J. transcriptus bonding

I have read on the net that bonds between a pair can be broken by changing the aquascaping of their tanks, so I haven't moved anything around since my pair formed, to be on the safe side.

One thing that I have noticed is that after a water change with vacuuming, the smaller of the pair (the female, I believe) gets chased away from the cave and the area where the fry and the male remain. A day or two at the most, they are all back together again.

Is this normal? The only thing that gets disturbed is a little bit of sand.

That's an interesting observation. I haven't experienced it personally so I can't say if it's "normal". It'll be interesting to see if this continues long term.

That is interesting. With my marlieri it was the opposite, the female (which is larger of the two) always chased the male into a corner and kept the little wimp there for about 2 days.

Female dominance. Gosh I hope Patty does not read this one.

I already have to follow enough orders..

They are back together again. It was closer to three days this time. I don't understand why this happens with water changes. I wonder if I should not do them weekly -- go to every two weeks -- at least with the vacuuming part.

yea try that and see what happens

Aura wrote:

They are back together again. It was closer to three days this time. I don't understand why this happens with water changes. I wonder if I should not do them weekly -- go to every two weeks -- at least with the vacuuming part.

Heard that this offten happens with Julidochromis. Especially with the dickfeldi.

I have had a "pair" of J. transcriptus Pemba together alone in a 20 long tank for about a year now, they appear to be tightly bonded, but not breeding yet. There is another two that didn't "bond". They are in the 90 gallon living room tank with the various other occupants, they are doing fine, but don't interact with each other much.
I'm thinking about removing all 4 of them, and putting them all together in a different tank to see what will happen. I guess I'm getting impatient, lol.
Also the 20 long tank the "pair" are living in has gotten so overgrown with dwarf sword plant, it looks like a yard that hasn't been mowed all summer! lol (if you cut your grass and discover an automobile, you may be a redneck)

What size is the pair in the 20 gallon? After a year, I'd be getting impatient as well.

She was kicked out of the spawning area for 3 1/2 days this time after a vacuuming. There were some very tiny new fry in the cave.

Last week I just did a small water change from closer to the surface and things were fine.

Well, I did a water change last Wednesday and my pair are still separated. I don't know if they are officially "divorced" now or if it's a trial separation and they will get back together at some point. At least I won't have to worry about too many fry with one living on each side of the tank.

I really don't understand why this happens. I tried not to disturb anything, but I have to do water changes and vacuum out the debris.