# Blue Dolphin Moori Cichlid holding first time



## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

Hello, finally my first female out of 4 is holding. I have them in a 5 foot 140 gallon aquarium. Only small problem is I have quite a few different species in there that I can't put elsewhere. There's 2 small yellow labs, possibly a pair, a leleupi, a daffodil & olivaceous, 2 frontosa burundi, 2 julie dickfieldis, and a small ancistrus pleco. The good thing is the dolphins are almost twice as big as any of the others. I've also added rocks and caves in the back side so everyone but the dolphins usually stay in their section amongst the rocks.

Now I bought a huge acrylic divider and pierced small 3/16" holes and had it cut exactly the right size of my aquarium's depth and height. I trapped the holding female on one side and observed...

Wow...didnt expect this...all the other 4 dolphins freaked out..as if they were trying to rescue her...after an hour they went on a side all depressed. The male looked at me as if he wanted to rip my head off lol no joke.
The holding female looked stressed and very annoyed and sad.
So I took out the divider because it also cut their swimming room as that last 1/4 side was very needed..

Not sure what to do next, she's been holding for about a week and a half now. I'm gonna put a cave on that open side hopefully she uses it to release her fry in there.

Do you think the fry will survive? Will the other dolphins or cichlids attempt to eat them any chance they get or will the dolphins protect them?

I'm not into stripping as I believe in letting them get raised for at least 2 weeks with their parents. That's what I do with all my other fish..just feels more natural. I'll leave the divider outside and just see what happens?

Anyone know or want to guess what will happen?


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

Sorry about that mods, forgot I had started a thread on the dolphins, if you feel like merging it..go ahead thanks.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

Leave them where they are, for two weeks, after the female spits. Let us know how it works out for you. :wink:


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Man that's awesome, I hope the fry make it. I know if I could get my dolphins to breed instead of just chase each other all day lol, I'd probably be really worried about the fry too.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

BlueSunshine said:


> Leave them where they are, for two weeks, after the female spits. Let us know how it works out for you. :wink:


2 weeks wow, cool, thanks. Could happen very soon, hope the Fry stay behind her. I've been throwing in some Hikari First Bites dust just in case the babies in her mouth can eat them lol.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> Man that's awesome, I hope the fry make it. I know if I could get my dolphins to breed instead of just chase each other all day lol, I'd probably be really worried about the fry too.


Thanks, I know what you mean! Mine were being chased by the lone male for what seems like weeks and months! He's more relaxed now, he kind of like herds them from what I've noticed. I'm curious to see how they will all behave once their's dolphin fry in the tank, will they help in raising them or look to eat them you think?

That's why I like Brichardis, can just leave them in a tank on their own and the elder fry help raise the newer fry, etc..no one eats each other unless the aquarium gets too packed I hear.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I really have no idea what they are going to do and there's not a lot of info out there on dolphin breeding other than it's difficult lol. Fry usually don't make it in my tank unless they get behind the background and sucked down into the sump.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> I really have no idea what they are going to do and there's not a lot of info out there on dolphin breeding other than it's difficult lol. Fry usually don't make it in my tank unless they get behind the background and sucked down into the sump.


What happens when they go in the sump?

I need to cover my corner intakes: Here's what it looks like in here:


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

The first chamber of my sump is empty except for an aragonite sand bed so they just swim around until I find them.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

easywolf31 said:


> BlueSunshine said:
> 
> 
> > Leave them where they are, for two weeks, after the female spits. Let us know how it works out for you. :wink:
> ...


I was joking, they will be eaten if left in the main tank. Even the female that spits them will eat them . You are going to need a separate tank to house the fry in.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I agree with blue sunshine, I've seen every other species of African cichlid I have cannibalize their own fry. It's crazy but they will literally eat their own babies if they feel like they are threatened, so basically it's like "if someone is going to eat my babies it might as well be me" lol. Oh and are you running a sump or a canister filter connected to those bottom drains?


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

2 canisters.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

That's cool, sometimes I wish I had done that instead of running a sump. It's good though because you'd be a lot more brave than I am if you had your sump drains that low lol. I have to have mine no more than 2 inches below the water level in case the power goes out or the house is going to get flooded.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> That's cool, sometimes I wish I had done that instead of running a sump. It's good though because you'd be a lot more brave than I am if you had your sump drains that low lol. I have to have mine no more than 2 inches below the water level in case the power goes out or the house is going to get flooded.


That's why I don't like sumps lol.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

They have their pros and cons... Sumps are a lot more efficient biological filters and you have a lot more options vs canisters but it's also a lot of adjusting flow rates and adjusting water levels. Use them together like I'm doing and you get the best of both worlds. I wouldn't have the perfect water parameters, zero across the board, without using my sump. I've got everything set perfect now to where nothing can overflow.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> They have their pros and cons... Sumps are a lot more efficient biological filters and you have a lot more options vs canisters but it's also a lot of adjusting flow rates and adjusting water levels. Use them together like I'm doing and you get the best of both worlds. I wouldn't have the perfect water parameters, zero across the board, without using my sump. I've got everything set perfect now to where nothing can overflow.


I know they're better I just never would want an aquarium in my cabinets and overflows.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Yeah it's literally having to maintain two aquariums in one lol. I've never had mine overflow though because my return reservoir doesn't hold enough water to overflow the display and the drains are only a couple of inches below the water line and it can't overflow the sump. Being closed up inside the cabinet, I do have to have a fan going in there to help control the humidity.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

So I cornered the 4" female in a triangular part of the aquarium with the divider and added a cave  She looks like she's settling in slowly...Think some fry will make it now? If I see her eat one I'll open the door and let her out. The Dad kind of goin around there, hanging out. She opened her mouth saw some fry moving...it's been about 11 days now.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

The blue dolphin moorii is my wife's favorite african cichlid. Breeding and raising fry is one of the greatest pleasures we get out of this hobby. That said, by no means are we experts at this process. There are others on this forum with a lot more experience.
We let the female hold in the main tank for about 16 to 18 days. Then I catch and strip the fry, placing them in a smaller tank. We let the female spit in a smaller tank a couple times and each time she would start eating them within a day or two.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

BlueSunshine said:


> The blue dolphin moorii is my wife's favorite african cichlid. Breeding and raising fry is one of the greatest pleasures we get out of this hobby. That said, by no means are we experts at this process. There are others on this forum with a lot more experience.
> We let the female hold in the main tank for about 16 to 18 days. Then I catch and strip the fry, placing them in a smaller tank. We let the female spit in a smaller tank a couple times and each time she would start eating them within a day or two.


Thank you, that is helpful info. She's been holding since June 13, so 12 days now. Do you think I should let her out after she releases them? I think I should after reading everyone's experiences.

Also, I wonder why the Male dolphin stands right in front and just looks at her, occasionely attacking her as if he wants to eat them so no male takes his place maybe or just telling her you better not eat any. **** I love cichlids.


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## easywolf31 (Jan 19, 2017)

Ha, 17 days later, good call guys. I kind of gave her her own space today and fry are looking nice.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Awesome man, very happy for you and I kinda want to bring my 110 back to life and have a dolphin only tank now lol, my wife will thank you I'm sure lol


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