I had begun to wonder "why havent my mbuna bred yet?". I looked in my tank today and 2 of my females are holding. pseudotropheus socolofi and pseudotropheus polit, This is my first time breeding a mouth brooder. Should I be seperating the females into breeding traps right away? or should I wait? I dont have many hiding spots currently so Im worried about them becoming stressed and spitting the eggs out. HELP!

If they are not getting picked on I would not move them for a couple weeks then move the female to their own tank. They should hold the babies for about 3 weeks or so.

They will hold almost 21 days exactly..... During this time they will not eat, make sure they are not too skinny. If they have not been fattened up you will want to move them cause chances are they WILL get picked on. I would also consider their size to the male or males, if your ratios of male to females are off make the move within a week or so. On the skinny note you may want to strip the fry early if you notice the female with a lot of fatigue or if she is loosing too much weight.

I was thinking of stripping them both cause they are both fairly small, they have been moved into breeding nets for the time being. Is there a certain amount of time I should wait before stripping them?

No sooner than 2 weeks after the eggs hatch. Keep them in the breeding nets, I wouldnt strip them unless they get fatigued or start to lose too much weight, otherwise they should be fine. If they are too small, get too hungry or feel too stressed they will eat the eggs or release the fry too soon so try and make them comfortable.