Well I vented them. It was very obvious that I have a male and female. I've never vented a fish before but the difference was obvious. Thanks for all of your opinions and help. Since these two have been together for about a year, and have never spawned (as far as I know) what can I do to encourage them to do so. They have always been in tanks with other cichlids of the same size like oscars, and a 7" male jaguar and a large pleco. I have a 55 gallon running with no fish in it and fully cycled. Should I try putting them in that tank by themselves??? Thanks for any advice!!
Jack Dempsey Male and Female????
- Thread starter greenterror66
- Start date
I have a breeding pair of Jack Dempsey's (I posted a thread here just under a year ago with photos of their spawning). I was lucky I guess...love at first sight...but it still took them about 6-8 weeks to breed.
If you're sure you have a male & female...5 things I would try/do:
- frequent water changes
- slight increase in water temp.
- move them into a tank by themselves
- place a flat rock or a terra cotta plant pot (or both) in the tank for the female to lay eggs into/on
- one other trick is to tape a small mirror onto the outside of the tank. The male is supposed to get angry at his reflection & fight with it. This is supposed to "turn the female on"...then she starts nudging him...and hopefully things progress from there!
Good luck
I also wanted to mention. My JD male is MUCH larger than my JD female. She's about 5"-6"...he's 9+" (much larger in volume). So if your two JD's are similar in size (and they're not breeding) maybe the female is not very impressed with the males size. Even worse...if she thinks she's the boss...or even equal's!
My male JD is very very aggressive. He wouldn't even think twice about fighting with another cichlid MUCH larger than he is. And he ALWAYS tries to bite me when I clean the tank. He also puts the female JD in "her place" every once & a while whether she needs it or not. And I'm sure he would kill her if she tried to show any sort of dominant behavior. He's one nasty male JD. But impressive.
My male JD is very very aggressive. He wouldn't even think twice about fighting with another cichlid MUCH larger than he is. And he ALWAYS tries to bite me when I clean the tank. He also puts the female JD in "her place" every once & a while whether she needs it or not. And I'm sure he would kill her if she tried to show any sort of dominant behavior. He's one nasty male JD. But impressive.
Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try. My female JD is a about a year older than my male JD. She is about 2 1/2 years old and he is about a 1 1/2 years old. They are just about the same size right now (somewhere around 6"). His size caught up with her rather quickly. Thanks again.
I also wanted to mention. My JD male is MUCH larger than my JD female. She's about 5"-6"...he's 9+" (much larger in volume). So if your two JD's are similar in size (and they're not breeding) maybe the female is not very impressed with the males size. Even worse...if she thinks she's the boss...or even equal's!
My male JD is very very aggressive. He wouldn't even think twice about fighting with another cichlid MUCH larger than he is. And he ALWAYS tries to bite me when I clean the tank. He also puts the female JD in "her place" every once & a while whether she needs it or not. And I'm sure he would kill her if she tried to show any sort of dominant behavior. He's one nasty male JD. But impressive.
Mine are same way, but both very passive. Only fish he ever chased is a male convict. He's chased her here and there, but last time they bred she beat the SNOT out of him. Clouded eyes, torn fins, the works. He's a gentle giant. Soon to be too gentle it seems.
Fishkeeping is my cocaine.
