New multi fry

[bluewolf]

Two of my multis have little tiny fry that I have seen in the shells.  The fry have yet to come out of the shells and have been in there for a couple of days, I first noticed them on Sunday.  When should I consider moving them to a breeder net or the like?  I waited to long with the last batch of fry and have 20+ little guys swimming around now.  They are not being bothered but they are impossible to separate out because they just hug the sand whenever they are scared.  I was thinking of moving the shells and all to breeder nets for the new guys but I do not want to wait too long.

[ggburke]

This looks like a cool idea for getting your shellies out of the shell for sale or transplant....... I have never tried it
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/unshelling_shellies.php

[warlord]

Why do you want to separate fry from parents??

[bluewolf]

The only reason I want to separate the fry is that I have heard that you should.  If you do not the parents will eventually eat the fry.  Is this true or is it only true for certain species?

[fish head]

they only eat the fry that misbehave...

unless the tank gets too full, then they eat a few of the good ones too

(the alpha male will not tolerate other mature males in his territory, and will try to eliminate or chase away)

I'd keep them all together, unless you want to give some away or try to sell them.  Or are you planning on setting up another several tanks?

[shaun]

Since multies form colonies, they are pretty tolerant of each other.  A few may get picked off, but if you let all of them survive, you will soon be overrun.  You will be eventually anyway.  I think there is also a chance that if you seperate them, you have a possibility of increasing aggression from the established males upon reintroduction.  Just leave them in there and watch the survivors flourish.  Unless you are breeding to sell them for profit (good luck) there really isn't any reason to separate them. 

[gpfootballmom]

I have left all the fry with the colony, and as far as I can tell, no one is snacking on fry.
My multies have over-run their original 15 long tank.  I gave 10 juvies away, and moved a pair and 5 juvies to another tank.
They are all spawning... and spawning... and spawning!

[IFbettas]

This looks like a cool idea for getting your shellies out of the shell for sale or transplant....... I have never tried it
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/unshelling_shellies.php

When I got my first multies the guy I was getting them from used this to catch them. He put them in a small tubberware and put the shells on top of a cup inside of it. Then I took the tubberware full of multies home to start my colony. It is really easy to catch them this way, but it takes a while, so if you are planning to catch some for someone you should do it in advance and not wait until the last minute.