# Front breeding question



## lijeff (Dec 24, 2003)

Well, I've had my front colony in place now for 4 years this month, females have held on numerous occasions but I only just successfully stripped a female earlier this month. I initially had 20 or so eggs in the tumbler which has now decreased to 1 hatched baby, albeit it is still attached to the sac. So, with that said, at what point do you remove the baby from the tumbler and place in the grow-out tank? Also, what is the optimal breeding environment for fronts? Meaning, are caves suggested but I refuse to put ceramic planters in my show tank!

Thanks!


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

i take them out of the tumbler a day after they've absorbed the whole egg sack

whats your rock / pot arrangement? your fronts must like it since they are holding regularly

any pics?, it might help us give our opinion


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

what variant are you keeping? (that type of loss sounds similar to my zaire experiences) i've pulled eggs successfully, on the same day as the spawn, so your losses are not exclusive to strip timing. IME


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

i think this also has to do with substrate surface water speed.....

this beacuse if the current is too strong, the male's sperm could be carried away, failing to fertilize the eggs, thus such a small count....

this happened to me once an i corrected it by changing the water direction and placing some rocks to difuse the current... some how it worked


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## lijeff (Dec 24, 2003)

Thanks for the quick response Chago. I currently have lace and holy rock with sand, I believe that they'd hold on a more frequent basis if the arrangement were setup more to their breeding environment. I will post some pics as soon as I figure out how!


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

i've tried to find out how their natural enviroment is and there's not much material on this issue... so i guess its similar to lake Malawi, which has much more literature about this...

here's a pic of my tank, which is quite small, but the hold regularly...


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

i've tried to find out how their natural enviroment is and there's not much material on this issue... so i guess its similar to lake Malawi, which has much more literature about this...

here's a pic of my tank, which is quite small, but the hold regularly...


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## lijeff (Dec 24, 2003)

Great tank and I love your setup. I think the enclaves are great breeding grounds for the fronts, I have a 180 gallon setup so I will use more caves and such while removing some of my existing holey rock. I think you also touched on a good point regarding water current, I have a fairly strong pump in my wet/dri system so I will also redirect the water flow a bit. I'll post some pics of my setup, thanks again for the great feedback and sharing pics of your beautiful tank!


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

you're wellcome Jeff!!!

thanks for the complements!!! :thumb:

and keep us posted!


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