dempseymom
New Member
DAY ONE
Digger(female) ~Bright Colors
~Aggressive when other tank mates, also Jack Dempseys, come to close to the nest
~Feeds for fry by braking up the food
Diamond(male) ~Very Dark Colors
~Been relocating the fry in his mouth
~Also very protective of the fry and nest
Tank Mates: two 7 month old JD's, two feeders, one plecotomus
Fry were hatched the morning of September 11, 2012, they are all in the nest/cave area. There appear to be about one hundred, but with so many in the cave it is hard to tell. Little wigglers everywhere. It was interesting because they all didn't make it out of the eggs alone, Digger would 'suck' the stuck fry from the rock into her mouth and take them to the back of the cave. She repeated this process until everyone was hatched out safe. Diamond appeared to be standing guard during this process.
Temperature: 74
DAY TWO
Fry are starting to spread slightly around the rocks of their cave, but staying pretty close. Both Parents are hovering above them at all times and moving them back when they stray more the a few inches...
I re-homed 2 JD's from their tank prior to the hatching after the mated pair was showing violent behaviors and killed off one JD in a jaw fight. I was unable to remove the other two that remained before it was to late. Tonight I have a JD who remains in hiding for the second day. I have been able to locate him and watch him eat. The other was not as lucky. I just removed her from the tank after receiving significant tail fin damage and some missing scales. I don't know of she will make it. The feeders still somehow are swimming however. No one is interested in live bait. Thank goodness...
Temperature: 74
DAY THREE
Digger tried killing another JD but was unsuccessful, did cause severe damage. I isolated the damaged JD to hopefully allow her to heal, however, she is unlikely to service.
Fry are exploring their aquarium spreading more, but both parents are still around them. They've spread out into about a 6"x8" area.
I just received a second aquarium so I can try saving the remaining JD Goldie, who has been trapped hiding under rocks in the corner of the caves.
Temperature: 75
DAY FOUR
I have another tank set up now for Goldie, it is just a 30 tall. She has been relocated, along with the two feeders. The second JD survived the night, but I had to take her out today because she spent hours sideways and upside down. With little to no tail, and so much scale damage, she didn't have much of a chance. Goldie as swimming all over exploring her new home, where she is not near as stressed, and seems to be doing excellent.
The fry seem to be in two desperate schools today, but still very close. Each parent is watching after a school. They seem to already be adventuring further away from the caves, maybe because they have no one to worry about eating their new blood. Digger uprooted the bamboo stalks, as I expected, so they have also been removed to be replaced with something more appropriate for the set up at a later time.
Temperature: 74
DAY FIVE
Not much has changed in the last day. The parents are still hovering the fry as they spread around the caves, occasionally collecting their babies and bringing them back to the cave opening. The aquarium is becoming dirty and the mother is doing a bad job keeping the nest area clean. The rocks around them have developed a layer of brown filth. The whole tank is do for its cleaning, however do to the size of the fry I will be postponing it and possibly doing a water change later next week. On the up note, the fry have seemed to double in size. They are acting very healthy and trying to swim vertically up the glass, making it about six inches.
Temperature: 76
DAY SIX
Today is different. While the fry seem to be active and healthy, the parents are acting much different. Both have changed in appearance, the female losing her bright and brilliant colors, and the male losing his deep dark black shade. Both are rather muted and pale now. On top of the physical change, they seem to be missing in action quite a bit today. They have managed to make new openings underneath their current rock caves, I actually thought they had jumped out because I could not locate either of them. I witnessed Diamond leaving their new hiding spot after watching the tank for almost thirty-five minutes, only for him to notice me and dart back under. Normally both parents eye me and are darn near attacking the glass to get to me, today they swim off quickly kicking up substrate and hiding. The fry still seem well, and without the parents collecting them and watching, they are threw out the entire tank.
Temperature: 75
DAY SEVEN
My oh my, the new blood is now a week old and doing wonderful. They are more then three times the size, and extremely active. The parents, however, they are the most entertaining surprisingly. As I have previously logged, the cave was filthy, and the parents lost their gorgeous coloring. Surprise! Colors are back...along with MORE new blood! I couldn't figure out why the mating JD's had suddenly lost interest in their fry, nor did I understand why they had let their caves get so dirty...this evening I figured out why.
The layer of filth was hiding something, little to my knowledge, because never before have I seen EGGS hidden I'm such a way. Late last night I witnessed Digger, my female, flapping her tail over the rocks kicking up a mess. Frustrated, I ignored what I couldn't help and retired to bed. This morning while feeding them, I noticed all the rocks were clean. Almost as good as if I had taken them out and done it myself. Upon closer inspection, I realized what was growing on. They have been preparing for a second batch of fry. The first batch I was anticipating after observing their behaviors...this one was more then an unexpected surprise. The parents remain in the cave/nest, and while I can't see much, I do see tiny wigglers. Both Digger and my male, Diamond, remain in the cave for the most part, randomly coming out for a few minutes at a time...as long as no one is near the tank. Is it normal to have them lay this quickly? My favorite part about what I seen today was the beautiful markings that have returned to my parents. I was disappointed to see them go. I sure hope this doesn't happen again...the tank simply isn't large enough. At this rate I will need a 1,000 gallon grow out tank, lol.
