Jack Dempsies

[ManiacMagoo]

Ok I have a 9" male who is jet black with bright turquoise side markings and a neon orange stripe along his top fin. I have a 7" female who is also almost jet black with similar markings and dark black tiger stripes. I though before they had bred but never saw anything. Well yesterday I walked past my tank and notice my female looked alittle funny. She was solid black except for the top 1/4' from her tail to nose was pure white and her eyes are now solid white. Wish I had a camera capable of taking a picture because it is trippy looking. Well they have cleared thier corner of the tank of all the gravel and I looked and there are eggs everywhere. At first I was thinking about moving them to a seperate tank but they are way to aggressive and I just dont want to over stress them with sticking my hand in there. My question is besides sticking a divider up in my tank and sticking nylon over my filter intakes what else should I do? My mom who has raised them said something about some fungus stuff to change the water blue but couldn't remember the name. This is my first hatch so I want to try and get atleast 1 to live.

 

[rich311k]

If they did it once, they will do it again. I would let them try and do it themselves. If it doesn't work out you can make arraingments for the next time. From what I have read Dempseys usually are great parents.

Good Luck

 

[ManiacMagoo]

Well I have a 8" ciclid and 10" catfish in the tank and the ctafish is pretty aggresive but so far the male dempsey has kept them coralled into the other side of the tank. I guess I will sit and watch. My kids are loving this

 

[BrianNY]

Your mom was referring to Methylene Blue. I wouldn't use it in your tank because it will stain gravel and ornaments. Eggs that have not been fertilized will fungus however the parents should pick them off. Dempseys make extremely good parents but with so many fish in the tank they will probably give up in frustration and eat the eggs or fry.

Do you have the room to set up their own breeding tank?

 

[ManiacMagoo]

I don't have a spare tank atm since I'm letting my mom use it. As for them giving up I doubt they will. The other fish don't even bother her and stay on the other side of the tank. They have pretty much built a wall with most the gravel in the tank that goes almost half way up and all the way across 1/4 of the tank. So I think I will sit this one out and watch. My ciclid and catfish have been really mellow lately since she layed the eggs and haven't tried bothering her.

 

[BrianNY]

Then consider yourself very lucky and..........good luck.

I think dempseys are great fish. Wish you lived closer. I'd take a few fry off your hands.

 

[ManiacMagoo]

Woke up this morning to wiggles! It is interesting watching mom scoop them up and move them over the the gravel bed she made for them. So far I have 18 wigglers that Ive seen.

 

[BrianNY]

 

[ManiacMagoo]

OMG 8O I just looked at my tank and she has filled the mouth of this large skull I have with wigglers and there must be around 100 so far in it 8O . Guess I might be buying my new tank sooner .

 

[ManiacMagoo]

Ok now I have all these little fry in my tank. I have ended up getting rid of my ciclid and catfish due to the abuse they where getting. Now I need to clean the tank. Are there any precautions I need to take while cleaning aside from watching where the little guys are?

 

[BrianNY]

Are setting up the new tank to raise the fry, or are you removong the parents? I always find it less of a problem to remove the parents than the fry.

A few things you need to be mindful of.
1. When adding water to the fry tank, pay very careful attention to the pH. A sudden shift will kill fry.
2. Make sure you have a seeded filter when transferring the fish.

 

[ManiacMagoo]

I setup my 2gal tank for now till they get bigger. I took gravel out of the tank and filled it with tank water to minimize the switch. The fry are doing good. Have about 21ish that lived. I left alot for the parents to take care of but after removing the other 2 fish I guess it stressed them or something and they ate the other fry. My kids love sitting and looking at the fry all day. The fry seem to like it since they only come out of the plant I have in the tank when someone walks up to it. Hoping they all make it. The parents are starting thier mating ritual again so we will see.