CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Well what a couple of days its been in the tanks.  I had decided to get a mate for my male JD about 3 weeks ago so i went and got 3 small females for him to chose from.  I came home 2 days ago to find 2 of my new JDs pushed to one corner of my tank (55G with one 3 in. male and 3 females with the lagest just over 1 1/2 in.)  so I watched them for a couple of min. to see if I had scared them or what. The small females did not move in inch but the male did what he always does like their was nothing wrong at all in and out of his cave just for fun,  Figured that he had tried to eat the females due to the size difference and fact i could not find the 3rd female.  Went to do the water change and as i was cleaning the grave around a small flower pot in the far corner all hell broke lose.  The missing female was no longer missing but all 1 1/4 inch of her was trying her best to get my fingers away from the pot the the male flew in to me,  I looked closer and found eggs all over the back of the pot healthy fertilised egg.
Now i woke up today to see the war of my gold Severums giving their second shot at breeding hoper it goes better this time (all went fungus last time).
One thing I don't get though is my male has his cave on one side of the tank and his female and eggs are all at the opposite side of the tank, every so often he goes over and the female goes for a swim but for the most part mom does all the work and dad stays 4 ft. away in his cave.  Is this normal for JDs this is the first time I've keep them.