So I'm going to be an uncle!!!

**NeverResting** · 12-04-2012, 02:44 PM

Alright well... it looks like my new brood stock is already mating! I've only had them in the tank about a week and I swear one already is brooding with eggs in her mouth.

I observed some behavior today and I wanted to post it so you guys can confirm this was mating.

Tank Setting:

90 Gallon Tank
8 fish (1 7-8" male long, 1 female about 6-7" long, 6 fish about 4-6" depending on the fish)
Let's refer to the 7-8" male as just "male" and the 6-7" female as "female" lol...

Alright so the sand had "nests" in it today which before it didn't. The nest was down to the bare glass like a crater.

The male was swimming with the female in these nests in the following manner. He would swim in a circle and she was swimming after him as if he was releasing sperm and she was fertilizing the eggs she had in her mouth. You definitely see the bulge under her mouth and her mouth looks full.

The other 6 fish were at the top of the aquarium hiding as the male was acting aggressively and spreading his fins to chase the others away.

Now it seems like the female is with the rest of the clan and the male is still swimming in the center of tank alone chasing most all the fish away. I am going to transfer the other 6 fish in the 55 Gallon I have so the pair can get time to themselves with no stress from the male needing to territorial.

**NeverResting** · 12-04-2012, 03:41 PM

Wanted to share some photos

*Edit* Plans are changing.. I'm not able to catch any fish out of that tank with my net. I used a bigger minnow net from fishing but the problem is my positioning. I'm on a ladder that's too short. The tank is 10 feet high in the air on a pallet rack in my warehouse lol. I need to get a taller ladder and try or just leave them alone. I'm worried about spooking her too much and causing complications.

**bcotton** · 12-05-2012, 07:10 AM

yeah man, that's what it is.. but in 10ish days when she spits those fry out they are gonna get eat up by the other fish in the tank. smorgasbord. tilapia are very cannibalistic...

You are going to have trouble moving her as she will probably spit out the eggs and/or swallow them. I have read the mother will pick the dropped eggs back up but i have never seen this happen in my tanks.

some of the fry will elude immediate death, make sure you have a dip net on hand and a spare bucket or other container.. that size fish will probably have 300-500 fry and i think it's a reasonable goal to save 30-50 fry.

If you are interested in higher survival rates you should search this forum for badflash's egg tumbler and start experimenting with egg harvesting. My first attempt was very bad, like 3% survival rate but by the end of the summer i was harvesting 200-300 eggs and hatching 90-95% of the eggs.

brian

brian

**NeverResting** · 12-05-2012, 08:46 AM

Hey Brian,

Thanks I'm going to get another ladder up and try to move the others again soon. Or possibly just move her to her own little tank. Will she be cannibalistic to her own fry or just the other fish?

Thanks!

Walter

**davidstcldfl** · 12-05-2012, 08:57 AM

Hi NeverResting, You could make a simple floating cage out of pvc and some mesh. This would give the fry a place to escape from the adults. To better the results, toss in a little duck weed. By instinct, they should head for it, to hide in.
The parts shouldn't cost much. For the 'floats'.... 'pool noodles' work well. A few tye wraps to hold the mesh to the pvc.

You may already know about aquatic Eco-systems (?)...they are in south Apopka. Near the intersection of OBT/192 and Maitland blvd.

You could use some mesh like this...
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... al-Netting

Here's the fittings to make cage corners..
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... ings-3-Way

She doesn't eat while holding the eggs...then for a 'short period' she's not eating while she's holding fry. Then they start to look pretty tasty...

Bcotton made a good point, when you catch her, most likely she will spit out the eggs. If you get them and her in a seperate tank, she 'might' pick them up, at least some of them.
Good luck...keep us posted.

**bcotton** · 12-05-2012, 11:17 AM

yeah i forgot about the flolating cage option since i decided not to use it in the past.. that's a very viable option.

I woudlnt try to move the female she will spit out and sallow most or all of the eggs. I wouldnt try to handle her unless you are trying to get the eggs from her.

Moving the other fish from the tank is an option.

yes, she wont immediately start eating the fry but that wears off. She will have not eaten in almost 2 weeks.

brian

**davidstcldfl** · 12-05-2012, 12:32 PM

Since getting to the tank, was an issue, I thought tossing in the cage would be a little easier..

For the netting...I used some shade cloth that had openings big enough for the fry to get through.

**NeverResting** · 12-05-2012, 01:53 PM

Well I took your advice Brian and did some egg tumbler research (a good 10 minutes worth LOL) and luckily my home depot is 5 minutes down the road from the shop.

Got $20 worth of 1 1/4" couplings, 90 degree elbows, fiberglass screen, and fluorescent light bulb tube. Enough to make 5-6 tumblers with a ton of material to spare.

I made 1. Got the bigger ladder. Got on top of the pallet rack to make it easier since I wouldn't have to stand on a ladder. Caught her and held her in a bucket with tank water 1/4 full. I rocked her back and forth gently to make water flow in and out of her mouth while I held it open to release the eggs. Got a lot but I was thinking there would be more. Put them in the incubator (super easy to make not the one badflash made.. that one is much better than mine).

I noticed another small one looked like she was brooding. So caught her and she released while in the net and some were in the tank. I scooped her and the embryos up... I had no idea I had two brooding. The smaller one had embryos already so they hatched and were wiggling around. Put them in the incubator to. I think they need a couple days still in the incubator until they start freely swimming right?

*edit* Now that I looked at the big mama again.. her mouth is still puffed up.. she probably had more I didn't get all at the first time.
*edit again!* I counted 480 eggs in the photo.. why did my brain look at it and say ahhh that's probably 100 eggs???

Both incubators are on super gentle settings.

Sorry about the poor video with the one with the eggs. The incubator with the embryos has a lot better view.