Dovii Breeding Help

[Davey_8313]

I have a pair of F1 Costa Rican dovii. The female is about 5" and the male is probably close to 9". The female has been hiding in a castle I have in the tank for the past couple of days. The male seems to stay around it, but outside of it. Could she of possibly laid eggs in there? I don't want to move the castle and check on her if she did, but I want to make sure she's alright. Should I give it another couple days before I check? I know she's still alive in there b/c I can see through the little hole in it...

 

[Chaitika]

Are you sure she's even okay? The male may have laid a beating on her? She could have laid eggs though.

 

[Davey_8313]

Yeah, she's okay. She popped out for like 10-15 seconds and he just swam around her and the castle. Then she went back in... She looked like she was fine.

 

[ceejayt2k]

to find out if she laid eggs, check to see if he tube(egg depositing tube) is down. If she recently layed some eggs, it takes a few days for the tube to return to its original position. My flowerhorns laid eggs 2 days ago and the females tube is still down/visible. Usually for my female, on the 4-5th day, the tube returned back to its original position.

 

[Davey_8313]

Thanks ceejay. I think I might check on her tomorrow. I can see that she's still alive at least...

 

[cchhcc]

You can look in the castle with no worries. It would be very unusual for her not to go back and tend to the eggs. The chances of a problem are greater the younger they are, but most of the time they'll just go right back to business!

 

[Piranhas and Cichlids]

It sounds like you probably have eggs in there. I have a cave that I've had pairs of Dovii and Jags use when they spawn, and almost every time the female disappears into the cave for about 5-7 days and then comes back out with a bunch of fry swimming with her. And just like yours, the males stayed outside but near the cave and the female would sometimes come out but go right back in. So I'm willing to bet you'll have babies in there soon, so here's an early CONGRATS!!!

 

[Davey_8313]

i checked, no eggs. i think he wants her to lay agan bc he keeps chasing her. doesnt really beat her up though. she finally fought back today though.

 

[oHsNaP1337]

Have you actually ever seen her lay eggs before? The male may want to breed, but the female may be too young to produce eggs. You can usually always tell when they are getting ready to breed, there will be a lot of digging and moving of plants and objects in the tank before they do.

 

[Davey_8313]

theyve had fry before. they probably would if i took all their tankmates out. should i turn the temp uo?