55 Gallon Tank Rainbows Breeding Already?!?

Leeman75 and Frank the Fish guy
Needing some help from ANY of you that keep Rainbow cichlids. I don't see them posted about often, so maybe others aren't as enamored of them as I am. Long story short, I have had a female for close to two years. She laid eggs shortly after I got her with my Firemouth, but ate them shortly afterward. I have since removed the Firemouth due to aggression. Sunday evening I added 2 older juvenile Rainbows (which I hoped were females) into her tank, which includes a bristlenose and 13 Diamond Tetras. The plan was to add an adult female Acara back into the tank after the 3 female Rainbows had bonded because the Acara had been bullying the lone Rainbow. Weeellllll, at least one must have been a male. It and my female have been cleaning a rock and doing their little mating dance and their vents are showing.
1. Is it possible for her to have eggs that soon?
2. Do Rainbows pair off permanently?
3. If yes to #2, should I get another Rainbow for the third wheel cichlid while they are still available? They have been very scarce at the LFS the last 6 months or so.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

 

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Leeman75 and Frank the Fish guy
Needing some help from ANY of you that keep Rainbow cichlids. I don't see them posted about often, so maybe others aren't as enamored of them as I am. Long story short, I have had a female for close to two years. She laid eggs shortly after I got her with my Firemouth, but ate them shortly afterward. I have since removed the Firemouth due to aggression. Sunday evening I added 2 older juvenile Rainbows (which I hoped were females) into her tank, which includes a bristlenose and 13 Diamond Tetras. The plan was to add an adult female Acara back into the tank after the 3 female Rainbows had bonded because the Acara had been bullying the lone Rainbow. Weeellllll, at least one must have been a male. It and my female have been cleaning a rock and doing their little mating dance and their vents are showing.
1. Is it possible for her to have eggs that soon?
2. Do Rainbows pair off permanently?
3. If yes to #2, should I get another Rainbow for the third wheel cichlid while they are still available? They have been very scarce at the LFS the last 6 months or so.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

1. If I remember correctly, like rams rainbows can breed at a really early age but not have large spawns.
2. They can spawn as pairs but not all the time
3. Not necessarily, if there is a male and female they will spawn either way

 

At the risk of sounding foolish, what I mean by "can she have eggs this soon" is that she has only had a potential mate for not even 2 days. I intentionally DON'T breed fish, so I don't know - do they just carry eggs all the time then?

 

At the risk of sounding foolish, what I mean by "can she have eggs this soon" is that she has only had a potential mate for not even 2 days. I intentionally DON'T breed fish, so I don't know - do they just carry eggs all the time then?

Yes, females of pretty much any species will be producing eggs if they are healthy and old enough. I’ve had a female bronze cory spawn all by herself, my African cichlids used to do it all the time too if none of the males suited their fancy. Recently I’ve been noticing my female calico BN pleco going in and out of a spawning cave (no males in this tank) and now I see she is gravid and looking to breed. Heck I’ve even caught my male yellow lab doing the spawning dance all alone. Fish are weird sometimes.

 

Two days is very quick for a pair to form and begin spawning but not impossible. Rainbow cichlids are very prolific breeders.

 

Two days is very quick for a pair to form and begin spawning but not impossible. Rainbow cichlids are very prolific breeders.

That's what I thought, but they got it done! I woke up from a nap to find the rock covered with eggs and the male fertilizing it. Sorry for the crummy pic.
I'm not wanting to purposely breed them, but don't particularly care that they have. I'm more concerned about the third Rainbow. Do you agree with pkr210 that they most likely won't form a permanent pair? If they do, that will leave the third one open to bullying from the Acara when I put it back in the tank and I'm willing to get it another friend if that's best.

 

That's what I thought, but they got it done! I woke up from a nap to find the rock covered with eggs and the male fertilizing it. Sorry for the crummy pic.
I'm not wanting to purposely breed them, but don't particularly care that they have. I'm more concerned about the third Rainbow. Do you agree with pkr210 that they most likely won't form a permanent pair? If they do, that will leave the third one open to bullying from the Acara when I put it back in the tank and I'm willing to get it another friend if that's best.

Wow, that's sure exciting! Like others, I think it's possible. I'd watch the 3rd wheel but think it will be fine. I have 5 in a tank and often watch multiple different ones dancing for the same female. I've had eggs a few times, but there are too many cichlids for them to last, which is fine with me. I'm not looking to breed them

 

Thanks for everyone's input!

 

What size is the tank? The pair might stay together but it might not matter, they usually do well in groups and only defend a small breeding area. As long as the tank is not tiny the 3rd one should not come to any harm.

 

Well, there will be no Rainbow babies. I don't know how I feel about that. I didn't want any to begin with, but with the possibility..... I was looking forward to them. After all, who doesn't love babies? However, it's a moot point because as soon as the lights when out my bristlenose decided he needed a bedtime snack and is eating all the eggs. I kinda feel sorry for the Rainbows. All that effort wasted, they spent ALL day cleaning that rock and laying eggs.

Reply to GlennO, it's a 55 gal.

 

When the lights came on this morning, the BN was still on the rock and he hadn't missed even one of the eggs. The poor male Rainbow cichlid is still hovering around the rock protecting it.

 

Sounds like a very satisfied BN. He’ll probably get another feed of caviar within a few weeks.

 

GlennO was spot on almost to the day, lol! The rainbows have spawned again. Perhaps they've gotten a little wiser as far as the BN goes this time. They've chosen a more easily defendable spot and also seem to be standing up to him more strongly. Instead of on top of a rock, they chose inside of an overturned flowerpot. When the lights go out tonight, we'll see if the story ends the same.