Hydra & Phinnie

[CichlidBeautyAlways]

Hey There MFK,

I have a quick question nothing too crazy bc it does happen every so often. My Convict cichlids have bred AGAIN as usual lol; Ok now the issue im having has happened in the past but not in awhile. The past to days Phinnie my male convict has been chasing Hydra the mama convict away from the babies and Phinnie the daddy convict has been guarding the babies. Why is he doing this too her? What could be the issue?

Ive included pix; Shes obviously stressed bc u can see it in her color. But shes at one side of the tank and hes in the other side.

 

[Deadeye]

Male probably thinks the female isn’t doing a good job or is a threat. Is there anything in the tank with them? Typically pairs get along better if there is something else to chase/bully besides each other.

 

[CichlidBeautyAlways]

Male probably thinks the female isn’t doing a good job or is a threat. Is there anything in the tank with them? Typically pairs get along better if there is something else to chase/bully besides each other.

u know what we have been slowly pulling babies out; i wonder if thats what u mean by not doingher job bc babies are coming up gone. I just told my husband i thought maybe he thought "B* all the babies r coming up missing on ur watch" lol They actually have 2 babies from the old fry and there bout smaller then an inch but stay to themselves which Hydra has been with her previous babies since Phinnie ran her off.

 

[Deadeye]

That could be it. Convicts are one of the most attentive parents. They are also one of the hardest on their mates. My female beat the crap out of her partner (a blood parrot) before the eggs even hatched (then ate them, cichlids are weird). If you have some livebearers or tetras, you can try to put a school. The convicts will recognize them as a threat before each other.