Breeding Attempt

[pastorbob]

We are running a large (1200+- gallons) tank. recently I purchased a 65 gallon tank to try and start a breeder colony, I put 3 females, 1 male. after a few days we lost one female, Now what I believe to be a dominant female is wreaking havock on the others, I just removed the male as he is becoming scarred and appears weak. The female "terrorist" continually runs arounf fins flaired, head and fins look blood red, and just torments the rest..? may just knock her in the head? any ideas why they are not being compatiable? I certainly aint seeing "love in the air" :(

thx bob

[Suzanne Hayes]

Did you have any places for the fish to hide?  That seems to help a bit, either clay pots or stacks of PVC tubes

[pastorbob]

both pots & pipes, she is a terror, im going to replace her !

[Pam DeLong]

Are you sure that one is a female? Only my males had the red coloration when they were 'in the mood', and would chase off other fish, male and female. Eventually, he chose the mate he wanted. I removed all the others (40 gal tank). I currently have them separated because they reproduce at least once a month...plenty of babies!

[pastorbob]

I will double ck!

[Pam DeLong]

Please view my comments and drawings for what seemed apparent to me with my Blues:

 

I'm curious if it holds true for others...

http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/group/tilapia-breeding

 

Hope that helps.

[pastorbob]

when I came in this am, appears "love is in the air", yesterday I removed beat up fish, now this am they have fanned out rock bed, by this afternoon they have fanned out 2 beds... My red colored fish does seem to resemble your male dorsal drawing...

the fish seem to be getting along great, (only 2 in tank)

[Pam DeLong]

Update request...do you have fingerlings yet?

[pastorbob]

Pam I'm sorry to report we still have no babies? The fish fanned out a cpl beds... I thought all looked good, then just a few weeks back what I presumed is the male, started harassing the female, biting, chasing etc. I removed both and just recently added what I believe is another male and 2 females...hoping for some results soon... Open to suggestions !
Thx for inquiry:)

[Jeff S]

When my females were brooding they became aggressive. They're basically protecting their eggs/fry. Not sure if you are experiencing the same or not.

[Randy]

Hi Pastor, I think breeding in a 65 gallon tank is going to be a challenge. I have a 125 gal. tank and still have aggression issues. My dominate male stays in one end of the tank and the rest starting at about the center of the tank stay in the opposite end. I have 20 fish of varying sizes in the tank. I would suggest you put more slightly smaller fish in with them. I have had good success “diluting” the aggression this way. Also look them over before you feed them to see if any of the females are “holding”. I wait 3 weeks after I first notice one holding and then “strip” her. She will usually spit the fry out when I net her. I put just the fry in a separate tank. I feed them 1/8 diameter cichlid pellets that I grind in a clean pepper grinder. I hope you find some of this useful.

[pastorbob]

Thanks a million! Wide-open for suggestions