jewel fish not breeding

[Andy Sager]

Yeah that's what I mean!
I've never seen this myself as that's why I'm confused as to why they aren't spawning and why they are doing that! And that's why I don't know what to do :/

I seen the male flashing but the female just doesn't seem interested but the breeding tubes don't make sense

It may be time to get another pair and see if it's you or the fish. I can't explain it any better. When you compare, you have a better chance of seeing differences that matter. Start a new pair in a tank that is designed for them to be breeding and not for decoration. If they spawn, you will know that that's the setup you need to try for the other pair to see if that fixes the problem. If the new fish don't spawn, you have to take a hard look at what you are doing. At this point, it could go wither way.

 

[bhavik95]

I was saying to get rid of the castle and put the rock down flat on the bottom.
Here's an interesting article that might help you. Notice what the fish are spawning on in the tank. Tips for aquarists: The complete guide for - Breeding jewel cichlids


I believe I have mentioned this before: Usually, when a pair does not breed again, there are conditions in the tank that don't meet their needs. If memory serves me, your fish spawned right after purchase which can easily be because of the water change they experienced and not necessarily because of anything you had done. Since you have not been able to get them to breed again, THAT is usually either a water issue, a set up issue or a conditioning issue. One of those is the reason. You must address each one, one at a time, to see what the cause was.

You know how you said that the water change may have caused the fish to breed as they breed the day after I bought them. Is there anyway I can recreate that again? I have been doing normal water changes but that hasn't doesn't anything so I was wondering if there is any way I could recreate the those condition

 

[54seaweed]

one must always remember theirs is no set guarantee there going too to begin with .
another factor there are certain times of the year fish are more actively spawning
wild life is the same way mating usually occurs early spring to mid summer than it slows down in the colder months ,
I notice the same kind of activity from my clowns there's like a 4 month window.

 

[Andy Sager]

You know how you said that the water change may have caused the fish to breed as they breed the day after I bought them. Is there anyway I can recreate that again? I have been doing normal water changes but that hasn't doesn't anything so I was wondering if there is any way I could recreate the those condition

The only way to recreate that is to have the water the store had and the food and maintenance the store had ( which you can't) so no, it's not just the changing of the water but what the water was changed from that triggers the response.

one must always remember theirs is no set guarantee there going too to begin with .
another factor there are certain times of the year fish are more actively spawning
wild life is the same way mating usually occurs early spring to mid summer than it slows down in the colder months ,
I notice the same kind of activity from my clowns there's like a 4 month window.

This would be true if you were dealing more with wild fish than tank bred. Jewels have been tank bred for decades so there is not usually a set breeding time of year for them anymore. Your clownfish ( I assume your marine clownfish) are a different fish. Marine fish are more in tune with moon cycles and tides. I'm sure as tank bred clowns become more used to breeding and domestication, they too will no longer be guided by these factors as well. It all just takes time.

 

[bhavik95]

So basically they are not going to breed then :/

 

[Andy Sager]

So basically they are not going to breed then :/

Not necessarily. If you have ruled out all the other possibilities ( and I went through about 3 of them) and still don't have success, THEN it would be more appropriate to say they are not going to spawn. Before then, it's just guessing.

 

[bhavik95]

Ok that's fine just to rule out conditioning could you tell me if I'm doing it right?
So during the weekday I feed them either flake or pellets and then on Saturday I feed them freeze dried live food and Sunday I don't feed them at all

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok that's fine just to rule out conditioning could you tell me if I'm doing it right?
So during the weekday I feed them either flake or pellets and then on Saturday I feed them freeze dried live food and Sunday I don't feed them at all

Conditioning the fish usually requires extra food and higher protein foods. You need to look at the protein contents of the foods you are feeding. ( read the label ) Compare that to a frozen ( not freeze dried but actual frozen) black worms or tubifex worms. Worms are what I have always used for conditioning because they are high protein foods. If you are currently matching that level of protein intake for the fish, you need to up the feedings then because the fish may not be getting enough food to produce the eggs. There is much debate over force starving your fish and personally, I see no actual reason for doing it. A good quality diet will not require you to starve your fish. Wild fish may not eat every day however, your fish most likely are not wild fish. They are tank bred which means they were used to being fed 3-6 times per day, every day, to get them large enough to get to market quickly. Now, you have reversed that and are barely feeding them ( I assume) and starving them for one day. Breeding fish is not the same as keeping them in a tank. It's a whole other animal. So I suggest at least 3 feeding per day containing both high protein foods and flake that has vegetable matter (so that the fish does not get backed up) or frozen brine shrimp that has not been fortified with extra protein. The chiton in the body of the brine shrimp is roughage and good for making the fish have normal eliminations.
(FYI: Wild fish get all that protein and roughage in their diet naturally so unless you are feeding your fish the exact same thing as wild fish are eating, you shouldn't follow wild fish recommendations. (IMO) )
So start with that.

