striping electric yellow

Question
QUESTION: aloha ron,
 I've had a female holding for about 4 weeks and decided it was time to strip her of her young.  as gently as i could i caught her and held her mouth open with a paper clip in order for the young to swim out. it's her first time holding and she did great. she's a little in shock right now as i just finished striping her, so i was wondering if there's anything i could do to make her more comfortable. my main concern though is that i'm not 100% sure i got all the young out. being her first time and she's only about 1.5 inches long i didn't expect her to have to many but she came out with 14 so far. is there any way i can be sure i got them all because i want her to start eating again. basically i want her to survive she's one of my most beautiful little yellows. i currently have her and her young in a breeder net at the top of the 30 gallon community tank where she lives. what more can i do for her and her young in order for them to survive, mainly her. thanks for your time.

ANSWER: Hi Shawn,
  There is no need to strip her, i.e., she will spit them out at some point if there are more in there.   She is more likely to do this if you put her in her own little tank, isolated from other fish.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: aloha again,
well i'll try not to strip her next time but i don't have an extra tank to put her in. she's doing fine now along with the fry thank goodness. it seems though that a few of the older labs in the tank have a new ritual they started today after i did a 25% water change. they are swimming like crazy up and down the sides of the tank. i checked all water parameters and they are the same as always nothing has changed except there swimming all crazy. the dominant male started this pattern and shortly after all the older labs were following. the younger didn't follow there lead they remained the same. i was wondering if this is normal or if i may have a problem with the water. thanks for your time your answers have been a great help to me.

Answer
Hi Shawn,
  The swimming up and down rapidly is usually a sign that they are looking for more food.  Could that be a possibility?   

  In rare cases, it could indicate something in the water.  Presumably you added the same water that you always add, i.e., you didn't do anything different this time when you did a water change?

  Of course the other possibility is that something is different in your water source.  For example, in some parts of the country, when it rains, the water utility might add an extra dose of chlorine to the water.

-- Ron
   rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
   Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>