Gravid Yo Yo 10/7 photos added

[Wendie]

I know we've been on this subject before but I am beginning to worry about one of my girls. She's just gotten bigger and bigger and at this point is rather uncomfortable. She actually has a problem sleeping now and when she stops to rest on the bottom tilts to one side alarmingly. She's taken to sleeping upside down now.

Any ideas? She's about 15 months old.

Here's the male


female

[shari2]

Wendie,

This may or may not work, but I know how you feel watching her discomfort and if this helps, it's worth a try...

I'm sorry I don't remember all the details of what's in your tank. Is she in with other yoyos? Are they reticulated? Do you think they (if male) are mature enough to spawn if she does?

Not saying this will work but it was next on my list to try (before I lost my gravid female). this is assuming there are any males around that might participate.

Allow the water to get fairly still, warm (82-86F) and soft for a week or more (like hot summer dry season). Increase the length of 'daylight' hours to about 15 per day. (when you do water changes, add water slowly and at a slightly warmer, rather than cooler temp)

After that period, lessen the length of light period over several days to about 10hours, slowly lower the temp at the same time to between 76-78F. Start feeding meaty foods for a day or two.

When you're ready, (have a place with plant cover available in the tank if you can--or use some partially boiled dry oak leaves if you don't) decide what day you'll do it on--and have a notebook and camera handy--just in case something does happen--

Choose your day. Then:
In the early morning, right after lights on, don't feed. Do a massive water change. Lower the water level to almost fish level (maybe 6-8"). Make sure that the pH of the water you add in is not far off of that in the tank.

Then add the return water, but it should be markedly cooler and add it with heavy flow, rather quickly. Watch.

If nothing happens the first time, do another largeish change with cooler water again in a day or two.

No guarantees. This is just what was next on my list of what to try when my female was gravid and I really wanted to help her get rid of the eggs. I now know that the males in the tank with her were too immature to fertilze eggs anyway...but maybe (somehow doubt it) yours will spawn even if her boys (which I hope you have?) don't know what to do.

My boys were interested, and I saw some mating type behaviors in the tank, almost always after doing large changes, with cooler water, but I never got the actual event to happen--and I tried a bunch of things. She just got fatter and fatter. Lived gravid for 8 or so months before I lost her to a bad Pimafix treatment.


It would be really cool if you could get something to happen! Don't think it's been documented before, though I read of one instance where it probably did happen, but it was in a pond...

[Wendie]

LOL I think that's what got her in this condition to begin with. I came out one morning and found 75% of the water missing in the tank and had to add a major amount of water over a very short period of time. It's been since then that she's grown so bad. She's very obviously uncomfortable. There is one male. The three fish came into the tank together and are the same age. I'll take a really good look at him in the morning to see how his pattern appears.

Thanks

[palaeodave]

My girl was enormous. She just kept getting fatter and fatter. Did the whole tilting over thing too. I went to the Isle of Wight for two weeks to do fieldwork for my degree (and nearly went insane) and when I came back she looked quite slim! Now now, I left Lee in charge so I didn't just starve her! :p

So I didn't see whatever happened happen, but she is actually noticably bigger in overall size.

[shari2]

I do have one concern with my suggestion, however. How to maintain O2 concentrations if you allow the water to still...maybe a small airstone at one end that bubbles slowly? Don't want to create the same kind of situation that Martin ran into recently...

[Wendie]

True. I actually run two filters in the tank. An external FMS and another fluval internally. There's plenty of movement.