I bought a mature pair of Motaguense's that were paired from a local fish shop here in the Denver area. When I bought the pair they still had fry in with them and I was told they had recently spawned. So I bought the pair and brought them home with attentions of breeding them for a another feeder supply for my peacock bass. The Male is huge at about 11", the female is about 7" but much, much smaller in body size then the male. I placed them into a bigger tank then the fish store had them in and added good filtration and began feeding them well. So with that their in a bigger tank, good clean water and eating well it was just a matter of time...Right?? Well a month and a half has past, I've tried different things like separating them for a few days, water changes using a cooling temp water, adding a smaller aggressive fish they could gang up on and kill together...all of it.. All the male does is beat the crap out of the female. I've added hiding places only she can get into so she could escape him etc..He still manages to get a hold of her and pound the crap out her. I recently took the female out and placed her in another 220 gallon community tank to heal as shes pretty messed up right now. My question is can I re-pair her with a smaller younger Motaguense male I currently have? He seems to be interested in her as there in the same tank together right now and he's about the same size as her. Obviously she's in no condition to spawn right now and needs to heal but will Motaguense re-pair with another?? If so, the other male will be back on his way as a trade in on something and once the female completely heals I'll put her back in the breeding tank with the new smaller male.. Any advice helps. Water parameters in the breeding tank is at 6.8 PH, zero ammonia, added salt and I keep the temp about 80 - 82. The decor consist of several flat flagstone rocks on a bed of gravel and 4" & 2" PVC fittings as hiding places with a few imitation plants.
Can a Motaguense be re-paired with another mate??
- Thread starter MonsterPeacock
- Start date
Try using a divider........When fish are this size, being 11 inches, they are massive with authority......Cut hole that only the female can fit through and escape..........If the divider does not work, then all is done for the male........It, the male, should be kept alone in its own tank...........
