German Blue Ram spawning

Question
I am still new to this beautiful little fish, and continue to feel confused over gender. In many ways my two look the same (pink bellies, blue spots overlapping the big black spot) and I start to wonder if they are both females, though one has a more dramatic 'mohawk' and is more dominant.

I have not seen the two courting, but recently my guppies began to die, and then I saw the eggs and the bigger-mohawk ram defending them with gusto against any fish who came too close. My ghost shrimp ate the eggs overnight, and I am disappointed but expect that they will try again eventually. (I have moved the shrimps to another tank, despite their wonderful cleaning abilities.) I captured on video the defensive ram meticulously caring for the eggs, and also what I believed to be fertilizing them.

My question is: would a ram spawn even if the opposite gender was not present in the tank? For example, might I still have two females, and what I witnessed was not fertilization but rather 1) laying more eggs or 2) simply fanning them very very closely? Or does the spawning behavior only take place when there is an established pair?

I have done some reading, but have not yet seen this question answered. Hopefully you have some insight. :)

Answer
Hi Teneisha,
 For better or worse, spawning can occur if there are only two females present.  So, at this point you know that you have at least one female. As you say, it is likely that they will try again in the not too distant future.  If the eggs develop at all, i.e., they start to go a little darker (because of the formation of the eye and body inside), then you know that they
were fertilized and that you do indeed have a male.

-- Ron Coleman
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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