is this fish "holding"?? UPDATE

so, a little background... I had gotten 2 peacocks a few months back, and had no idea if I had a male and a female or two males or two females; however due to the fact that neither on colored up much, I assumed (and probably made an @$$ out of myself) that I had two females. Now, assuming I understand the term "holding" correctly, this is why I ask-
I was looking in my tank today and noticed that one seemed to be holding their mouth weird, and would barely open it to breath, I got to looking and noticed it was very dark in there too.

Here is the one in question-




And here is the other one (who is shy and hiding at the back)-

Based on your photos, it looks like your fish is holding. If you look long enough, and the fish starts 'chewing', then that's a good sign. It means she's moving the eggs around to promote oxygen exchange (aka. normal behavior).

Congrats on your fish spawning...please keep up posted on your progress.

YELP.

bassic wrote:

Based on your photos, it looks like your fish is holding. If you look long enough, and the fish starts 'chewing', then that's a good sign. It means she's moving the eggs around to promote oxygen exchange (aka. normal behavior).

Congrats on your fish spawning...please keep up posted on your progress.

yes, she does "chew"... guess I have one male and one female, lol without trying. surprissingly the male does not have much color.

You don't have to have a male for her to be holding. She can lay eggs and go through the normal process, the eggs just want be fertile.

But yes ma'am you have a female with eggs in her mouth! Could be duds if the other is a female as well though. If the bulge keeps getting larger they are fertile though. What all do you have in that tank? She could have spawned with something else, because the other looks female as well....
Study the way she is acting and how her mouth looks, even if she is holding duds this is a good learning experience so you will know what to look for!!

...

Fern wrote:

What all do you have in that tank? She could have spawned with something else, because the other looks female as well....

the only males I have is the huge male convict (not sure if they breed with more than one female at a time), one male blue acei, and one male red fin borleyi (which I found out from y'all). Other than that, there are catfish, and a female convict and one female rusty.

Quote :

Study the way she is acting and how her mouth looks, even if she is holding duds this is a good learning experience so you will know what to look for!!

this certainly is a learning experience! I have never had any fish that held their eggs/fry in their mouth so this is certainly new for me!

yes thats a holding mom right there, congratz!, what kind of peacock is that?

istrober wrote:

yes thats a holding mom right there, congratz!, what kind of peacock is that?

The sign when I bought them said the were "red peacocks"

vman wrote:

not only that she's holding but they've already hatched , you can see the dark fry through her translucent buccal cavity & she is ready to move . peacock will hybridize with just about any african so you don't have to have a matching male ...

Agreed! They look ready to me.

Do you have a pic of the male? WHere did you get these "red peacocks" form?

KMX wrote:

WHere did you get these "red peacocks" form?

If memory serves me right, I got them at PetSmart... they are not the greatest in knowing their fish (they gave me a jaguar and said it was a convict).

KMX wrote:

Do you have a pic of the male?

I only have three males in that tank, a male convict who has a female and they are protecting their current batch, a red fin borleyi, and a blue acei.... the only other males are catfish.

vman wrote:

you can see the dark fry through her translucent buccal cavity & she is ready to move .

KMX wrote:

Agreed! They look ready to me.

what do you mean "she is ready to move"? Move her to another tank?

Yep she is holding and hopefully there not duds and not hybrids.Keep us posted on what happens!!

Looks to me that the fry are ready to swim. Which means if you caught her in a net and spit the babies out they would be free swimmers. Ready for a 10G to grow out or something.

If you got it from petsmart as a "red peacock" it's probley a hybrid. Might not even be a peacock!
It possible that she could be a female hap of some sort . IF you have 2 male Haps in the tank with her it only makes sence.

So, I caught her in the net, and to get the babies out I had to hold her mouth open .... Here are some pics (they have been seperated for a few days now, at first I though half would not make it with the way they would lay on the bottom; but all survived)





She held on to one or two of the babies... I just coud not get her to spit them out

Congratz!!Great job!!!

Nice congratz on your new fry!!

Hurray for you (and your fish). They look like very healthy kiddies. :)

The first one is always the coolest!!!
Feed them crushed flake.

That is neat vixen I cant wait to get some cichlids