checkerboard cichlid female bizarre behavior

[finfan]

as some of you know, my two checkerboard females have been on a egg laying kick lately, they have both spawned twice over the last couple of weeks and lost/ate their eggs

last week i started running an airstone in my tank (this is the 65 gallon planted tank) to reduce the filming on the surface and better oxiginate the water, for some reason, one of the females that had just lost her eggs decided that she likes the bubbles coming out of the airstone and started acting like how she would act towards her fry, she is protecting the bubbles coming out, she does not allow anyone (not even the large angels) near the bubbles and never strays far from the bubbles, she is in full defensive/protective mode, so yesterday i turned off the bubbles for 4 or 5 hours to see what she does, she is still trying to protect the little airstone and tubing area, i looked very closely in the area and i don't see any signs of any fry's on anything including the substrate, so i don't know how to get it through her head that those bubbles are not her fry

any ideas/suggestions?

i will try again today to turn that airstone off to see if she leaves the area, never seen any fish protecting bubbles as her own kids so diligently!!!!

[edmlfc]

Re: checkerboard cichlid female bizarre behavior

That is so cute. Poor little thing wants fry so bad. I feel for her.

[finfan]

Re: checkerboard cichlid female bizarre behavior

it is adorable, i just want her to save all that energy for when she actually has real fry and not bubbles, i think i might just turn off the bubbles for a few days so that she comes to realization, wify and i feel sad for her  :(

[JGUERRA]

Re: checkerboard cichlid female bizarre behavior

lol reminds me of the fish from the finding nemo where the fish in the tank is like "MY BUBBLES!!!"