Temperature: 75
Digger(female) ~Bright Colors
~Aggressive when other tank mates, also Jack Dempseys, come to close to the nest
~Feeds for fry by braking up the food
Diamond(male) ~Very Dark Colors
~Been relocating the fry in his mouth
~Also very protective of the fry and nest
Tank Mates: two 7 month old JD's, two feeders, one plecotomus
Fry were hatched the morning of September 11, 2012, they are all in the nest/cave area. There appear to be about one hundred, but with so many in the cave it is hard to tell. Little wigglers everywhere. It was interesting because they all didn't make it out of the eggs alone, Digger would 'suck' the stuck fry from the rock into her mouth and take them to the back of the cave. She repeated this process until everyone was hatched out safe. Diamond appeared to be standing guard during this process.
Temperature: 74
DAY TWO
Fry are starting to spread slightly around the rocks of their cave, but staying pretty close. Both Parents are hovering above them at all times and moving them back when they stray more the a few inches...
I re-homed 2 JD's from their tank prior to the hatching after the mated pair was showing violent behaviors and killed off one JD in a jaw fight. I was unable to remove the other two that remained before it was to late. Tonight I have a JD who remains in hiding for the second day. I have been able to locate him and watch him eat. The other was not as lucky. I just removed her from the tank after receiving significant tail fin damage and some missing scales. I don't know of she will make it. The feeders still somehow are swimming however. No one is interested in live bait. Thank goodness...
Temperature: 74
DAY THREE
Digger tried killing another JD but was unsuccessful, did cause severe damage. I isolated the damaged JD to hopefully allow her to heal, however, she is unlikely to service.
Fry are exploring their aquarium spreading more, but both parents are still around them. They've spread out into about a 6"x8" area.
I just received a second aquarium so I can try saving the remaining JD Goldie, who has been trapped hiding under rocks in the corner of the caves.
Temperature: 75
DAY FOUR
I have another tank set up now for Goldie, it is just a 30 tall. She has been relocated, along with the two feeders. The second JD survived the night, but I had to take her out today because she spent hours sideways and upside down. With little to no tail, and so much scale damage, she didn't have much of a chance. Goldie as swimming all over exploring her new home, where she is not near as stressed, and seems to be doing excellent.
The fry seem to be in two desperate schools today, but still very close. Each parent is watching after a school. They seem to already be adventuring further away from the caves, maybe because they have no one to worry about eating their new blood. Digger uprooted the bamboo stalks, as I expected, so they have also been removed to be replaced with something more appropriate for the set up at a later time.
Temperature: 74
DAY FIVE
Not much has changed in the last day. The parents are still hovering the fry as they spread around the caves, occasionally collecting their babies and bringing them back to the cave opening. The aquarium is becoming dirty and the mother is doing a bad job keeping the nest area clean. The rocks around them have developed a layer of brown filth. The whole tank is do for its cleaning, however do to the size of the fry I will be postponing it and possibly doing a water change later next week. On the up note, the fry have seemed to double in size. They are acting very healthy and trying to swim vertically up the glass, making it about six inches.
Temperature: 76
DAY SIX
Today is different. While the fry seem to be active and healthy, the parents are acting much different. Both have changed in appearance, the female losing her bright and brilliant colors, and the male losing his deep dark black shade. Both are rather muted and pale now. On top of the physical change, they seem to be missing in action quite a bit today. They have managed to make new openings underneath their current rock caves, I actually thought they had jumped out because I could not locate either of them. I witnessed Diamond leaving their new hiding spot after watching the tank for almost thirty-five minutes, only for him to notice me and dart back under. Normally both parents eye me and are darn near attacking the glass to get to me, today they swim off quickly kicking up substrate and hiding. The fry still seem well, and without the parents collecting them and watching, they are threw out the entire tank.
Temperature: 75
DAY SEVEN
My oh my, the new blood is now a week old and doing wonderful. They are more then three times the size, and extremely active. The parents, however, they are the most entertaining surprisingly. As I have previously logged, the cave was filthy, and the parents lost their gorgeous coloring. Surprise! Colors are back...along with MORE new blood! I couldn't figure out why the mating JD's had suddenly lost interest in their fry, nor did I understand why they had let their caves get so dirty...this evening I figured out why.
The layer of filth was hiding something, little to my knowledge, because never before have I seen EGGS hidden I'm such a way. Late last night I witnessed Digger, my female, flapping her tail over the rocks kicking up a mess. Frustrated, I ignored what I couldn't help and retired to bed. This morning while feeding them, I noticed all the rocks were clean. Almost as good as if I had taken them out and done it myself. Upon closer inspection, I realized what was growing on. They have been preparing for a second batch of fry. The first batch I was anticipating after observing their behaviors...this one was more then an unexpected surprise. The parents remain in the cave/nest, and while I can't see much, I do see tiny wigglers. Both Digger and my male, Diamond, remain in the cave for the most part, randomly coming out for a few minutes at a time...as long as no one is near the tank. Is it normal to have them lay this quickly? My favorite part about what I seen today was the beautiful markings that have returned to my parents. I was disappointed to see them go. I sure hope this doesn't happen again...the tank simply isn't large enough. At this rate I will need a 1,000 gallon grow out tank, lol.
Temperature: 75
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