# Yellow top hongi holding forever



## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

So this is my first experience with any pregnant fish, let alone a holding female cichlid. I'm an idiot and didn't mark the day that I realized she was holding, but I know it has been more than 2 weeks, and I just read on some site that the female can die if she holds much longer than that. Then another site says that YTH can hold sometimes up to 30 days. Her stomach is getting concave, but I want to trust her instincts. Any advice for me? She's in a 5 gallon tank alone. Also, could I wrap some panty hose around the filter intake to prevent the fry from being sucked up, and can I do a water change while she's holding?


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## Bowfront (Jun 3, 2013)

She can hold for a little while longer. Use a sponge pre-filter for the fry or get a sponge filter, seed it and use that for the fry.

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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

> Also, could I wrap some panty hose around the filter intake to prevent the fry from being sucked up


yes.


> can I do a water change while she's holding


yes.

Usually, females will spit around days 22-27 - so two weeks is not dangerous. I'm pretty sure that if she was in danger of starving, she'd swallow the fry. If you're worried about her and really want to keep the fry, then it's time to learn how to strip! There is even a video about how to do it in the library of this website + several videos on youtube and the like (just be careful that you don't find any other types of stripping videos :lol: )

In my experience, a 5 gallon tank is really quite small to keep an adult female - the size of the tank might be stressing her out. It may help to make a little shelter with rocks in there for her.


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention...she is only about 2" long, I have a 20 gallon for these events in the future. The water temp is at 76, I keep it at 79 in the main tank. Currently I just don't have a heater for the 5 gal. Is 76 an ok temp though?


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

I also have 2 caves in there, one bigger and one smaller. This fish species is so gorgeous, I want this to be successful! I appreciate all the advice!!!


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I use 20G longs for my fry/holding tanks. I put a medium size silk plant in the tank along with a low rock that has very small crevices in the bottom so that when the babies are spit, they have some place for cover. I keep my water temp the same as the main tank that the mom came from. I also perform water changes just like I do in the main tank, same cycle, usually 30% as mom is not eating so really not alot of waste. I sprinkle in a very little crused flake or drop a pellet or two every couple of days as sometimes moms will still eat a very tiny bit of food even when holding (my vics are notorious for this, my mbuna keep their mouths shut better).

Mom will get very agitated right before she is ready to spit and will start swimming up and down the sides of the tank or around the tank. You will notice her change in behavior so be watching for that.

And if you have a 20G tank already...I would tank your filters and such from your 5G tank, get a heater, move everything along with Mom. I think things would be much better for her in the larger tank.

Good luck with the spawn and congrats.


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

Thank you!


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

If I can strip...anyone can. DO IT....


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

So she still hasn't spit since my first post which was almost 2 wks ago, and I know she was holding 2 wks before that so I stripped her tonight. There were 2 fry. It looks like their yolk sacs are gone. Their bellies are flat but yellow, but I think it's because they're so small. And so cute! The little dorsal fin and I can see their vertical stripes. I gave them Hikari First Bites, and it looked like they were grabbing some. I fed way to much so I did a big water change after that. I'm kind of glad that I only have 2 my first time. I red an article on fry on this forum and it said that stripping the fry may take that instinct away from the mother and never be taught to the young, so my thought is that, if this is so, my store bought fish probably came from a stripped mom. Or she was spitting her babies out when I wasn't around and snacking on them


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd bet on the snacking thing...I have not found stripping a mom impacts her ability to spit on her own the next time.


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

I don't see a big yolk sac on the fry, but their bellies are yellow. Could this Bc the last remaining part of the sac or is it just their insides?


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Can you post a picture?


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

I will. It's just a process getting my pics on to the computer. I can't find a way to upload pics from my phone straight to the forum, and sometimes is says the pics are too big, but others aren't which doesn't make sense because they're all from the same place


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

Hopefully these will help. The little boogers are always helping. I'm probably going to move them into a breeder net into the main tank, just put some sand on the bottom, because its pretty difficult to get the small amount of food they need right to them. Thanks! :fish:


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## LinzBragg (Aug 6, 2013)

Here's another one...


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