# Geophagus steindachneri holding wrigglers...advice needed



## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

I'm 99% sure my female Geophagus steindachneri is holding wrigglers in her mouth. I don't have any experience in what to to next. Should I pull her from her main tank or wait until the little ones are swimming on their own?

I'm worried that these little ones will be quickly picked off by a 2-3" green terror.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

come on.....anyone please???


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

Well, since no one is replying I'll just give an update in hopes someone will chime in and let me know I'm doing the right thing. I moved her to a 10 gallon tank in hopes she will spit the wrigglers out. Its been about 14 hours since she has been in the 10 gallon and she still has not released them. She had them in her mouth for over two weeks.


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## DDRE00 (Feb 5, 2010)

Usually they are let out sooner then that, but if she feel pressured or stressed she might keep them loinger, but at this age they need to get out to feed. If not they must be dead.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

How many females do you have? Regardless of whether the wigglers make it or not let the mom recuperate for a week (at least) in the 10g before re-introducing her.

The male will be ready to spawn again right away, but after more than 2 weeks without eating the females need some time.

Try to get 2 or 3 females per male if you don't already have them.

I pulled a holding steinie once to raise the fry, but after that I just left them in the tank... There wasn't a huge markey for stienies in my area and raising fry wasn't worth the hassle.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

As far as I can tell I have 2 males and 2 females. I had 2 other females but they expired. Unfortunately, the lfs that I purchased these from have no other steindachneri .

Is there any way I get these out of her mouth. It's been 24 hours now and she gives no hint of releasing these.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

lestatak said:


> As far as I can tell I have 2 males and 2 females. I had 2 other females but they expired. Unfortunately, the lfs that I purchased these from have no other steindachneri .
> 
> Is there any way I get these out of her mouth. It's been 24 hours now and she gives no hint of releasing these.


What other size tanks do you have? Filters? heaters? Ever raise brine shrimp before from egg's?
What size is the main tank now? How many fish are in it? Are they actually fry yet or still eggs? thats pretty important as well as both need to be approached differently...

If your wanting to brood her of her fry, your going to need to get setup for it first as they need really good water conditions typically to insure a lesser survival/mortality rate & should use water from the main tank, the tank they were born in to replicate the water conditions which is important...

To brood her your going to need a bucket with tank water in it or one of those cheap Lee breeder nets and hold the female out of the water and use a small eye dropper that hasnt been used for anything and keep squeezing the water in her mouth til she spits them out...I'd be fast about it so the mom dosnt die from suffocating...

If they are still in egg form i'd leave them alone til they at least hatch...If thats unavoidable then i'd build or buy a egg tumbler, and read into how to use them as using one holds its own set of risks, to do's and not to do's...


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

This morning I woke up I could see the fry out and about swimming. There was a lot of them. As soon as mama saw me see moving about she quickly sucked them back in her mouth. The 10 gallon tank is in my bedroom so I'm thinking I need to cover all 4 sides up so any movement won't spook her. I already have two sides blocked off but will need to take care of the other two.

I'm using tank water from the main tank which is a 75 gallon. I've never raised brine shrimp. I was going to feed the fry crushed Omega One Cichlid flakes. I've never tried to raise fry before but I'd like to try so I'm completely new to this.

The female has already gobbled up a few NLS pellets. I noticed the fry were feeding off the tiny crumbs coming out of her gills. I have not seen and dead fry at all. I'll try to get a video later of these.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

I wouldn't cover the tank. It's natural for her to protect her fry in that manner. As they grow they won't fit in her mouth anymore and eventually she will ignore them.

It is quite common for the fry to be in an out regularly for at least the next week.

2 males and 2 females can work in a minimum 4 foot tank (I see you have a 75). The males will divide their attention between harrassing the females and displaying for each other - at least that is what I did.

Make sure your 75 has plenty of hiding places and get the holding mother nice and fat before returning her to the main tank - you'd be surprised at how nasty the other female will be to the mom when you return her...

In fact in order to allow the mom more time to recover you should consider getting a 33g tank as your holding/fry tank. She, along with the fry will be able to live comfortably in a 33g for quite sometime, where as the 10 will get cramped in a hurry.

Of course if you don't have room for a 33 or whatever just make sure you feed the mom qualifty food (they like earthworms) to get her up to speed quickly.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

I do have a spare 29 gallon but I don't have a large enough heater for it. I was thinking of setting that tank up.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

Here is a video I just took on my phone. Sorry for the poor video quality.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

I've bought a product from HBH called Baby Bites (guppy & Fry Food). It's a powder and I've been mixing it with tank water and target feeding the fry 2-3 times a day.

I only lost 2-3 fry that I know of. What % is a good survival rate for the fry? I'd like to shoot for 100% but I'm certain that is unrealistic.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

lestatak said:


> I've bought a product from HBH called Baby Bites (guppy & Fry Food). It's a powder and I've been mixing it with tank water and target feeding the fry 2-3 times a day.
> 
> I only lost 2-3 fry that I know of. What % is a good survival rate for the fry? I'd like to shoot for 100% but I'm certain that is unrealistic.


It's been what a little more then a week? Think your doing pretty good thus far for the survival rate...Are they starting to venture off from mom yet?


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

Mom seemed to lose interest so I pulled her out and put her into main tank. Fry don't seem to miss her and are swimming around the whole yank.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

Here's a update if anybody cares. The fry are now in a 30 gallon and doing quite well. They look to be growing very fast. They are 3-4 times bigger. The mamma geo was knocked up again and she currently in the 10 gallon with a batch of new fry. She seems much more protective over them than the original batch as I cant go near the tank without her sucking them into her mouth.


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

This is going to happen every month or so... I'd suggest leaving mom in the main tank next time she's holding - you're going to run out of room trying to raise babies.

What do you have in the 180 tank in your sig? You'll have enough fry to use them as feeders if you choose...


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

illy-d said:


> This is going to happen every month or so... I'd suggest leaving mom in the main tank next time she's holding - you're going to run out of room trying to raise babies.
> 
> What do you have in the 180 tank in your sig? You'll have enough fry to use them as feeders if you choose...


 I was thinking about that very point you made about running out of room. I can always buy a few more 30 gallon tanks to raise the fry in if it's economically feasible. My goal is to sell these to a few local LFS. How long will it take for these fry to each the 3" mark?


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

It took me awhile to get to that size... In my area the Steinies were'nt sought after enough to make it viable. I think they're great fish though!


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## joyfuldez (Apr 7, 2010)

Nicely done! I've got a breeder tank going with a geo stein and her fry, plus one more s. stein holding in the large tank. Thanks for sharing.


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