Will My Jack Dempsey Parents Eat Their Young?
Q… Will My Jack Dempsey Parents Eat Their Young?
A… Jack Dempsey parents don’t often eat their young. Occasionally they will if there are too many threats to the fry in an aquarium with other tank mates. It’s thought that the parents feel that they can’t protect their brood so why let other fish get the protein; they may then eat the fry. Sometimes a male JD gets aggressive after the fry hatch and may become a threat to the babies. He should then be removed to let the female attend to them alone. On occasion I have left some juveniles in the aquarium with their parents for many weeks. If the parents begin to spawn again, they will certainly see these older juveniles as a threat and begin to attack them. The size of the aquarium has a lot to do with these situations. If any juveniles are left in the home aquarium with the spawning parents, a few may survive if they have shelter.
Jack Dempsey cichlids make fantastic parents and the fry should not be removed from parental care for at least 3 weeks. If the eggs are layed in a tank with other fish and you wish to hatch and save the jack dempsey babies then click here for instruction on how to…
Jack Lamountain
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