Yellow Labs Holding!

I must be doing something right in my tanks because now every fish I have ever owned has spawned at some point! Today I got to watch the mating ritual of my Electric Yellow Labs, also know as Lion's Cove Cichlids. Here is a picture of the breeders:



Does anyone know how long I should let her hold and when and how to strip? Should I strip at all?

how big are they?
they look kinda toung!!

They are young. My guess is under a year. But they did everything right and now she's holding.

Good job! and congrats! :) Are those black bars always there on those two yellow labs?

Yeah. They get lighter and darker depending on the day. Why?

never stripped them, but i would segregate the females and it would be about 3 weeks from when i first saw them holding to when they would spit them out.

Just wondering...most yellow labs don't have the barring unless they are stressed...but yours look fat and happy.

Yeah. They get weekly water changes and they eat very well! So I shouldn't strip at all? I am worried if I put her in the other tank I have she will eat all of my BN Pleco fry.

as long as she is holding she will not eat anything. She might be territorial though. It's best to get her a 10 Gallon with a sponge filter and leave her alone. If you must strip, wait for at least 1.5-2 weeks and let the fry form. Stripping too early requires a tumbler....

this is what i used when i had the electric yellows and Labidochromis sp. Hongi "red top kimpuma" breeding, never had them spit the eggs out, unlike the electrci blues.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751023

Congrats!

So should I strip my Electric Yellow or not? It's been a week and a half and I know I'm impatient, but it would be nice to know what I should do soon. I have her separated in a Three-Way breeder with just the lid on top, much like jcsmit7 posted. Ideas? Feedback?

If you have a tumbler you can but if not no. Wait about 15-20 days.

I'm at about 11-12 days now. I'll hold off for a while, but she should be fine in that breeder until she spits? Will she spit?

She will spit around 28-30 days. But they are free swimmers before that. In the wild she holds them a bit longer for pertection. I would say wait another 4-5 days and then get her to spit ...Let her go back to the normal tank and put the fry by themselves.

Nice pics.

The other female in the tank is holding now. These fish I have are relentless! They don't quit breeding! I really need about 5-10 more tanks!

NICE!!!!!
congrats on the horny fish!

O.K., so i never had a fish hold or tried breeding anything at all (except the wife)lol.
So is this picture of the Lab befor she lay's and picks up the eggs? Asking because I have a Kenyi that looks the same and won't come out of her cave.

Bump

Yes. It's very hard to get pics of a holding momma. They like to hide a lot. She will look like she is loading her gills up much like a hamster. Her gills will extend down and you'll know when she is holding.

always called it turkey neck lol

Got more turkey neck tonight! Man. Going at it!