general cichlid pairing question

I have had this problem before. I have had an awesome pair of dempys and they did nothing and before I separated them they were starting to go at it. And recently I have convicts that wouldn't go near each other. I placed in another female and I have had babies swimming around for months.

They may just not be compatible. I've read in AFM that, if you get nine juveniles of C/A Cichlid species, and grow them up together, there is almost a mathematical certainty of getting a pair from the group. A lot of Cichlids just aren't compatible with many individuals from the opposite sex.

normally instead of the nine use 6 and you should almost always get a pair, just like i did i bought 6 blue acaras and i got a pair, so im happy. but sometimes you just get a group that cant tolerate each other and that leads to death and unhappy fish keepers.

One tip I use is to watch a tank of juvenile cichlids for a while, and chances are you'll see 2 following each other and pairing off. In most cases the aquarium owner will be happy to pick out the 2 you point out. In one case I went into a pet store and looked into a tank of Blue Acaras. A pair had dug a nest in the corner and the male was defending it so my friend bought them. Just today I was watching a tank of surinamensis and noticed a female with her egg tube out and a male follwing her around. I quickly bought the pair!