Fish update

So far no babies (unless they hatched in the past two hours), but these are my observations on what's going on.

There are a few eggs that have turned white. These are bad eggs, could indicate that they were unfertilized or weak. Most look a similar color to when I first checked them. Because the eggs turn white within a day or two, it looks like the vast majority of them are promising.

The non-parent Jack Dempsey, which I have now named Nemo (he's missing a ventral fin, so not quite the same issue as the cartoon clownfish, but close enough!), was hanging out in a corner, looking like life wasn't so great. He would come out and eat, but other than morning feeding time, he just wouldn't come out of his corner.

I was advised by a friend who had fish breed that it might be a good idea to get more fish unless I wanted a lot of surviving babies (which I don't - what would I do with them?) and also get a chance to observe the parenting behaviors of the Jack Dempseys when there were potential threats around. They are good parents and defend their babies, even if it means risking their own lives. (I understand that they do eat their babies if it looks like they cannot protect them, however, so I'll have to watch for that.) I had to choose carefully, however, given the situation. The parents had already killed one of my fish, so I had to get fish both big enough and aggressive enough to survive. I was thinking of getting some Convict cichids, but the store didn't have any big enough to serve as more than a sacrifice. I got two Green Terror cichilds. They are a similar size to the Jack Dempseys when full grown and also very aggressive. They are slightly smaller than the parent fish, but close enough that they aren't easy prey. At first it looked like they weren't going to make it, but this morning they were moving around more and looked better. Nemo actually had better color this morning than I had seen him have in a few weeks, so I think that his situation is better because of his new friends. They are bigger than he is but I think their numbers change how Dad in particular is behaving.

Mom stays by the eggs. She is very attentive to them. I have seen her go after fish that move into the nursery area, but in general she leaves the task of bullying the threats to the babies to Dad. Dad patrols the whole aquarium. He tends to hang out much of the time down with the other fish in the corner they are allowed to be in, and if they make a move he doesn't like, he'll give chase. So far it is fascinating to watch. I guess they get even more aggressive after the babies hatch, so I'll watch for that. I guess eggs typically hatch 48-72 hours after they are laid, depending on the water temperature. If these eggs are really good and fertilized, they should be hatching sometime today or tomorrow. If they don't work out, the fish may be ready to try again as soon as two or three weeks from now.