Dovii laying eggs

[bpunisher18]

We have a pair of Dovii and the female is laying eggs does this mean that the other Dovii we have is a male ? we've had them since they were fry and 1 is 3" and the other is 3.5" maybe 4" the bigger 1 is the female the only reason I know this is cause she is laying eggs. The other one looks different but I think its till to small to sex. I'm not very good at sexing fish unless its obvious.

 

[bpunisher18]

Hmm I was hoping to get some sort of answer on this , The only other breeding fish I have ever owned were some Jags and I bought them as a breeding pair so I already kew what to expect.


I guess my question is , would the female be going through the trouble of laying eggs if she didn't have a mate in the tank ? or will she go ahead and lay the eggs just for funzies ?

 

[bpunisher18]

I thought for sure that I would get some input on here about this but so far none, I would rather get the info from some of the experianced memberes who have breed fish before instead of asking some pimply faced kid at a pet shop tha gets beat down by my 5 year old on IDing fish, so anyways any help on this matter would be great.
Thanks
Bill

 

[Caveman]

Did you see the other Dovii dancing around the eggs? Are both of them guarding the eggs? That is usually the best way to tell if you got a pair. Pictures will be the best way to get the smaller one identified. Females will lay eggs without any males present I have had many females Cichlids do this. I had a Red Head Cichlid who would lay eggs and when she was done she would eat them.

 

[bpunisher18]

Thanks for the reply, I'll try and get a pic of the little guy tomorrow, as far as guarding them she is the only that gets near them in fact the other Dovii is pretty beat up right now,

 

[Caveman]

I have never heard of that small of a male breeding but, anything is possible.

 

[bpunisher18]

Here is a pic sorry about the glass being kinda dirty just did a water change today and forgot to wipe the tank down, so anyway any idea on if this is a M or F he or she is kinda beat up, I know for sure the other is a F since I've seen her lay eggs.

 

[bboy]

The onewith the tattersd fins is a male. He looks smaller than the female so he
is catching a little grief. He will soon catch up to her in size and dominate her.
Just give him a little time.

 

[pingpong]

Sure looks like you have a male and female but that male's gonna have to grow pretty fast or he's gonna take a severe beating if he tries to pair up with that female. My male's more that twice as large as the female and she still rips his fins up a bit.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Nice Dovii's and congrats on the eggs. For now you might want to consider putting in a tank divider and then power feed your male to boost his growth. For more information on Dovii's, there is a member here that goes by Dovii. He and his home town friend are really into them and can probably give you good specifics on them. Also, check the cichlid section for other Dovii keepers. Again, congrats on their first steps to breeding and keep us posted.