Ptychochromis Grandidieri

[ornate12]

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if this is the right area to post. My pair have spawned 3 times. I'm currently raising all 3 spawns separately. My problem shortly after the 3rd spawning, the male rough up the female a bit. I took the female out to strengthen her back up. This has been approx 2 months now. I tried putting them back together recently, the male again is rough. The male is coloring up when their together. The female try's to get away and breathing heavy. Any suggestions will be most appreciated. Thx Jim

[notho2000]

There are three strategies that I might suggest to lessen the aggression of the male and allow the pair bond to remain (somewhat) established. Having said that, I have found that the Ptychochromis that I have don't tend to particularly get along after a spawn has come and gone. Since you haven't mentioned how you have them set up, some of my comments may not apply since you may be doing them already.

1. Don't pull the eggs from the pair but let them hatch and come to the free-swimming stage with the parents. Then syphon out some of the fry, leaving a good number in with the pair. They should continue to look after the fry as a pair "against the world". This prolonging of the pair committment I find tends to result in increased long term compatability.

2. Make sure that they're in a large tank with lots of refuges for the female if the male turns on her. If she can stay out of harms way but still in the tank with the male, they won't have to start all over again as happens when they are moved to different quarters. Once she is ready again, she will let the male know it.

3. It is important to have other inhabitants in the tank that can stand up to the 'grandidieri' and in which the pursued female can get "lost". I find that Madagascar cichlids will pursue for short distances but it's short lived (the 'lamena' is a different story). In my 180 g tank, I keep 2 pair of P. grandidieri, 2 trios of P. bleekeri, 1 pair of p. oligacanthus, and 6 P. maculatus. Rarely do I see as much as a scale missing on any fish, and the 'grandidieri' and 'oligacanthus take turns spawning every couple of weeks.
Perhaps trying some of these things will help. No guarantees but it seems to work for me. By the way, I do the same with my CA and SA cichlids as well.
Jim

[ornate12]

Jim, thank you for this info. The # 1 solution, I pulled all fry after they were freeswimming. Next time I will leave the majority with the pair. The #2 solution I have a 200gal that both can go in. I might put the female in first
to allow her to rest up. The male could be added later. You have a been a huge help. I will keep you posted Thank you! Jim

[notho2000]

Glad to be of help, Jim. Good luck.