German Ram Spawn - Female Dead

[stark]

Had 2 female rams in my 180L community for about a week, introduced a male yesterday evening who instantly paired up with one of them... within a few hours they'd begun they're courting ritual - and by about 11.30pm last night they had spawned on a rock in the centre of the aquarium... Very defensive of the area, a few run ins with the resident kribs, constantly trying to keep the corys away... Anyway, this morning i awoke to find lots of plants uprooted, molly babies swimming around, and a dead female ram - the one who had laid the eggs... Cory munching on the eggs, male ram still trying to defend the area... Very strange occurence... Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what could have happened under darkness??

 

[Mr Bliss]

Maybe they divorced - violently? Even the smaller, friendlier cichlids can have pretty serious domestic fights. I used to have a pair of rainbow cichlids who had a major disagreement right after their first spawn. As a result, the female was driven to a corner and had to be removed. They had apparently had a big fight since both fish looked a bit battered. After the female was gone, the male watched over the eggs for a while until he got bored and decided to eat them instead. I got him a new wife later and subsequent spawnings went smoothly from that point on.

 

[Colin_T]

Maybe they divorced - violently?

lol

There is a possibility the two had a fight as suggested by Mr Bliss, but it is also possible the kribensis kicked hell out of her, and she would have been in a weakened state because she had just laid eggs. There is a possibility the second female ram decided to get in on the act because she didn't breed. It could also have been the egg laying damaged her internally and she died from complications, but this is unlikely.
What other fishes are in the tank?