Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae

Look at that mug!!! great shot Betty. And super nice color on him. I'm waiting for a new camera for Christmas to do picture updates of all my fish and tanks as my current camera is just not doing the job. I'll share some pics shortly.

So after saying there wasn't any spawning yet, this evening I noticed a female holding.  I won't be trying to save fry, but I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she isn't being harassed.

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awwe i want some of these guys!! sooo pretty!!

[quote="Betty"]So after saying there wasn't any spawning yet, this evening I noticed a female holding.  I won't be trying to save fry, but I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she isn't being harassed.

      

An update:  that poor female held for at least 30 days, so I decided to catch her and strip her, as much as I don't like to do that. I was worried because I hadn't seen her eat in all that time.  When I netted her, she spit the babies out -- eight of them, but two were in bad shape and didn't make it and one got away into the tank and I haven't seen it.  I put the other five in a breeder box and will see how they do. They had all absorbed their egg sacks and should have been eating.  I guess mom didn't feel it was safe to release them.

There was also a second female holding, but she released her fry into the main tank on her own.

I tried to get some pics, but they are too small and impossible to focus on.

Still going to say Congrats Betty. CONGRATS!

Sometimes I think the moms just are not quite sure how things should proceed. I'm glad she spit them so now both she and the remaining babies can recover. I know you know but if you have remaining males in the tank with that female, you might want to leave her in a box too for a few days to let her feed up. And yes, those babies are tinie tiny...very small when born. I fed mine dried cyclopeeze/first bites/really really crushed flakes...just a little at each feeding...one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening. BBS came a little later after they had grown a few days/a week maybe. Good luck and keep us informed.

Thanks Donna.     Yes, I really like to let the moms' do their own thing and learn how to get it right. Sometimes it takes a little practice. I've had some females of other species eat carefully when they are holding and I don't worry about those holding longer than they should.

These fry were big enough to take frozen bbs already.  They've been getting that and some first bites mixed with ground up nls and I also leave a couple of nls pellets in with them.  They pick off of that during the day.

Now, that's hardcore fish keeping, you ladies are awesome.

Thanks fishNAbowl.   

Thought I'd add a few pics of the female holding.  If you enlarge the image and look closely, you can see the eggs.
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A couple of the fry shortly after they were spit.
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Awesome pics Betty...Wow.

Amazing photos thanks for sharing!!

Thanks Donna and Poffman.  A few more just because they are so cute.  Those pleco eggs are already spread out and wiggling around the breeder box.

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These are beautiful fish! I love the last picture of the baby peeking above the egg group! So cute!

Such awesome pics!!!! Can't wait to see more

those little plecos almost look big enough to eat the baby victoriae...LOL...great photos as always Betty...too cute!

This is one of the fry from the pics in the photos above.  
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The same female held another brood and did the same thing -- she would not spit them, so I had to separate her and she still wouldn't release them.
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I ended up having to strip them out.  Like before, they had fully absorbed their egg sacks and some of them were very weak and didn't make it.  A few did though.

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I don't have an empty fry tank, so I'm keeping them in breeder boxes.  

There are three females holding right now and I really hope they release into the main tank.
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The dominant male is looking good.
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Subdominant male.
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Busy busy busy they are. Wonderful update and photos Betty. Love these last two shots.

They are busy!  I don't want any more.   
I wish that one girl would spit hers in the tank. I can't put them back into the tank if I strip them.