How does this work...

[twk1]

Hi... i have a female Red Devil that is ready to lay eggs, she is becoming very aggressive and territorial, and her tube is down. Now.... i don't have a male in the tank, but if i find a male and introduce a male will he fertilize the eggs, even if he wasn't ready? Or would the male have to had already be in the same tank for him to be ready to fertilize? how does this work???

 

[bigjason12]

You can't just put a male you just bought staright in and expect him to just go up and fetilize the eggs, i think the male has to get used to the female first and make her his partner?

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

keep them together, with a partial divider if necessary, and hopefully next time they will breed.

 

[Enoid]

You MIGHT get lucky but I doubt it. I agree with the others. Just wait till next round, and have the male on hand.

 

[Druu]

Go with the divider. If you just plop a male in, the gravid female may attack and kill it.

 

[twk1]

Oh ok, thanks for the info guys!! i'll just wait till next time and have a male on hand then. Correct me if im wrong... but usually it takes a about 6-8 weeks for them to go into breeding mood???

 

[bigjason12]

Ye, maybe not as long actually.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

It could be a little shorter, but that is about what you should expect.

 

[mdspurl]

I have a pair of RD's that paired up and bred...I lost all the fry while trying to keep them seperate from the other tank mates......within 3-4 weeks, they were laying eggs again...now I have a couple hundred RD fry in a seperate tank and they are eating like crazy...