Breeding

[madmax666]

Hey i have a 55gallon deluxe tank from walmart. I have 2 jack demseys, 2 blood parrs, and 1 rainbow shark. My jack demseys laid eggs and they hatched recently.(no more now tho fish ate them) I was trying to use adivider an put the mom and babies on one side and tother on the other side but the babies ended up on both sides. I s thinking of other ways to save the babies next time. I was thinking a little latch on tank on the side madof nets or my bro has a 30gallon tank with 4 mollies.
PLZ HELP
THANKS A LOT ,
MATT

[rich311k]

You will need a grow out tank to raise them.

[Menagerie]

WELCOME TO AA
JDs will breed often and you can quickly become overloaded with them. As the breeding pair become better parents, they will protect their fry--which means that tank will be looking quite small as the other fish will be run off by the parents. You need to think about what you would do with a bunch of juvie JDs. Most stores will not take them if they are too small (you many not be able to sell them/give them to any lfs) and most grow out tanks will not allow the juvies to grow big enough. Putting JDs in with mollies is not a good idea. Looking at a JD, you will see a huge mouth--these guys are eaters and terrors at times. I allow nature to take it's course in my cichlid tanks. If the fry survive--great, if not, great also. I don't want my tanks to become over populated and I don't want to be dragging juvie fish all over town to see who will take them. BTW~JDs are aggressive buggers. Watch out for aggression against the BPs.

[princessp714]

Hi, I'd personally go with another tank. with a divider you would need seperate filtration and it turns into a hassle. I would go grab a 30g and breed & raise there. GL

[madmax666]

my fish get along but when i bout the bps i new it was a 50-50 chance and they were only $7 each. I talked to my lfs and they will but them but not as fry. They want them to be probley abotu 1 inch. I think sometime this week im making another cave so the jacks have a cave and the bp have a cave. I have a 10 gallon tnak that in a dire case i can cycle then put em in.
THANK YOU SO MUCH

[Menagerie]

Just keep in mind that fish behavior may change and the JDs and BPs may not co-exist peacefully in the future. Good luck with the fry raising and post pictures when you are successful (or when the fish are successful ).

[jdboy]

In my opinion you are too overstocked in your 55. I have been breeding JD's for a little while, and currently have a batch of fry that have been free swimming for 3 days. My pair is in a 75, by themselves, and when my female doesn't want to breed EVERY month or two like the male does, she still has to swim across the whole 75, and hide in and out of the clay flowerpots, and caves that are in the aquarium. I have never personally tried it, but from the advice that I've read and been given, breeding JD's in a 55 can work fine, but they should be the only one's, except possible dithers, in there. The babies could have disappeared for several reasons. Sometimes it takes the parents a little while to get things right. My pair did not raise any fry the first couple of times. Both parents, once they get it right, will protect and raise the fry, and there is no reason to separate either parent from the fry until they get bigger. Once the parents start showing a lose of interest in the fry, or appear to be getting ready to breed again than you will need to separate the fry. Also, if the parents get too stressed from protecting the fry they will eat their own fry. Make sure all of the intakes on your filters are covered so there are not big hole in it in which your fry can be sucked up into. You might want to check your filter to see if there are any in there. Also, if you want to raise fry make sure you don't get a pleco, as they have a good and just reputation for eating the eggs at night. I raise my fry in a 30 gallon until they get big enough for one of a couple of LFS's that will take them. If neither store needs the fry, I, though it sounds cruel, use them as feeders.