# young kenyi holding.. when to isolate her?



## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

ok so here I come, I only have my tank since june so... about 6 month its a 75gal with kenyi cichlids mostly... I got only one male for a bunch of females( I got lucky... bought a batch of fish and only one turned yellow like few weeks ago, I noticed its been 3 days that one of my female looked like she is holding, she looks like her mouth is full and she keeps it shut, so I cant see... and she seem to be eating something from now and then, she looks very stressed she turned to almost male coloration? and she's hiding from the other fish all the time....

Should I isolate her to keep the babies, if I do that... when should I do it? and how to do it without her spitting the babies? or isn't she to young and will spit the babies prematurely?? Im confused right now, i wasn't expecting this before an other good 6month wow :fish:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Start cycling the fry/maternity tank. I like to run the new filter on the old tank for 2 weeks.

If she is not being harassed, leave her in the main tank until day 18. New mom's often spit/swallow at around the one week point so don't worry if this happens.

Wait until she spits the babies and remove her within 48 hours or she will eat them. She can go back in the main tank.

Feed the babies crushed adult food or New Life Spectrum Grow formula. Change water as usual or even more often for quicker growth.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

ok, I already have a cycled and and running tank I just have to move the fish thats in there and make a water change... she is being harrassed a little bit by the other fishes but she seems to hide very well so I'll just wait a week to see what happen, cause if she swallows the eggs, i dont want move her for nothing and just stress her... thanks for thoses advices ill try to wait till day 18 to move her if she is doing alright and still holding in the main tank :thumb:


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

update!! I just came back from Montreal, I noticed that my fish is still looking like she is holding something but not as much, is it possible that she swallow or spit some eggs like you said...? but not all of em? :-? I've feed my fish and, still she do not eat, she just keep hiding... but her mouth is not as full as it was.... and I can see something now! yellowish, white, beige? and round? but there is only one? waiting for your answers... thanks!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Sometimes they shift them around and the size of the bulge changes. Sounds like she is still holding. The eggs sound like the right color...beige-yellow-pink-orange.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

ok, sounds good! ill wait and see what happen, would be nice to have some babies already! I couldn't believe it first when I saw my female, felt right on my ass lol!


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## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

:-?


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

got 7 babies, the mom is back to the main tank, they re soooo cute! thanks for those advices again!


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

wow, and now she is already holding more babies, i thougt that kenyis cichlid were terrible harem breeder, but the male really like the same female and he is always with her its kind of cute, those fish are amazing


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice! Bet ya get more this time


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yeah got like 30 babies! mom is back to main tank now its been 48 hours... she was getting pretty agitated and I was worrying about the fry, should have an other isolation tank maybe?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Congrats!
Sometimes it's good to have another tank for mom to recuperate for a week or two before going back in the main tank.
How many males and females besides this one are in the main tank?


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

got 1 male, 4 females P kenyi.I have some juvies also... they are C. morri they take so long to grow(but rewarding) got 5 of them also they started to show they color and I think I got only 1 male also, anyway the C. morri are pretty peacefull and they are starting to get a good size, The only really agressive fish in there is the male Kenyi. Oh, and I also have a 12 inch pleco in there he cleans all my plants and glass, never had to srape algae off my window since I had my tank ^^ my holding female use to hide under him


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## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

Add 1-3 more females. Male kenyi's can be pretty feisty.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yeah im thinking of adding some of the babies to the tank but its a chance to take, what if they turn yellow, then I would be in trouble with more than 1 male... lol its hard to know when they are small... I am waiting for them to have a good size so they dont get owned by the other fishes, but still they are all blue when they are young :? same for those in store they are too small to tell...


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## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

Yup. However, kenyi at 1.5" are pretty tough buggers. I really liked mine - I just had to make stocking choices.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yup, had to try different things, buy a 55gal and nursery tanks to seperate some of the fishes that I had, now its pretty peacefull in my tanks, agressivity went down and I have females in both tanks givin me babies so I think my setup is good now! But adding some females would surely help, anyway, thinking about it, I have a place that I can bring a fish with no problem if a find out its a male.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

im starting to get what you were saying by "male kenyis can be pretty feisty" yup, 3 of my females are holding.... lol  ...my male left me 1week between each hold, ill have to figure out something with the space I have so I can sell them... I sold the first batch and the store were really happy with the fishes I brought, I have a bigger batch of juvies that are almost ready to go, I will drop 2 or 3 of them in the main tank with hope that they dont turn yellow and rise my male female ratio


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