First time Malawi breeding

[ozone ranger]

OK, so I have 1 possibly 2 of my Malawis acting like their brooding. Possibly into about 5-7days judging on some limited research. Is there some special attention I can give to fry? I'm wondering what my options are for removing them and how soon to do so?

I used to keep convicts with very successful breeding results but I know Malawis are different again and want to respond to them appropriatly! any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Fishguy2727]

What species?

Are you wanting to raise them in the same tank? Do you have a tank you can devote to raising the babies?

They are mouthbrooders so the female will hold them in her mouth until they are about a half an inch long. When they are almost ready to leave their mother you can strip them from her and put them in their own tank.

[ozone ranger]

Red Zebras. incidently, whats the best way of sexing them? i thought i had it figured... the one i thought was a male is the one with the "egg spots' on the lower rear fin. its also the one that has a lump on the throat like its brooding and has even dug a pit. The one i thought was a female has also found a spot to hide out in.

I have an unidentified malawi and a couple of Kenyis could one of them been sneeky on me? I have ruled out my pleco!!!! :) haha

I do intend to raise the fry in a seperate tank which i should be obtaining this week. How do I strip a female of her young?

[Fishguy2727]

What size tank will you be using to raise the fry?

They can all interbreed, so any male could be the father.

How many egg spots does the holding mother have?

Hold her in one hand, open her mouth with the other, swish her in and out of the water to let the water force them out (not that easy). You can open her mouth with a credit card or something like that.

[sailor]

Here is a great link on stripping of fish

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/stripping.php

Here's one of feeding the fry
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/feeding_fry.php

I set up a 20 gal tank and let the female spit the fry in there.
Let her get a few good days of feeding to get her strength back and then put her back into the main tank.

[ozone ranger]

Thanks guys.
i have got my hands on a 10gal for now to see what happens. I'll get something bigger if this turns out to be a bigger development in my revived hobby.

"The holding mother" has 4 egg spots and is much bigger than the one i thought was a male. he doesn't have any spots.

[Fishguy2727]

It is usually 0-3 spots female, 4+ male. But it seems she has a little more than most females have.

[Dixie]

From what I've read, egg spots aren't a very reliable way of sexing and the mother may eat the fry if you leave her with them.