Now I had 5 eba 2 had paired up and spawned 3 times but appeared to eaten the fry. They were making the other 3 ebas life hell so on saturday I moved the 3 un paired eba. Now the pair have lost their intense dark blue faces and are back to their normal colours but don't seem to be a pair anymore. Has moving the other 3 caused their bond to break ?.
very strange
- Thread starter bathawk
- Start date
Some fish require an enemy to defend their turf from to stay bonded as a pair. I'd guess this is what's happening, you could add a school of tetras or some swordtails and it might give the same affect as the other EBAs without causing such a ruckus in your tank.
I’ve kept and spawn EBA for several years now.
I agree with the others that it could be a lack of an “enemy “ to reenforce the pair bond.
But, I believe that with EBA along with a lot of other cichlid species, it’s the lack or a conspecific.
I’ve noticed that with keeping pairs in a tank as the dominant fish, although they stayed paired the bond was somewhat weaker and they spent a lot of time just living and swimming around the tank.
When another EBA or pair of EBA where setup in the same tank or even tanks next to each other(so they could see each other) the pair bonds of both set were stronger and the incentive to defend and spawn was increased.
I agree with the others that it could be a lack of an “enemy “ to reenforce the pair bond.
But, I believe that with EBA along with a lot of other cichlid species, it’s the lack or a conspecific.
I’ve noticed that with keeping pairs in a tank as the dominant fish, although they stayed paired the bond was somewhat weaker and they spent a lot of time just living and swimming around the tank.
When another EBA or pair of EBA where setup in the same tank or even tanks next to each other(so they could see each other) the pair bonds of both set were stronger and the incentive to defend and spawn was increased.
Agree with the others, to maintain a pair bond, there sometimes needs to be another few individuals of the same species to defend against.
I usually place an egg crate divider in the tank, with the pair on one side, others the other side.
Cichlids communicate in more ways than just sight alone. With a divider they can hear each other, detect pheromones, and feel water pressure created by fin slapping and other gyrations they use to determine status, and strength of mates, and rivals.
There is an entire chapter in the book "The Cichlid Fishes, Natures Grand Experiment in Evolution" called Cichlid Speak that expands on these factors, and other chapters on mating rituals etc.
An important read for those interested in more than just simplistic notions about their behavior.
I usually place an egg crate divider in the tank, with the pair on one side, others the other side.
Cichlids communicate in more ways than just sight alone. With a divider they can hear each other, detect pheromones, and feel water pressure created by fin slapping and other gyrations they use to determine status, and strength of mates, and rivals.
There is an entire chapter in the book "The Cichlid Fishes, Natures Grand Experiment in Evolution" called Cichlid Speak that expands on these factors, and other chapters on mating rituals etc.
An important read for those interested in more than just simplistic notions about their behavior.