stripping eggs from African mouth breeders

I have two electric blue ahli one male one female they live in a community tank I found the female with eggs in Herr mouth the other fish were running her down I did some research and found that the females will starve themselves for the safety of their young so I did some research on how to strip the eggs but my question I have is should I put them in a tumbler or just on the glass of the tank I have set up for babies? I have successfully bred red jewels I have a tank withabout 60 babies that are getting big but need some help on the mouth breeders.. Thanks

It's normal for the females to eat very little or nothing at all for the time they are holding (18 - 21+ days). I prefer not to strip eggs from them if it's not necessary. I like to remove holding females from the main tank and put them in a holding tank to spit the eggs when they are ready. But there are times when stripping is the best option.

If you remove the eggs very early on, a tumbler would probably be best. If you don't have a tumbler, you can devise something to keep a gentle flow of water around the eggs to keep them viable. Something like a net or a breeder box with an airstone underneath or nearby. I have made my own tumbler using a sponge filter and some netting. You don't want the eggs just sitting motionless on the tank bottom. If you wait a few days before stripping, the eggs will be more developed and they will be able to move around on their own which increases their chances of surviving without being tumbled.

ok that's very helpful thank you

Stripping the female once the eggs have been held for 3-4 weeks (4 seems to be the best) if she hasn't already spit the fry is good. I agree with removing them from the community tank. She will be pretty tired and somewhat easy to hold to strip her as well by the 4 weeks. A dulled (point removed) toothpick works for holding her mouth open. Get her to release as many as possibly and let her relax for a little bit, do not immediately put her back into the main tank. It's best to keep the babies in a breeder box or another tank for a few days while she eats separate and gains her strength back. This will also ensure you got all the babies and she didn't keep any from you during stripping. Good luck and post pictures!