Female #1 Has Spawned Again!

[CichliditisExtremitis]

Today there was quite a stir in the tank, as Bully Boy went totally berserko and was on the rampage again, seriously persecuting the other three males.

I immediately suspected what was going on; and sure enough, when I caught sight of her, female #1's ovipositor was extended again, and she was holding for the second time. The first time was on June 1st, so this makes her second spawn in exactly forty days. I knew that her time was near, as she was really gobbling down food during the past week, getting ready for the long incubation period ahead, during which time she would do without food. Last time, it lasted for seventeen days before she released her fry, and began eating again.

I am not certain who fertilized her eggs this time. I suspect that it may have been Bully Boy again, but with the other three males fully mature now, going crazy in the tank, and aggressively flirting with female #1, who knows. Maybe it was a case of fish polygamy! Eek!

Anyway, earlier, I had decided that this time around, I would just leave female #1 in the main tank, and let the fry take their chances with all of the adult mbunas. However, once again, I am already softening in my stance, because it is apparent that she is not going to get any rest; and as long as she is in there holding eggs, Bully Boy is going to be on the war path with the other males.

The thing is, there are so many rocks in the tank, stacked in such a particular order in order to create an established network of caves and tunnels, and now nicely covered with algae, that just the idea of tearing down the tank in order to catch her, does not appeal to me. I am thinking that maybe if I drain the water really low, she might come out into the open, and I will have an opportunity to catch her and put her in one of the waiting twenty-gallon tanks. Of course, if I lower the water level, Bully Boy will really have the other three males cornered, and will probably do a number on them.

And then there is dear little Junior. I would really feel terrible if the little guy became somebody's snack while the water level is low. He has been doing so well with his survival skills; and I have great faith that he will continue to elude the hungry mouths in the tank. But if I lower the water level, will that turn out to be a fatal mistake?

BTW, two days ago, on Wednesday, I did an approximate 50% water change; maybe even a little more.

 

[DragonFish71]

I don't know much about african cichlids, but maybe moving her and her mate to another tank so they can have some peace would be an idea. Is she the only female in the bunch? I'm sorry if I ask questions you may have answered in previous posts. If she's the only female then I would suspect the males would be driving her crazy all trying to spawn at different times. I know that was the case with our rams until we got even an even number of males to females (of course we lost all but 4) but from studying their behaviour it seemed once we evened the odds everyone got along better. Each pair could do their own thing and not get bothered by others. Just a thought, not sure how practicle it is with your set up and fish.

 

[CichliditisExtremitis]

Hello DragonFish71. Actually, that isn't quite the way it works with African cichlids. For the most part, putting one male with one female is a bad idea. It is best to keep at least four to six females with one male in order to spread out his aggression. If I were to move the female in question, along with Bully Boy -- my dominant male -- into a separate tank, he would never leave her alone, and she might even end up dead.

As I said in my previous post, the ideal situation would be to remove her, and place her alone in one of the other tanks that I have here -- as I did with her the last time -- so that she can incubate her eggs in peace. However, it simply involves too much work, tearing down the tank, and trying to catch her. I would have to do this about every forty days, and I am not prepared to do that.

On the bright side, she has managed to find some places of refuge in the main tank, and the aggression of spawning day has subsided considerably...at least until the next time that she spawns.