Breeding Red Devils

[Rare Cichlids]

I have a male a and a female Red Devil in a 200 L aquarium. The fish are divided by egg crate to prevent them from damageing each other. They have recently started showing signs of mating. There is a large rock 4" away from the divider on both sides. At first the male began moving rocks away from between his rock and the divider. Then the female did the same and they now have a "Nest". What can I do to encourage them to breed? raise or lower the temp? Add other fish (they are currently the only fish fish in the aquarium)?

Please help, I really want to breed this pair.

 

[AikidoGuy]

what temp is your water at now? mine was at a constant 80degrees and in an (undivided btw )220gall tank i changed 30gallons of water everyday (filled a 5gal bucket 6 times) once i saw the same behavior. I changed the water with slightly cooler water for about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks before i saw eggs. I kept up that schedule for a month after the fry hatched then moved them to a 55gallon @ 82degrees and changed 15gallons of same tempature water everyday to help them grow out a little quicker. worked for me 3 times. Mojo is currently having a go at breeding my old male with his F1 female for the last 2 months or so, i have a feeling he's gonna have some fry soon. My female laid eggs the other night but she has no male large enough to fertilize them. this is the 5th time that i know of that shes laid eggs, 2 of them was without a mate.

 

[Rare Cichlids]

The tank is at 78 F. What did you keep your heater set at when you were replaceing the water change water with slightly cooler water? Were you slowly lowering it too? Or just keeping it the same?

Thanks

 

[AikidoGuy]

i kept it the same. i just added cooler water the water cooled about 2 degrees and took like an hour to an hour and a half to warm back up. To be honest i dont know if that helped or not, cause i feel that they wouldnt have gone into pre-spawning if the water conditions werent already to their liking. Bu ti figured the extra water changes couldnt hurt.