View Full Version : are my africans spawining (pics inside)
K_S_W_I_S_S
04-29-2003, 9:03 AM
my africans are liplocking... does this mean they are spawning, or do they also fight like this?? also, the albino had his mouth by the kenyis stomach and the kenyi was vibrating. i have never witnessed any of this before, so i have no ideas what will happen next... i will post pics in a reply (im still taking some pics right now... (i also made a video, but i dont know how to put it on the net....)
K_S_W_I_S_S
04-29-2003, 9:26 AM
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1974470&uid=1053827&members=1
K_S_W_I_S_S
04-30-2003, 12:08 AM
............ ok, has no one bred cichlids before??? or might i be the first :rolleyes:
Sumpin'fishy
04-30-2003, 1:05 AM
This sounds like it could very well be spawning behavior. It's great to watch and find out for yourself what they do. There is nothing in fishkeeping like watching them mate!
Oh, that white fish you want ID'd looks like an albino Pseudotropheus Socolofi. I had one about a year ago.....went HYPER dominant and I had to get rid of him!
K_S_W_I_S_S
04-30-2003, 1:10 AM
if they are a different kind of cichlid, what might happen to the fry?? they stopped after about 10-30 minutes and i have not seen them doing it since, but if they did spawn, do you think they would kill the tiger barbs, cories and pictus cats?
JSchmidt
04-30-2003, 9:26 AM
Mine do this when they're fighting. I generally don't associate it with spawning, at least not in my fish.
The spawning behavior usually looks more like they swimming around together in whirlpool, with the male occasionally flaring and shaking, or flashing against the rocks in his nest area.
Jim
Tightdog1
05-01-2003, 6:23 PM
normally when fish are lip-locking they are fighting. my blue acaras do this al the time esp my breeding male with the other males in the tank. it may be different cause u have africans but i dunno. just my opinion on the subject.
hey ;) my brother keeps all cichlids and he says this is part of the mating ritual - I've gotten a pair of rams that are flirting right now, the male does a little wiggly dance in front of the female and they've liplocked some too - the male's color has gotten much brighter too w/lots of deep orange and yellow - I've only had these two since Friday and my brother "donated" 4 other males to encourage the mating a bit - the pair has been chasing all the other rams off - it's kinda funny seeing him doing his little dance - I never thought of fish flirting LOL
I'm with Jschmidt on this one.
Unlike Oscars and some other species, Africans from lake Malawi, Tanganyika or Victoria, don't lip lock as part of their mating-ritual. I have seen it a couple of times in my mbuna tank when two Estherea females were fighting. I don’t know about cichlids from the rivers or other lakes of Africa.
Jimmy