Female ENJD got beaten by male... help

[Jaster]

My male is beating the snot out of the female. I found her sitting in a corner and he was just all over her. I took her out and she's in my 2 gallon for the moment. She's listing to one side some and she isn't moving one of her fins at all. She's keeping it very close to her side. She looks a bit pale too. Should I medicate her in QT or just let her be for the moment? Any thoughts or suggestions?

is he picking on her for a reason? or does he just not like her now? It's an 80 gallon tank with tons of caves and plants so I don't think territory is an issue.

[thatcichlidguy]

It's hard to say for sure , but are you positive it's a male and female and not two males? Even if it's a M and F, it's always possible that they just aren't compatable. I'd leave her for a day or so and see if she comes around, and mediacating her isn't needed unless you suspect shes got an infection. Won't hurt as a preventative , but that's your decision.

[Jaster]

Well I'm pretty sure it's male and female. The one (female?) has the shorter dorsal fins and the others are much longer and go to a point at about his tail fin. I'm also taking my fish guys word for it.

Well I don't see any open wounds so medicating yet probably isn't needed...

so just leave her seperated for the night then and go from there?

I'll tell ya it was nice to have a tank that was together and cycled in 5 minutes... gotta love those sponges... lol.

[Oscar_freak12321]

I would just leave her in the 2 gallon for the night and see how things go.

[Jaster]

Well she's lying on her side now... She's trying like hell to stay up right but it's not happening. She's very pale and almost all of her blue is gone. She's this smoke grey color right now. Her breaths are shallow and hard. Like she's taking very deep breaths. I don't know what to do... it's not looking good... :scry:

[Sharon]

There's probably not much you can do, Jaster. Sometimes it just happens. My Salvini pair were ok for months, and then the male killed the female overnight.

[thatcichlidguy]

Sharon is right, there isn't much you can do for her now. Any injury is internal and just not within our means to fix.

Cichlid pairing is a tricky business , just because a pair happen to be male and female doesn't mean they will like each other. Even when they do it can be a very temporary situation. On the bright side though you now have an opportunity for some new fish.

[Jaster]

Hurry up and wait has never gone over well with me... drives me mental. lol

But I guess thats all I can do. If she does die I'm sure my fish guy will replace her for me. I've only had her two days and it wasn't my water or anything I did wrong. Clyde just really beat the hell out of her... it was pretty vicious.

Will one attack another if they are weak or sick?

Thanks all for your help!!

[rich311k]

Yes a weak fish will be targeted.

[thatcichlidguy]

Yes , but in this case it was probably simple conspecific aggression. He just didn't like her. It's one of the reasons that it's suggested to stock several juvies together when trying to get a pair to form. The pair that forms by this method is very strongly bonded and will be successfull most of the time. Adding a random male and female together results in a forced pair and they don't always work, and many times you'll get a fatal result for one or the other.

[Deleted User]

I have to say that it may also be a case that the male was ready to breed and the female wasn't. That is another side of the coin you have to think about. Males will beat up a female just for that reason too. :scry:

I hope she makes it Jaster.

[Jaster]

Well thanks all for the help and quick replies but she didn't make it. I'm not sure if it was the attack or if she was sick to start or even a combo of things.
Kind of sucks... pretty ticked...
I guess I'll talk to my fish guy on Tuesday when he opens about it. He does right by people so maybe he'll hook me up with something or cut me a deal on another. Though I would hate to see another die becuase Clyde is a overly picky boyfriend.

Do these these guys even need a mate or do they do ok on their own?
Maybe I'll do another type of larger fish that will do ok with Clyde...

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate the advise and help.

[thatcichlidguy]

I have to say that it may also be a case that the male was ready to breed and the female wasn't. That is another side of the coin you have to think about. Males will beat up a female just for that reason too. :scry:

I hope she makes it Jaster.Normally I'd agree but these guys were a little on the small side for that, they were only 1.5" or so.

He'll be fine as a single , and can be kept with fish of similar temperment . I'd let clyde get some size on him first though .

[Jaster]

Well thats good. I'm glad he doesn't need to be paired. I'll probably just let things be then.
Clyde seems annoyed tonight though. He's not attacking anyone but he's all over the tank and in and out of the caves. Wonder if he's looking for her... :scry:

[thatcichlidguy]

Probably just exploring which is good since JDs can be reclusive sometimes. A high activity level also indicates that he's generally in good health.

[Jaster]

Well that makes me feel better... good sign there then. thumbs2:

[skwestle]

All my JD breeder tanks have eggcrate dividers ready to use. It's not good to take the female out of the tank and stress her more. After my pairs breed the male can get aggressive so I throw a divider in to calm things down. For future use it's good to have dividers ready for all your cichlid tanks.

[Sarkazmo]

Dude, sorry to hear that they didn't get along. :(

Sark