Last night, for the second time in roughly 6-8 weeks my female laid eggs. The first time I was unaware of what was happening when the male became overtly aggressive towards the female to the point he had eaten away most of her fins and had even left an open wound the size of a half dollar on her side just below her dorsal fin. I had no choice but to place a divider in the tank (55 gals) to offer her refuge. Although still a bit reclusive she laid eggs about 6-7 days later. Not knowing what to do, after some internet research and learning that the male still had to fertilize thye eggs I removed the divider. To my dismay the male began his relentless attacks on the female again so I had to replace the divider.
Since then the female has recovered quite well. I have left the divider in the tank to insure she has time needed to grow all her fins back and for the open wound to heal. You can hardly tell she was injured now.
So, now that we are up to date..... after discovering that the male has to fertilize the eggs AFTER they have been laid I removed the divider this morning under careful watch. Thus far no cause for alarm as they appear to get along just fine like they had for roughly 7-8 months that they have been together.
The eggs appear to have been fertilized due to the fact they have not gotten hard and white like they did shortly after being laid the last time. My general reasoning in posting is to have somewhere to seek information and advice so that hopefully I may see teh eggs hatch and be able to raise and retain the fry. Last time I was frantically searching the web to try to avoid losing the eggs but was unable to locate any sites before the eggs were no longer any good.
Any interaction and advice is greatly appreciated as I am very excited. I had a couple of JD's as a chiold and have now had several for the last 4 years but this is my first breeding.
My male is almost 8" and the female is about 3/4" smaller. She was introduced back in November after losing what I presume now to be a second male. I have had the male for about 4 years and as of losing a smaller unknown cichlid last week they share the tank with only a 13" pleco (who rarely leaves his cave under a rock) and a small 2" catfish (who also is rarely seen as he lives in the hollow of a decoration rock.
Since then the female has recovered quite well. I have left the divider in the tank to insure she has time needed to grow all her fins back and for the open wound to heal. You can hardly tell she was injured now.
So, now that we are up to date..... after discovering that the male has to fertilize the eggs AFTER they have been laid I removed the divider this morning under careful watch. Thus far no cause for alarm as they appear to get along just fine like they had for roughly 7-8 months that they have been together.
The eggs appear to have been fertilized due to the fact they have not gotten hard and white like they did shortly after being laid the last time. My general reasoning in posting is to have somewhere to seek information and advice so that hopefully I may see teh eggs hatch and be able to raise and retain the fry. Last time I was frantically searching the web to try to avoid losing the eggs but was unable to locate any sites before the eggs were no longer any good.
Any interaction and advice is greatly appreciated as I am very excited. I had a couple of JD's as a chiold and have now had several for the last 4 years but this is my first breeding.
My male is almost 8" and the female is about 3/4" smaller. She was introduced back in November after losing what I presume now to be a second male. I have had the male for about 4 years and as of losing a smaller unknown cichlid last week they share the tank with only a 13" pleco (who rarely leaves his cave under a rock) and a small 2" catfish (who also is rarely seen as he lives in the hollow of a decoration rock.
Sunday night.....it appears all the eggs have now died. I can only assume that I didn't remove the divider from between them in the proper amount of time for the male to fertilize them.