Green Terror Behavior

Question
I have a female Green Terror Cichlid. She is about 5-6 months old and has laid
eggs once before.

Monday: Her belly looked a little big and she seemed to be taking naps or
rests on the  aquarium floor every couple hours. Other than that, she was still
aggressive as usual and seemed fine.

Tuesday: Her belly is slightly bigger and she was taking more frequent rests.
Still ate fine and seemed normal otherwise.

Wednesday (Today): Her belly looks to be a good size. She is now almost
permanently on the aquarium floor. She didnt even come up to eat breakfast
today.

Water parameters are fine, normal... It doesnt look to be a swim bladder issue
because she does swim fine when she does... Her fins and colors are perfect
and bright....

Is she pregnant or could she be sick?

Last time she laid eggs, it was over the weekend - so I didnt see how it actually
happened.

Answer
Hi  Christina,
  Hmmm... that is a tricky situation.  It could be that she is planning on laying eggs, but females about to lay do not typically "rest" on the bottom.  They swim around normally and then when she is about to lay, the male and female make "passes" over a rock or other hard surface.  During each "pass" the female will lay about 10-30 eggs in a line. She will then turn around and make another pass, etc.  After about a minute, she will take a break and the male will swim over the eggs and spray sperm on them.   Then she takes another series of passes and so on.   The total time to lay and fertilize all the eggs is somewhere betweeen 30 minutes and a couple of hours.  

  Of course the other possibility, unfortunately, is that she is sick, so keep a close eye on her.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>