breeding nets will not fix your problem in the long run. Not unless you have a separate tank for every female that you own.

Problem #1
Your tank is too small for at least 1 of the species of fish that you have (that picture is a melanochromis auratus). Since you haven't disclosed your full stocklist, I'm guessing that there may be other fish in your tank that require a territory larger than your tank can provide. A 2 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot cube tank (which I think is what you have) is really not suited to keep mbuna. Maybe you can keep a group of Ps. saulosi in it...maybe.

Problem #2
Mbuna are not pairing fish. You will continue to have problems until you re-organize your tank such that each male has four or more females of his species.

Solution: You will need to both buy a larger tank and purchase more females for your males in order to achieve stability in your tank. Otherwise you should probably rehome most or all of your fish.


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## mecasadys (Aug 21, 2013)

The auratus is not mine. That guy posted on my post. At the current time I am in the process of setting up the breeding tank. Then I will be relocating the female salousi and removing half the population of the tank to how it goes. So far there is no aggression between the other fish.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

mecasadys said:


> The auratus is not mine. That guy posted on my post. At the current time I am in the process of setting up the breeding tank. Then I will be relocating the female salousi and removing half the population of the tank to how it goes. So far there is no aggression between the other fish.


Sorry, I didn't notice the thread hijack. In any case if you still seek advice, post your full stocklist.


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