Babies, now what..

[Christie]

I have a pair of Jack Dempsey's that just had there first batch of babies. They are in a 6ft tank with an Argentea, two young Chocolates, and a little synspilum. I have had baby Hero's & of course convicts, 1st experience with the Jack's,who seem much more aggressive then the others as parents. Wondering how dangerous these guys can be to my other fish while they are protecting their young. Would I be better to just syphon them out to prevent damage to my other fish? Currently they have everyone backed into a corner..

[Bas Pels]

Obviously, they are much more agreessive than mine were - these took a square foot

If you siphon out the fry now, the fry will have had little, or no, protection from the parents. In case you intend to raise the fry to sel lthem, it would be better if they had had the imprenting for at least a week

If you intend to fry to be eaten, no such arguments will be valid, and than the rest in the tank might take prevalence

But personally, i think the raising of fry is by far the best argument for keeping cichlids

On a side note, I'm a bit surprized by the agression - do you have enough, and usefull decoration? With usefull I ,mean making little teritoria, providing fishes the oppostunity to hide from each others vies?

[Christie]

Hi Bas, Thanks for your reply. I have lots of hiding places running the length of the tank, for what ever reason they moved the babies from the cave in the corner right to the center of the tank. All of the other tank mates are "hiding" under 1 stump including my big Argentea. The male is just chasing anyone who comes out from the stump but I have not seen him bite, the male seems to be a much more attentive parent then the female. I guess I will give it some time and see how it goes, I just don't want daddy causing any damage to the other fish. While I hadn't planned on the babies, I would like to watch them grow.

[Christie]

Well, babies are now a month old, will try & get some shots tonight.

However I am wondering what to do with mom & dad. I had to remove my argentea because they were kicking the snot out of him He is larger then the other tank mates so I'm not sure if they saw him as a bigger threat then the others or if he is too stupid to back down. Whatever the case may be I like the argentea more then the jacks i tried to put the argentea back in this week & there were scales all over I took him out & put him back with my Hero's. He gets along fine with them, but I want to keep it a hero tank & I want the argentea in the central tank.

I guess my question is, now that the jacks are a couple, do I trade them as a "pair" or move one of them out?

Sorry so long winded.

[Alex Odesit]

Christie,
If you decide to let go Rocio in favor of Argentia, I would try to trade Jacks as a breeding pair. They already unlucky to being let go, so at least they have chance to be together in the next tank.
Alex

[Christie]

I am feeling bad about getting rid of them, but they are fierce protectors of their babies.. I have had fish have babies, but these guys by far take the parenting award. It has been intersting watching them as parents, for a while they had the brood split, mom had a group in on area and dad had another.. I just can't devote my 100 gallon tank to 1 pair of fish. I am glad someone understood that I was feeling guilty about splitting them. I think I will call around and see if I can find someone to take them as a pair. The babies are getting good at hiding on their own so I wont feel bad about taking the parents..

The female went back to her normal coloring last week & is all dark again, I hope they are not getting ready for another batch.. Anyone know how often they breed?

Some pics.... Sorry I am way out of pratice taking pics of my fishes, too busy taking pictures of the baby latley.
Fry at 1 month


Mom & Dad

[Christie]

Not sure why it is cutting off my pics

[Christie]

Oh well.... I give up for now.

[Lisachromis]

It's a size issue with the forum version. Other people will see it fine.

[Christie]

It's a size issue with the forum version. Other people will see it fine.

Thanks Lisa

[Christie]

Was feeling bad becasue I seperated them and put them back together... Two days later spawn, my poor Argentea will never get to live in his tank again. They stress him out so bad, his black spots look grey..