Is there a way to prevent my blood parrots from wanting to lay eggs?

[Katie Phillips]

I have three blood parrot cichlids in a 75 gallon, two males and one female.

Last night I noticed that the smaller male was shoved up in one of the corners of the tank and had been bitten badly because the larger male and female were digging nests in the sand to lay eggs. So I put the smaller male in a 10-gallon quarantine tank and added some API Melafix to help him heal.

They had wanted to lay eggs lots of times before this, but they never hurt him.

Is there any way to prevent them from wanting to lay eggs without having to remove the female?


Thanks, Katie.

 

[tlindsey]

I have three blood parrot cichlids in a 75 gallon, two males and one female.

Last night I noticed that the smaller male was shoved up in one of the corners of the tank and had been bitten badly because the larger male and female were digging nests in the sand to lay eggs. So I put the smaller male in a 10-gallon quarantine tank and added some API Melafix to help him heal.

They had wanted to lay eggs lots of times before this, but they never hurt him.

Is there any way to prevent them from wanting to lay eggs without having to remove the female?


Thanks, Katie.

You really can't really prevent it unless the bond between the pair is broken. Also the little male will be in the same situation if added back with the pair.

 

[Krismo962]

 

[Deadeye]

Nothing you can do except separate. When cichlids want to breed they breed.

 

[Katie Phillips]

Nothing you can do except separate. When cichlids want to breed they breed.

Yes, but they've never hurt him before. So it's weird.

 

[Deadeye]

Sometimes it gets more serious. They may think of him as the reason none of the batches survived before this (which isn’t true). As they mature they become less tolerant of others.

 

[Katie Phillips]

Sometimes it gets more serious. They may think of him as the reason none of the batches survived before this (which isn’t true). As they mature they become less tolerant of others.

Thanks for your help. I guess once he's healed, I'll put him back in the 75. If they do it again, then I don't know what I will do with him. I have nowhere to put him.