Holding Malawi's

[Not NEW Not OLD]

Ok After my auratus spit and we have 4-5 fry swimming round hiding in all the nooks and crannies...i noticed 2 of my elec blues and 1 red zeb are not eating and seem to be off hiding... their lower jaws are slightly swollen. my question is this...will these three female cichlids be ok together in a smaller 10 gallon tank...all together or do i need to seperate the females... i also have a 55 gallon and a 75 gallon...empty any ideas or help please..
Thanks Racer

PS all these fishies at this time are in my 90

[Lab_Rat]

I wouldn't do it. I would just strip them when they're ready and raise the fry in the 10g tank.

[Not NEW Not OLD]

ok if and thats a big if im not exactly sure when they spawned and it would be a guess aproximately 3 weeks from this last sunday saturday...so i think seperation would be a better option...could all three fems survive in a 10 g with plenty of filtration an ac110 i have some left over lava rock i could even build some caves...

thanks all in advance

NNNO

[Lab_Rat]

Anything is possible but I wouldn't do it. I would just let them spit into the main tank, with a pile of rocks for each female to spit into. I would not put 3 adult african cichlids in a 10g.

[kaybee]

I would not put 3 adult african cichlids in a 10g.

Agreed. A smaller tank would amplify aggression to a degree that is currently not observable in the larger tank they're currently in, possibly a lethal combination when you add the maternal-instinct factor.

I tried it once years ago (but with just two mouthbrooding females). They co-existed in the 10gal just fine..... for perhaps 5 seconds! Even though both were fairly low-key in the 75gal I had netted them out of just moments before. The 2nd female immediately went into another tank (had to evict the betta from his 5gal for a few days to do it, though).

[hybridguy]

I have put multiple females in a 10 gal when holding fry.I gave them plenty of hiding spaces and they did fine.If 1 spits her fry out before the others simply take her out of the tank, the other females should not eat them.As for stripping the female it is my opinion that it is a bit stressfull on them, i always let mine do it naturally.

[Dixie]

I don't think I would try it but if you do, watch the tank very close. If you're really going to get into breeding and raising fry, I would just go ahead and get a couple more 10g. tanks for spitting and a couple 20g.'s for later fry raising. Might want to set up the 55g. for fry also.

[deathtroll]

I have to agree with dixie on setting up more tanks if you are going to get into breeding. plus the advantage of more tanks the older fry can't eat the younger fry

I don't recomend keeping more than one holding female in a holding tank at a time. but that is because one of the most aggressive fish I have is a female red zebra that gets even more aggressive while holding