Green Terror & Firemouth inter-breeding

Question
I have my green terror for a year now and I thought it was a male judging by the red border on its tail. Yesterday I saw that she had laid eggs and is ferociously guarding them. Please remember, I have only one green terror along with a firemouth, 2 oscars, one Hap Ahli and 3 blue dolphins. During the same time the Firemouth started digging up the sand and made a huge pit, something he never did. I suspect the 2 mated. Another explanation could be the eggs are not fertilized, but the issue is, unless there is a male, the females dont lay eggs. Please help !!!

Answer
Hi Avan,
 The color on the border of a green terror doesn't tell you the sex.  There are actually two different species of green terrors -- one has a white border and the other has an orange/red border.  The males and females of each species both have the borders.

  As far as the eggs are concerned, it is quite common for single female cichlids to lay eggs, even though there  is no male around to fertilize them.  So, that could be what happened in this case.  It is also possible that the firemouth fertilized them.  You will know in a couple of days because if the eggs were fertilized, the embryos will be visible in a day or so (the eggs will look darker).  

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