Jack Dempsey Breeding

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Well I will try that thanks! They used the cave the last time so I figured that would work but if putting the slate in there would help them breed faster I will do that. I wish they would just breed already! I miss seeing those babies. One more thing I found one last survivor of their first spawn and they seem to notice him because he hasn't been ate, could this be why their not breeding?
 
As for the slate or flat rock ,I think that basically just gives the female an obvious and easy place to lay her eggs were they will be "safe"! But most of all it makes it easy for me to take the whole rock, eggs and all out and hatch them in a separate tank to insure a high survival rate! If you're just breeding for fun, leave them in there and watch some of the most amazing fish parents do they're thing! As for the offspring, in my experience the parents will protect and nurture them until they are ready to spawn again. At this time, the fry will be disregarded and pushed out of the spawning area like any other community fish.( Get eaten, or FLEE!) If there is enough room and hiding places, many of the fry should survive. In short, I don't believe previous fry effect the continued spawning of the parents, although with the eggs removed I do believe it speeds up the spawning cycle by a few weeks! Lol

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If your female already laid eggs in the cave then she will tend to them for a few days, even if the eggs are not fertilized. I have breed Jacks a few times and I would say the best way to breed them is with a piece of slate amongst some larger rocks that they can't knock over. Some times when females choose caves the males either can't fit in them or don't fell comfortable in the tight space and will not fertilize the eggs. Another important thing to do with breeding jacks beside a good diet and slate is to give them some privacy. Sometimes when cichlids are constantly being watched it stops them from spawning because they feel threatened.
 
I will put the slate in there in a few days she seems drawn to the cave and is just floating in there but I looked and didn't see any eggs. My fear though is they are in a public place but they have bred there before but with so many people walking by their tank they are skittish. I will give an update in a few days and hopefully will be good news. I will post pics soon! Thanks for the help.
 
UPDATE: Still no eggs:( but I put in the piece of slate and crossed my fingers. I do see something which *might* be the egg tube but I am not sure it hasn't gone away so I don't know what it is. I noticed what appears to be teeth marks or scratches on her nose and I was wondering could this be a sign of lip locking or has she ran into something?
 
Seems like good signs...notice them moving gravel/digging pits at all yet? And I forgot to ask...what are your plans this time around if and when they do lay eggs?

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She is really intensely moving the rocks by the cave. There use to be maybe 3 in. of gravel there and now it is the tanks bottom. I would add pictures but haven't figured out how to get them off the camera to my computer I have an idea though so it would be soon. I am just going to leave the eggs in there and watch the parents let them grow. I will remove them when they are old enough, I have someone who wants a few and I have tanks set up for them.
 
UPDATE: I caught the pair lip locking Tuesday but it only lasted a couple of minutes. I left them alone to do their thing and when I returned 3 min. later the female was pushed up in the corner cowering while the male just sat in the cave. She wasn't beat up or anything so I decided to keep a close eye on them and just keep her in there. A hour or so went by and they were back to normal and I use the word normal loosely. They aren't swimming around that much and are just floating by the cave doing nothing... There are still no eggs or fry sadly.
 
Incorrect...unless im wrong about what a "mouthbrooder" is? Dempsey's lay they're eggs on a flat surface (such as a rock). Once the eggs have hatched the tiny little wigglers are moved carefully when needed by the parents using they're mouths. This is just to relocate the fry to avoid potential dangers. As the fry do not spend any significant amount of time in the parents mouth,and the eggs are not hatched in the parents mouth. I do not believe them to be mouthbrooders.

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