# First time with a holding female



## aquawoman (Dec 22, 2007)

Im really excited to say that Im pretty sure I have a holding female. Im not sure which species she is because Im new to the hobby and the pet store I buy all of mine from just has "Mixed African Cichlids" on the sign in front of the tank. Im attaching a pic of her(she's the blue/purple colored one) below. I have no idea what to do now as far as her holding,etc. Any and all input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

well you could just let nature take its course.she will spit them in the tank and most likely the fry will get eaten.or you could get a small tank and move her in there till she spits them.then keep the babies in the little tank and put the mom back in the big tank.or you could strip the eggs yourself,make a tumbler and raise them that way in their own tank.some use breeder nets in the main tank but you can have the fry killed by other fish attacking the net of the breeder net.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/stripping.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=


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## aquawoman (Dec 22, 2007)

Thank you for that advice, now another thing I want to add is that last week sometime I noticed one of my cichlids(same kind/color of holding female) going down and getting several rocks in its mouth then dispersing them in another part of the tank. For 3 days straight this went on and now it has built like a nesting place or something. And this same cichlid keeps running all the others away from there. Is that because he is trying to make a place for her to spit her babies? Just wondering...thanks again!


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

not so much as the moma fish will spit where she feels its safest.the male is just making a "den".that is his primary territory.how big is the tank?


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## aquawoman (Dec 22, 2007)

fishwolfe said:


> not so much as the moma fish will spit where she feels its safest.the male is just making a "den".that is his primary territory.how big is the tank?


My tank is a 55 gallon. I have now put a divider in the tank separating her from the others. Hope she spits them now.


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## LexBubble (May 21, 2008)

If what you got is commonly known as a Cobalt Blue its scientific name is maylandia callainos.
My first holding female ever (an exasperatus) eventually swallowed the eggs after about two weeks. I believe it's because I kept her in the tank with all the others and it became too stressful. Now I got three females holding (jacobfrienbergi's) in their own 29 gal and they've been doing alot better than they would in my 55 gal. I suggest you take out your cobalt.
And what the other one is doing is building a den. He will not protect the fry he is just territorial.
Good Luck


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