Strange Behaviour

[CdnRednek]

I just observed the strangest thing.....my female yellow lab has decided to redecorate my cichlid tank.  We have a log in there that she has become quite fond of and I just spent the last few minutes watching her remove the rocks from the bottom of it.  Could she possibly be preparing to lay eggs in it?  Her behaviour today definitely has been more aggressive towards her tankmates.

[darkdep]

Very possible.  Both males and females will dig "caves" to spawn in.

[kennyman]

All that dancing and wrigling  takes up a fair bit of room. My mbuna use caves for security but do the egg drop dance out in the open a bit more. Quite a thing to watch actualy!

[CdnRednek]

I'm fairly certain she's at least getting ready to spawn.  She's tried once already, got as far as scooping them into her mouth but there it ended....not sure what happened.  Unfortunately her timing is horrible.....we'll be moving in the next couple of weeks and I'm afraid the stress of the move will be too much for her and we'll have another unsuccessful attempt.  We have five pregnant guppies and a pregnant platy as well.  With any luck they will give birth before we move.

[CdnRednek]

Well I just checked on Sunny (yes, all my cichlids have names...lol...her male counterpart is Cher......a case of sexing gone wrong...lol) and she now has a mouthful of eggs.  What do I do now??  Should I just leave her in with the other cichlids or should I move her to a tank on her own?  I just don't want to stress her out.  Any advice is greatly,greatly appreciated. TIA

[CdnRednek]

Quick question......will the female still scoop the eggs into her mouth even if the male hasn't fertilized them?

[darkdep]

Don't do anything right away; she scoops them up before they are fertilized, so she CAN end up with an unfertilized batch.

Labs will hold for about 28 days before release; I'd suggest if she still has them in 2 weeks, move her to a 10gal or whatever you have around to release naturally.

[kennyman]

I left mine in the main tank as opposed to rehoming the female. I came out of it with two very healthy fry who have made a place for themselves in the community. Yes 2 vs 22 is alot less baby fish. Alot less baby fish to get rid of actually. Unless you want to become a cichlid breeder I don't see much point to rehoming or striping a female. If I continue to let my little ones make it in the big tank I'll still have to find homes for a couple of fish every few months.

[darkdep]

I agree actually.  I don't have time to be a breeder, and the first couple batches are taking up a lot of room :lol:

[CdnRednek]

I think at this point we are just going to let her be and see what happens.  I think the stress of the move will probably be too much for her anyways.  I don't hold out much hope of seeing any fry from her.