Idiot Male Festae

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mrrobxc

mrrobxc

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Nov 29, 2012
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So my pair of festae have 3 week old fry swimming around and my male decides to start beating on my female. My tank has plenty of hiding places so she is able to get away but her fins are pretty torn up and the scales are all jacked.

In the tank is a small pair of blue convicts which i put in there to act as target fish. The dithers (pink tailed chalceus) were all killed. Now that the female (who was a great parent) is not allowed anywhere near the fry, the fry are getting picked off by the convicts.

The male festae is a terrible parent with a short attention span and does a terrible job of keep the fry protected and together as a group. When I come to the tank, he runs and hides whereas the female used to stay close to them.

I'm now writing off my fry as a lost cause and I'm afraid the female is done for.

So pissed. Can't believe why male cichlids do this sort of thing. Anyone have tips short of dividing the tank? I do not want to do that for my display and I'd rather get rid of the fish than put in a divider.

Thanks.
 
I have a spare female in my spare tank. The other tank has smaller fish and he'd kill them all. Freaking annoying. Seems like the only way to have long term success with these as a pair is in a divided tank or in a community where all the other fish keep the pair bond strong.

Having a tank with just a breeding pair having fry and living in harmony seems to be a pipe dream since all i ever read is how the males suddenly decide they hate the females and beat them.
 
What size tank? Ive never used a divider with mine but they are in a 8' tank. Our female is alot more aggro than the male. You could pull the fry too and see what happens. Sounds like he's ready to spawn again and she's not..........Dividing might be your only option at the moment
 
its a 6 foot 150 gallon. I dont have a fry tank save for the sump for my 225. I guess i could try that. I may just end up selling them. Not worth using up the whole 150 in the formal living room for a pair of fish that have to be divided.
 
This is standard practice with many cichlids, when this happens, it is best to remove the male to another tank, or put in a divider, as suggested above. The divider can have a cutout that allows the female to pass back and forth as needed.
With many cichlids, after a spawn, the male simply moves on to find another receptive female, and in a tank your female faces serious risk.
If you use a divider, the fry with go to the parent that best takes care of them.
You could also siphon the fry into their own rearing tank.
But if you want to save the female from imminent death, separation is the key.
 
Sometimes things just won't work out no matter what you try. I think I just got lucky by having a pretty mellow male and a highly aggro female.

Hope it works out somehow..


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I say toss convicts in with so are female and divide the pair. I have been very successful with Festae and this will work and you could possibly still save the fry


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I'm still new to the hobby so I can't give much advise. What is the primary goal here? I'm sure Ideally you'd like the pair to get along, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. Maybe if you remove the fry, the female will become willing to spawn again and harmony can be restored. You'll just have to keep removing the fry once he starts showing signs of aggression again.
 
This happens from time to time with Festae. The best way to deal with this and keep your fish is to put a divider with holes just large enough for the female but not the male. Siphon out the fry. If you don't want to bother with the fry just leave them they will eventually get picked off. When the fry are gone the female will quickly go back into spawning mode and the pair will get along again for a while.
My pair has gotten along for well over a year then something happened and I had to use a divider for about two months now they are ok again.
 
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