# T. Duboisi holding females



## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

Im new to trophs and 2 weeks ago I watched 2 females spawn and collect eggs. Never had mouth brooders before. So its been 2 weeks and I noticed some odd behavior. Or maybe its normal so I have to ask. The holding females both head to,the top of the tank, grab a bubble of air and head down to a rck to graze. They then seem to gargle the air arounfd then release a bubble thru gills. Rinse and repeat. Is this normal ? No other fish in the tank do,this. I dont think oxygen levels are low. Lots of surface movement and filtration. Tank is 75g with 2 petros and 14 trophs so stocked a bit heavy but a very healthy and active tank. What the heck are these females doing ??? :lol:


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

I've never noticed that with my T. Pemba but do have other fish that regularly do this - cory cats specifically. Can you tell if they are still holding eggs? Usually their chin is a bit distended and you can see them shuffle the eggs around. My holding fish tend to stay towards the top half of the tank and towards the edges, as if to be inconspicuous. But there are >50 fish in the tank, so the behavior may be different.


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

I actually watched 2 females spawn and retrieve eggs. Ony 2 or 3 eggs that I witnessed. Their chins are not real distended like a full mouthfull. Now there are 4 females with the same appearance and doing the same thing. Thats 4 out of 5 females now. I am at about 21 days since I saw the first 2 spawn. I guess time will tell. They came from very poor water quality so when they got here they went a little crazy in perfect conditions though I wouldnt think they were in prime spawning condition. Hope they are still carrying. Just strange to see them grab a gulp of air and go graze, then swish it around and blow a bubble after 30 seconds or so and then do it again !!


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

Are you going to strip them or let them spit in the tank?


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

I have 2 10g tanks set up. Split in half with matten filters ready to go so I am going to try and isolate the females if I get the timing right. How many days should I wait ? I have read 21 days all the way to 30days. Temp in main tank is hovering around 78 degrees. I am hoping they did not eat them. When they spawned there were only a few eggs that I saw.


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

Stripping the females at 21 days would be safe. You should have free swimming fry. Between 14-20 days you might have to tumble or air-stone fry in a basket.


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

I am leaving the females in the tank. The first 2 that I watched spawn no longer look like they are holding but 2 other females now look like they may be. Hopefully they are and I will let them spit them out in the tank. I thinned out the herd and removed all other males except the 2 dominant one and left the 5 females. The tank calmed down a lot. Now lets hope,for some action.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Be careful, generally it is not recommended to keep fewer than a dozen or so Trophs, or you will end up with one due to aggression.

What I've done to try to help increase the survival rate of fry is to create some rock piles with very small gaps between them. Small enough the adults cannot get into them but large enough for fry. This has worked out quite well. In fact, I'll often see holding females around these areas just prior to them spitting fry. They seem to know that it is a safe area.

With a heavily rockscaped 180 gallon tank and ~50 trophs, there is no way I'd try to pull holding females out.


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

Timely response Nodima ! One of the females dug out her very own cave under 2 flat rocks yesterday. I was watching the tank after a water change and all pf a sudden a flurry of fins and I saw what I thought was a piece of black Poret foam fly around. The Males were after it but it made it to a botton corner where I netted it and put it in the fry tank. My very first Duboisi fry ! Its nearly 3/4 inch long. Not sure how she can hold these things ! Hopefully a few more in the next dayor week from the others.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Congratulations!


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

Thanks for the help everyone. 4 so far. Safe and sound. All found hiding in the rocks ! I have. Afeeling there are quite a few more to come this week. This is a little,different from the discus raising I did manynyears ago.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Congrats on the babies. Tropheus are one of the most interesting Tangs imo.
Check this out.


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

Yeah this is fun and interesting. Pretty cool behavior out of these . One more female holding. My brother had these a long time. Looks like they needed a change of scenery and some water changes ! I have 3 beautiful Tropheus Red Rainbow kambimbwe that are males. Just cant find a group of those for sale anywhere. I am setting up a few more tanks. Will get another colony going soon of a different trophs


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## Belair62 (Apr 11, 2018)

I have one last female ready to spit her fry. I want to isolate her in my existing fry tank where I have the 5 fry fromearlier in the week already in there and happy. Am I asking for trouble or is it doable to put this female in the fry tank ?


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