Cichlid males exhibiting mating behavior with each other

23 13:54:55

Question

My cichlids Hi, I have 4 cichlids in a 30 gallon tank. I got the tank with fish etc about 2 weeks ago when the office I worked in closed down. I have an electric blue, on that may be an electric yellow, an OB peacock and a blood parrot. As far as I can tell they are all males. There was a smaller female but she did not survive the move. Now my electric blue male is exhibiting mating behavior with my electric yellow male (he has egg spots on his anal fin). The yellow used to be aggressive but is now acting submissive. Is this normal? The blue is moving rocks around to make a nest.

Answer
Hi Christina,
  The male might be making a nest and it might be because he thinks the electric yellow is a female (which it could be) or he may just be hopeful that another female will come by -- male fish are eternally hopeful.

The fact that the electric yellow has egg spots generally means that he is a male, but that is only a general guideline and there are lots of exceptions.

P.S. Sorry to hear about your office closing.

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

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Cichlid males exhibiting mating behavior with each other

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