Strange behavior

[Cdr 63 corv]

Well I had a pair lay eggs yesterday in my community tank all was good this morning. Now this evening I noticed the male has layed eggs with another female not more than a foot from his first batch. Thing is now the female along with the male are chasing the second female away from her eggs and tending to them. They wont let the second female get near her eggs. Is this common? Should I be worried about them hurting the second female? Thank you for any input

[jeep]

I'd keep an eye on the aggression and possibly pull the female or place a divider if necessary.

[Iminit]

Is it just those 3 in the tank? Have they been eating the eggs before? I would set up a tank in case the second female needs to be moved. Thing is they are cichlids and they can get aggresive.

[Cdr 63 corv]

It is my main tank 8 other discus some corys and a few cardinals. The water in that tank has a high tds haven't had any eggs hatch in that tank.. it is a tank I bought used, he had the cichlid type sand in it along with a bunch of holey rock. Took a while for the water to get hard, I replaced all the sand and got rid of the holey rock. Slowly bringing the ph and tds down with water changes. I ended up wiping all the eggs off last night before I went to bed. Don't have an extra tank to put anyone in at the moment. Have some sterbia corys being delivered today that I ordered online so my quarantine tank is spoken for. Since I put all my discus together in the 180 gallon I've had 3 females start laying eggs, waiting for a growout tank with some juveniles growing out at the moment to open up to try some other pairs to do there thing. Is this a common thing to happen in a community tank, for the dominant female to take over eggs that her male layed with another female?

[brewmaster15]

It is my main tank 8 other discus some corys and a few cardinals. The water in that tank has a high tds haven't had any eggs hatch in that tank.. it is a tank I bought used, he had the cichlid type sand in it along with a bunch of holey rock. Took a while for the water to get hard, I replaced all the sand and got rid of the holey rock. Slowly bringing the ph and tds down with water changes. I ended up wiping all the eggs off last night before I went to bed. Don't have an extra tank to put anyone in at the moment. Have some sterbia corys being delivered today that I ordered online so my quarantine tank is spoken for. Since I put all my discus together in the 180 gallon I've had 3 females start laying eggs, waiting for a growout tank with some juveniles growing out at the moment to open up to try some other pairs to do there thing. Is this a common thing to happen in a community tank, for the dominant female to take over eggs that her male layed with another female?

I wouldnt say its common but it can happen. It all comes down to hormones and parenting instinct. Its not much different than when we take a cone with eggs from one pair and foster them on another pair. The only difference here is your dominant female decided she wanted to foster them without talking to the tank manager (you) first

Its not unusual for some cichlids to go as far as stealing others fry. I had it happen with 2 pairs of red head tapajos that bred at the same time same tank.

[Cdr 63 corv]

Hey thanks for the input guys, love the help on this forum