ok so its been about three days now and the male dovii will not stop violently attacking the female i put in with him. is it time to just take her out or should i give it some more time. i have never had a pair of cichlids before so i am kind of new at the whole male female thing. (when it comes to fish haha) anyways let me know what you guys think. thanks in advance.
should i take her out?
- Thread starter p_dizzle24
- Start date
put up a divider to seperate them for now and so that the female can claim some territory. then after a few weeks, cut a hole big enough for her but not the male.
ok thanks for the info. ive got a divider in there now which so far so good. the male keeps ramming it but doesnt seem to be doing any damage to himself or the divider. the female seems like she wants over there or something because she keeps trying to mouth fight with him through the divider.
so just an update..... i still have the divider in and everything seems ok. the male is not ramming the divider like he was but he still interested in her. he still does try and attack her every once in a while but not like he used to. i am thinking about cutting a " love hole " in the divider in the next couple days just to see what happens. what do you guys think?
From what I have seen, the hole in the divider works very well when it comes to these larger cichlids. I have noticed some make a few holes, so it is a little easier for the females. I have not done it because I have only bread convicts and had no major problems. Good luck!
Yeah, if she is smaller than him where as she can fit thru a hole that he can't then give it a go.With my festae I just remove the whole divider but then they have been togather over 2 yrs and I can tell when she is ready.GL
nice. thanks for the info. that is a good idea to put a few holes in it. i was just gonna put one but why wouldnt you put a couple in it. any ideas on what material to use for the divider? ya she is smaller. she is about 5 to 6 inches and he is about 10 inches.
most people use the plastic egg crate/ light diffuser stuff you can buy at home depot, cut it to the size of your tank and then cut out several square holes big enough for her to get through, you want to put more than one hole and on different heights so if she is dashing away from him she doesn't have to slow down to look for the hole and can get away better, just make sure when you cut the holes to smooth the rough edges so they don't hurt themselves on it
id say divider.. let them get aquainted behind walls.. 
slowly bring down the wall keeping a close eye on them till they start to dance not fight 
slowly bring down the wall keeping a close eye on them till they start to dance not fight great guys thanks a lot. its been two weeks since i have put the divider in and things are much better. very rarely does it look like he wants to bite her. they kinda meet each other at the divider and like swim up and down looking for a way to get to the other side. so i think this weekend i am gonna DIY a divider and see what happens. thanks again.