Is it possible my Jack dempseys are guarding some eggs

[budracn]

i Have 2 jd's in which have formed a pair, they layed eggs once before in which they ate them all.( was in wide open where the Catfish had easy access to) so I decided to put in a cave. The large jack dug a deep hole in the caveso you really can not see the bottom. Normally i can look in cave and my jds come right up to the glass as if they were saying hi. Today i looked in the cave and the male flared at he. Since i can not see the bottom of the cave i am not sure if there are eggs in there or not. Should i assume that there are eggs due to the change in mood of my male.
Thanks budracn

[budracn]

My female just layed her eggs, in which would explain the agression of my male.

[jonah]

Congratulations! :D :D :D

[budracn]

Thank You, i have a question though, should i just let the pair raise the fry or put them in a fry tank, have a smaller tank handy if needed. Currently they are in a 50 gal, with two catfish and a pleco. This is my first time breeding(well actually wasnt attempting to breed, just happened) read somewhere to cut a pair of nylons and put on my filter so the fry dont get sucked up in it. and did some reading on JD in which it stated the male and female would defend the little ones to the death so should i worry about them or just let nature take its course.

[Rex Karr]

Congratulations. It would be possible to leave the fry in the 50g but with the catfish you can expect serious losses. Your best bet is to move the catfish and pleco to another tank until the fry are to large to be eaten. While the Jack's should be very good parents, the catfish will find ways to sneak in and get eggs/fry, especially at night when the parents can't see whats going on. A friend of mine recently bred Macracanthus, but the fry were reduced to 20-25 because of a large cory cat!

Rex

[WorldNation]

aawweee, lil babies, i love breeding fish, reminds me of my bettas.:) those were kick ass to breed, anyways, congrats on the fry:D