when to strip my females?

so as some of you know i have two holding females now i would like to know when a good time to strip them is i know they dont eat the whole time they are holding so i was told 18 days. is that too soon? any input would be awesome thanks a lot everyone!
fishyladdy

I believe my son strips them in about 3 weeks.

and do they come out with eggs sack still attached at 3 weeks?

Nope, his are swimming and ready for food.

ok well then thats when i will do it thanks again madness

I usually strip them after 2 weeks. Where they are just developing eyes and tail. And put eggs in a egg tumbler like this. Till they fully develop and egg sack absorbed.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

i dont have a egg tumbler or i would do that :/

Here is youtube vid on how to make them.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You are fortunate to know when to start counting the days. I recently stripped my p. salousi and a psammachromis riponianus for the first times after watching some YouTube videos. I didn't know how long they had been mouthbrooding but kept an close eye on the moms until it looked like they couldn't keep them in much longer and I could see the fry. It was amazing to watch the fry come swimming out! I've got 9 salousi and about 25 riponianus growing out now.

BTW, I'm looking to rehome my spawning p. riponianus (Lake Victoria CARES fish). If anyone is interested, please PM me.

gnats wrote:You are fortunate to know when to start counting the days. I recently stripped my p. salousi and a psammachromis riponianus for the first times after watching some YouTube videos. I didn't know how long they had been mouthbrooding but kept an close eye on the moms until it looked like they couldn't keep them in much longer and I could see the fry. It was amazing to watch the fry come swimming out! I've got 9 salousi and about 25 riponianus growing out now.

BTW, I'm looking to rehome my spawning p. riponianus (Lake Victoria CARES fish). If anyone is interested, please PM me.

Lets stay on the OP topic of discussion, and not try and derail it with the re-homing of your fish. Please start your own FS/FT/Free thread in the market section for this. Please read the market rules, because we do have 2 requirements that you need to pass before selling on here, those are 1)a member for 20 days and 2) 15 posts.

SiRWesDragon wrote:I usually strip them after 2 weeks. Where they are just developing eyes and tail. And put eggs in a egg tumbler like this. Till they fully develop and egg sack absorbed.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I dont do the Africans, but why not just let them develop in the mothers mouth? Why strip early and use a tumbler? Just curious in case I need to do this some day.

well i know that you will have more fry live when you strip them especially in a community tank also the female doesn't eat the whole time so she can get unhealthy fast its just safer on the fry and the mother two strip them

I have stripped for various reasons and have made a tumbler when I had to strip eggs, but I really, really prefer to let the moms hold and spit on their own, in a separate holding/fry tank.  That is very cool to watch! If I need to strip them, I try to do it at around three weeks so they are ready to go. I find it a lot harder to do earlier on because the fry don't seem to want to come out willingly.

I've also had holding females that eat a little while they are holding.

I never strip my female Tropheus and I get plenty of fry. I always let them hold 2 1/2 to 3 weeks then move them to my holding/breeding tank where the female can spit when she is ready. I have 4 female Dubs holding eggs now, who's gonna spit first is the question

well i have all mine in large tanks full of other cichlids and i know only like 2 would make it if that if i dont strip them  

fishyladdy wrote:well i have all mine in large tanks full of other cichlids and i know only like 2 would make it if that if i dont strip them  

  I'm also with fishyladdy on this one. Plus I not always home when they spit.  

I rarely have survivors when fry are spit in the main tank.  That's why I used to set up a 10 gallon holding/fry rearing tank.  I'm not totally against stripping and have done it, but I like to let my mouthbrooders have the chance to mouthbrood if possible.

This is a good article  on stripping vs holding.  It's not a for or against article -- it just gives some good info about both methods. There's also some helpful info about how to strip safely. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Good luck -- I know it's exciting to see those babies.

I stripped my females today I know its a bit early but they r full little fishing i ended up stripping 3 females and got around 50 bab es they r very cute and all different colors because some were from my yellow lab female some were from my blue zebra female and the others are from my red zebra female I'm verry happy with them I will post some pics soon

finray56 wrote: I never strip my female Tropheus and I get plenty of fry. I always let them hold 2 1/2 to 3 weeks then move them to my holding/breeding tank where the female can spit when she is ready.

Same thing I do. I've had, literally, thousands of fry over the past few years.

I haven't had to strip my pundamilia yet either. I try to wait until I can see there bulge get darker, or if I can see them moving around in there. Then I move her to a 10gal maternity tank. She usually spits that night or the day after. But if you move them before they are ready, you stress them out for nothing and they may swallow the eggs. So far I've gotten two spawns. Two weeks and they double in size.

well i dont have an extra tank i can put them in so stripping them really is my only option..

here are some pictures!!! :)not the best but u can see all the babies
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Careful with those breeder tanks, the fry can squeeze out through the cracks and the other fish, believe it or not, will suck them through those cracks. Been there done that.

Yeah that's why they r in with my mollys and plays I usually put panty hose around them