Big dilema

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fishe

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 4, 2012
1,044
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36
NY
Ok. I got a female green terror for my 30 gallon growout. She is a short body and a little less then 2 inches. About 3 months after i got her she layed eggs in a flower pot, unfertilized and after 5 days she ate them. I decided i wanted to get her a mate and have some children. so i go to the lfs and i pick out the green terror with the biggest head and nicest color. I read alot about there breeding and convinced myself that she would not breed unless he was twice her size. So i come home with an about 5 inch green terror and i realised the massive size difference. After aclimation i put him in and the second i put him in the female starts a lip lock and this goes on for like 2 minutes and then it would stop and resume after about ten minutes of on and off lip locking she retreats and he chases her and starts nipping her tail. She wouldnt fight back any more. She would just hide in the corner and behind the heater. After about 3 days i saw she had about half of her tail left and wasnt swimming or eating. I put a divider in the tank and she is starting to heal. I think i may have introduced him to early after breeding and she wasnt ready yet. If i take away the barrier and the same thing happens what should i do. Are they just forming a pair and i should just let it happen? I dont know what to do.


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fishe said:
Ok. I got a female green terror for my 30 gallon growout. She is a short body and a little less then 2 inches. About 3 months after i got her she layed eggs in a flower pot, unfertilized and after 5 days she ate them. I decided i wanted to get her a mate and have some children. so i go to the lfs and i pick out the green terror with the biggest head and nicest color. I read alot about there breeding and convinced myself that she would not breed unless he was twice her size. So i come home with an about 5 inch green terror and i realised the massive size difference. After aclimation i put him in and the second i put him in the female starts a lip lock and this goes on for like 2 minutes and then it would stop and resume after about ten minutes of on and off lip locking she retreats and he chases her and starts nipping her tail. She wouldnt fight back any more. She would just hide in the corner and behind the heater. After about 3 days i saw she had about half of her tail left and wasnt swimming or eating. I put a divider in the tank and she is starting to heal. I think i may have introduced him to early after breeding and she wasnt ready yet. If i take away the barrier and the same thing happens what should i do. Are they just forming a pair and i should just let it happen? I dont know what to do.


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It has very little to do with when you introduced them. Female GTs will lay every week or so if you were to remove the fry. The male is just showing his dominance and the female is defwnding her area (especiallyif she laid eggs there). You could try adding some target/dither fish to draw his attention away from the female. Add lots of caves which are too small for the male. Lots of vertical visual barriers will spread aggression. Feed the female high quality foods to condition her. When re-introducing keep an eye on them to ensure it doesn't happen again. Make sure the female is healed first.

Can we see some pics of the setup? And the male and female. I am unsure if the female is a short bodied, in your avatar she looks normal (shorter than males, and much rounder).
 
Thanks.... Im just worried because when they where together he would constantly harrass her. She stopped swimming and looked like she was dyeing... Ill get some pics up later but ou can look up my posts and look for the one call pics of oscar and green terror with eggs


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fishe said:
Thanks.... Im just worried because when they where together he would constantly harrass her. She stopped swimming and looked like she was dyeing... Ill get some pics up later but ou can look up my posts and look for the one call pics of oscar and green terror with eggs


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Thats what the males do. Well it sounds like you did the right thing. Make sure she is fighting fit before re-introduction. Otherwise he will see the weakness. I see the thread, the angle of the avatar pic made me question it. She looks nice though.

The fact that she is short bodied may cause for a problem for them. Because it is a weakness, he may just end up disliking her and eventually killing her.
 
Thanks, i just find it odd that she would breed once and then when theres a mate in the tank shees completely un intrested.
How often do they breed, i heard you say every couple of weeks but some websites say that your lucky if they breed three times a year


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fishe said:
Thanks, i just find it odd that she would breed once and then when theres a mate in the tank shees completely un intrested.
How often do they breed, i heard you say every couple of weeks but some websites say that your lucky if they breed three times a year


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Really it varies from fish to fish. It also varies with how well bonded the pair are and/or how successful they are. For example it took around 8 weeks for my pair to establish and spawn. The first spawn was successful, in that all the eggs hatched and they had fry. But the fry were eaten by other tankmates. The male didn't take too kindly to this and beat on the female a bit. After about 3 weeks they had another go, this timei pulled half the fry and left them with the rest. Which they took exceptional care of and raised for 5 weeks or so. Then, once i removed that batch of fry, they would breed a week or so later. This carried on for about 5 or 6 spawns.

Meaning that they can breed as frequently as every other week, if the fry are removed - otherwise it is slowed down. Providing they are comfortable and have the right conditions.

But remember, just because she spawned prior to his arrival and you have a male and female. Does not mean you have a pair. They will breed when they are ready. But for now they are just getting to know eachother. As I said, it took my pair 8 weeks to spawn, so patience is key.

I say for now, feed them both good quality food, provide pristine water, do some cool water changes and let the female heal. Then attempt to remove the divider.

Good luck!
 
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