# male and female managuense



## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

So I have a 4 and a half inch male managuense. I bought a female in hopes that someday they would breed. The female I bought is about a half inch bigger than the male, which weren't my intentions. As soon as I put the female in they started fighting and from the looks of it, the female eventually won. Well my question is, is it still possible that in the future, they can become a breeding pair?


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

And if it is possible, what would you suggest I do to better the chances of that happening


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Its possible but I would say to breed they would need a decent size tank maybe 125-150 and it may be a good idea to add dithers as they are young.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

Right now, they are currently in a 75. I do plan on getting a bigger tank when they get a little bigger.. I asked the question because I remember reading somewhere that if the female sees the male is weak, it completely loses interest in it. I hope that is not the case.


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## montellp (Jun 9, 2012)

ur male should catch up in size in no time


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

That is what I'm hoping for. When I bought the female, I thought my male was a little bigger than the female. It ended up being the other way around. But today they seem to be ok, swimming around eachother with no problems. Very different from yesterday.


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## montellp (Jun 9, 2012)

i love jags lol can u post a pic i want 1 so bad but tanks to small


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

They are very cool fish. Always been on my list.


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## montellp (Jun 9, 2012)

yeah my lfs has them from tiny fry to 18 inches


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

I'll try to get some pics up. But I have another question. So now I've noticed that the male is following the female everywhere, nipping at her every once in a while. He's kinda harassing her. But it seems like she's ignoring him. Does anyone know why this is? This is my first time having a male and female of the same species in a tank, and I've never seen this behaviour before. I've seen a very aggressive fish constantly attacking another fish, but this is very different from that.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

One more thing I'm noticing, the male keeps swimming in front of the female and doing some weird shaking.


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

That all sounds like courting behavior. I think you will have a spawn sooner than you expect.

BTW, managuense are Central American, not South American.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

So I put them in my 55 gallon so they can be alone and they've started to dig in the corner of the tank. This is pretty exciting haha.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

So now the jags have been going to this flat rock I've put in the tank and they've been circling around on it. The female usually goes first and then the male will go. Then the male stops and then goes up to the female looking very angry and follows her everywhere. They spend a good amount of time on this flat rock, but I've seen no results. Is it maybe because they are not mature yet?


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

You can view a video I've posted on YouTube, youn6b5. It's not a very good video but you can get a glimpse of what I'm talking about.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

Update, they've done it! A lot of eggs in there. Wish I could've witnessed it. I got home from work and noticed the eggs. Any suggestions on what to do next? How long does it take for the eggs to hatch?


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## montellp (Jun 9, 2012)

leave the pair in there whats ur tank temp


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

About 78 degrees f. What should it be at? The eggs just hatched last night.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

Very upset, I woke up this morning and all the babies are gone. Today was supposed to be the day that they free swim. The two managuense are the only ones in the tank. What would be the reason they would eat them?


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

1st time spawn? My jds went throught about 4 or 5 times laying eggs before fry were produced.


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## youn6b (Feb 25, 2012)

Yes, first time spawn. My tank is only about 12 inches off the ground and my dogs bed is at the end of the tank, right where the fry were. I was thinking that maybe my dog stressed the parents out? Could that be a possibility?


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Possibly but its my understanding that alot of cichlids often dont do well with their first batch. But its hard to say. My first pair of jds had over 100 fry first time then he killed her. Second pair took awhile to get it right. Third pair still lays eggs that fungus over after a day (im beggining to think they are both females).


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