 

[bhavik95]

Conditioning the fish usually requires extra food and higher protein foods. You need to look at the protein contents of the foods you are feeding. ( read the label ) Compare that to a frozen ( not freeze dried but actual frozen) black worms or tubifex worms. Worms are what I have always used for conditioning because they are high protein foods. If you are currently matching that level of protein intake for the fish, you need to up the feedings then because the fish may not be getting enough food to produce the eggs. There is much debate over force starving your fish and personally, I see no actual reason for doing it. A good quality diet will not require you to starve your fish. Wild fish may not eat every day however, your fish most likely are not wild fish. They are tank bred which means they were used to being fed 3-6 times per day, every day, to get them large enough to get to market quickly. Now, you have reversed that and are barely feeding them ( I assume) and starving them for one day. Breeding fish is not the same as keeping them in a tank. It's a whole other animal. So I suggest at least 3 feeding per day containing both high protein foods and flake that has vegetable matter (so that the fish does not get backed up) or frozen brine shrimp that has not been fortified with extra protein. The chiton in the body of the brine shrimp is roughage and good for making the fish have normal eliminations.
(FYI: Wild fish get all that protein and roughage in their diet naturally so unless you are feeding your fish the exact same thing as wild fish are eating, you shouldn't follow wild fish recommendations. (IMO) )
So start with that.

hi there as for food i feed them quite a bit and the pellets i feed them have good high protein they are actually meant for discus but i bought it has it brings out the colour in my fishes and as for live food i feed them dried tubex, shrimp and brine shrimp now and again so i think protein wise im good so could i eliminate that?

as for the setup i was wondering of getting either this clay breeding cave or clay plant pot and leaving them on the side where they could go into?

would these work? atm i set the tank up where i have the slate from earlier under a small cave it might not be big enough but it i dont think its working as no breeding going on or any signs of it so dont know what else to do?

what could i change for water conditions?

 

[Andy Sager]

For starters, dried food is not the same as live food. Again tho, you want to compare the protein value of frozen worms vs what you are feeding. For example, arbitrary numbers here, If the food you are feeding is 50% protein per serving ( a good amount for a "normal" diet) but a serving of frozen worms are 75% protein, then you are not feeding enough protein.
As for the breeding things, any of those would work but so will just the flat rock/slate. But, you will not lose out by giving the fish some other choices. Just note which worked ( if it does) and which didn't. Once the fish start spawning, they shouldn't stop so you should have some spawns to compare.

As for water conditions, you need to do a full test ( Ph, NH3, NH4, NO3, NO2, KH, GH, etc) and see if any of those need to be addressed. The bottom line is, if it's not the fish, what you have isn't working so you need to change it to something else. Anything else. You need to experiment. That's what breeders do.

 

[bhavik95]

yeah ok thats fine the range of protein in the food is from 50%-60% should that not be enough as well as the pellets i am feeding them most days.

thing is i have arranged the flat slate rock flat on the gravel with a small ish cave on the top of it which has a hole at the top and a open space at the bottom and that is placed on the slate so they can hide in that and lay on top of the slate but seen nothing yet.

the male seems interested in breeding but its the female that doesnt want to what does that mean? as the male is flashing at the female from time to time but the female doesnt seem interested like he isnt there and carry on with her business

as for water condition would it still be a problem if my angel pair are breeding as i thought they were more sensitive then the jewels

thanks for your help

 

[Andy Sager]

yeah ok thats fine the range of protein in the food is from 50%-60% should that not be enough as well as the pellets i am feeding them most days.

thing is i have arranged the flat slate rock flat on the gravel with a small ish cave on the top of it which has a hole at the top and a open space at the bottom and that is placed on the slate so they can hide in that and lay on top of the slate but seen nothing yet.

the male seems interested in breeding but its the female that doesnt want to what does that mean? as the male is flashing at the female from time to time but the female doesnt seem interested like he isnt there and carry on with her business

as for water condition would it still be a problem if my angel pair are breeding as i thought they were more sensitive then the jewels

thanks for your help

The bottom line is, if it's not the fish, what you have isn't working for THESE fish so you need to change it to something else. Anything else. You need to experiment. That's what breeders do.