Ok.
I have a female dolphin, I would say 4-5+ years old, around 6.5" or so.
Nice healthy fish, gentle yet affirmative.
Recently I acquired a male dolphin in hopes of breeding. When I picked him up, I took out the female and put her in a spare tank, so when the male was put in my main tank, he would gain a little dominance.
*He came from a tank of 10+ males, so they were always fighting for dominance.
I left the two alone for about a week. Then I took out the female from the spare tank and placed her in the main tank with the male. He was not interested at all. They did their little circle dance and locked lips right away. Then a minute passes, he lets go and swims away. The female follows and starts attacking him. He has scales missing on his sides. I quickly pulled her out.
Then a week passes and I try it again, same thing happens. She attacks him violently, so I take her back out.
The male is about the same size as her, maybe 1/2-1" bigger. He has a fairly nice hump. Like I said before, the female is about 4-5yrs old. Now the male is only 2 years old.
*The breeders fed him quite well
Is this an age issue? I thought once males have dominance and a hump, they will breed.
Now here is another variable, my main tank has mixed sized cichlids, and he doesn't get bothered much, nor does the bothering. But I have a hap 44/zebra oliquiden mix Victorian that always chases the male dolphin around. Now, the Victorian is only 3" or so! Almost 5x smaller than the dolphin. And the male dolphin takes the abuse (playful most of the time, nothing violent) and never fights or tries to fight back.
Help me with my dilemma here.
Thanks.
*Now, by looking at his spot blotching, he is still young, but very large. Males lose their spots once matured, correct?
Everyone likes pictures,
I have a female dolphin, I would say 4-5+ years old, around 6.5" or so.
Nice healthy fish, gentle yet affirmative.
Recently I acquired a male dolphin in hopes of breeding. When I picked him up, I took out the female and put her in a spare tank, so when the male was put in my main tank, he would gain a little dominance.
*He came from a tank of 10+ males, so they were always fighting for dominance.
I left the two alone for about a week. Then I took out the female from the spare tank and placed her in the main tank with the male. He was not interested at all. They did their little circle dance and locked lips right away. Then a minute passes, he lets go and swims away. The female follows and starts attacking him. He has scales missing on his sides. I quickly pulled her out.
Then a week passes and I try it again, same thing happens. She attacks him violently, so I take her back out.
The male is about the same size as her, maybe 1/2-1" bigger. He has a fairly nice hump. Like I said before, the female is about 4-5yrs old. Now the male is only 2 years old.
*The breeders fed him quite well
Is this an age issue? I thought once males have dominance and a hump, they will breed.
Now here is another variable, my main tank has mixed sized cichlids, and he doesn't get bothered much, nor does the bothering. But I have a hap 44/zebra oliquiden mix Victorian that always chases the male dolphin around. Now, the Victorian is only 3" or so! Almost 5x smaller than the dolphin. And the male dolphin takes the abuse (playful most of the time, nothing violent) and never fights or tries to fight back.
Help me with my dilemma here.
Thanks.
*Now, by looking at his spot blotching, he is still young, but very large. Males lose their spots once matured, correct?
Everyone likes pictures,
