My pair of festivems breed today in one of my larger tanks. There in with chocolates and severums that look very interested in getting the eggs. I was wondering if I should move them to either a 72g or 40g, will they still be a pair? or will there bond be broken? Should I move the baby's once they are free swimmers? or will the female protect them even though the chocolates and severums are much larger? Also only the female is only caring for the eggs while the male just hangs out at the other end of the tank not helping her. Any suggestions?
Festivum cichlids bred!
- Thread starter Tone123
- Start date
Your best bet would be to remove some of the young and raise them away from the parents. It's just a matter of time before the babies will all get "picked off". Moving the pair with young will not work. Removing the other fish and leaving the pair with their young is iffy since the disturbance may freak the pair out, resulting in them eating their spawn, and breaking the pair bond.
Yes, that could work, except sometimes when you isolate what was a pair in a "community setting", the pair bond may not hold up when they're isolated. Very often, it's the presence of the other fish (sevs, etc) that help the pair bond form in the first place, and the presence of other fish tends to keep it strong. When they just have one another to focus on (no external distraction) they are more likely to squabble and turn on one another.
You could siphon out some of the wrigglers (if they're accessible) instead of waiting until they're free swimming. The scenario is very familiar to me.
