# breeding Jack dempseys



## blonpunk88 (Mar 22, 2010)

I have a young pair of jack dempseys, they paired up and had fry around the end of june - beg. of July. I've read around and asked, and everyone says they usually have a couple months in between breeding.

So my question is will it just..happen? or do I need to get them prepared for it then they'll breed again. And if so, what do I need to do to get them to breed again?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

In the wild they'd probably breed once a year. In the aquarium, its likely they will not breed again while guarding fry. When they start driving the fry away from a spawning site and putting their tubes out, they are likely to breed soon. If you take the fry they might breed sooner, but they may blame one another for loosing the babies and have a fight about it. I'd take the fry out little by little. Maybe net out 6-12 once a week.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

emc7 said:


> In the wild they'd probably breed once a year. In the aquarium, its likely they will not breed again while guarding fry. When they start driving the fry away from a spawning site and putting their tubes out, they are likely to breed soon. If you take the fry they might breed sooner, but they may blame one another for loosing the babies and have a fight about it. I'd take the fry out little by little. Maybe net out 6-12 once a week.


haha blaming eachother thats funny!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Funny but real, cichlids are smart enough not to want to breed again with a bad parent, good enough parents to notice if the fry vanish and cichlid "divorces" can be violent. Smarter fish will blame you and never let you see the fry or eat their eggs when they see you or attack your arm every time it gets in the tank. 

Have a divider that fits your tank on hand, "just in case". 

There are methods of "triggering" spawning. It varies with the fish, sometime pH or temp. changes, often separating males and females and putting them back together (I wouldn't do this to a cichlid pair that is getting along) and feeding a good higher protein diet. This is the place to get really specific in your research and start communicating with people who have spawned the same fish. I wouldn't try to increase production unless you have a decent plan for dealing with lots and lots of fry.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

yeah i know they also choose mates with the best traits. kinda like the piece on the cuttle fish on LIFE.


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