Cichlid custody dispute among rainbow cichlids. Divorce pending?

slava2929

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 6, 2018
27
26
16
Ontario
I have a breeding pair of rainbow cichlids who have successfully bred and raised fry before and have been together without incident for at least 6 months.

Their latest batch of fry has led to a real mystery and something I never thought I would see with fish. The male has about half the fry on one side of the tank and the female has the remaining fry on the opposite side. They both attack one another periodically as if defending a threat, however, BOTH sets of fry belong to both fish. I have no other fish in the tank except for a single panda garra, so unless there was immaculate conception, they are the parents.

This divided fry situation is in its second day and it just strikes me as very weird, not to mention dangerous for the female who is smaller and the fry who may end up becoming someone's lunch. Has this happened to anyone before? Is this normal?
 

d033ie

Banned
MFK Member
Aug 29, 2010
207
183
61
Delaware
I'm no Dr. Phil and thank god, because i think the guy is completely crazy. I did have a situation where the spawn was so huge, the male was on one side and the female was on the other with fry. Plus there was other fish in the tank , that was isolated to the top corner. Must've been some sort of disagreement between the two in you're tank. Pretty interest story nontheless. I would probably re-home the fry into a small tank and hope the two can sort things out. Might be a control situation with the fry.
 

slava2929

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 6, 2018
27
26
16
Ontario
I'm no Dr. Phil and thank god, because i think the guy is completely crazy. I did have a situation where the spawn was so huge, the male was on one side and the female was on the other with fry. Plus there was other fish in the tank , that was isolated to the top corner. Must've been some sort of disagreement between the two in you're tank. Pretty interest story nontheless. I would probably re-home the fry into a small tank and hope the two can sort things out. Might be a control situation with the fry.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a quarantine / fry tank that's only 6 gallons and was going to move the fry there after your comment, but it seems the male has backed off and let the female raise the brood. At least that's how it is right now, but they still fight. The two parents look pretty beaten up and for two days it got very weird. I'm going to watch the situation and if need be I'll move the fry to the quarantine tank and raise them myself.
 
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