Do you let them Spit or Do you Strip them?

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Hey Gang,

Figured I'd let people chime in with their experience on what they do with their holding female Tropheus...

Some people prefer to let them spit in the tank for the experience, which is a cool one.

Some people prefer to Strip them female after a specific amount of time.

What's your preference?

[dougwentz]

More eggs are subject to fungus when stripped at 2 days, and it's a chore to spoon out the occasional fungussed eggs from the tumbler. 10-14 days has been best for me. In 2013 I had a group of Ikola whose eggs never fungussed no matter which day I stripped, and sold many Ikola batches locally. With each of my other groups, I quickly learned to wait till day 10 at least. With Pemba, all fry survived when I let her spit in the tank, but with the other groups, either all fry were eaten, or 1-2 survived.

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Welcome Doug! Glad to see you on!

Yeah, I think after the initial spawning, both the male and female will induce further spawning to ensure that all eggs are fertilized. Or at least as many as possible. I don't recall seeing this action after day 10 though so that makes sense to me too.

[...]

With my breeding groups in Australia I waited 18-21 days...

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Nice. The longest I've wait was.... I THINK about 5-6 weeks.... This was a big female that was holding 7 1" fry.... No lie!? I was blown away!

[...]

I think I remember seeing that post...was a RR female from memory...did I get that right?

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

Yes sir! She was a good 5.5"+ female too. Just sold her with the other colony recently and the new owner contacted me today and said that she's be holding since he took her home. That's a good 4-5 weeks. This might be the key with RR... The females do better as big adults then other younger Tropheus. My Bulu Point have been Spawning at a small size for a while now. Big Difference.

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Here is a video of my Mpulungu fry that have been spit in the tank and are surviving and cohabitating quite well.

[ben]

Fantastic Andrew I watched it on YouTube yesterday you've got the nak with these Tropheus pal I'm hoping a little rubs off on us lol

[...]

Aw mate that is awesome!! How many are there...I counted 5 maybe 6 different ones...so sweet to see them doing their thing with the big guys...the gobies don't seem interested in them either...thanks for sharing mate!!