seeking keyhole cichlid info pls!

it's virtually impossible to sex this cichlid unless you 'vent' them. thus, you may have two males, or two females ... or a pair.

if you're interested in breeding them, the best way is to purchase 5-6 juveniles and allow them to form pairs on their own. then, if/when you have a pair, you'll know it when they spawn.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=breeding+keyhole+cichlids

Sorry to say, but the mouth locking and "fish slapping" would seem to indicate two males. I've often seen a male/female pair doing the "fish slap", but have never seen a male and female liplock. I could be wrong as my experience is with various dwarf cichlids and my own group of keyholes is still growing out. Although not 100% accurate (especially with juviniles) males will often have longer fin extentions. liv2padl is right though, keyholes are especially hard to sex. Good luck.

They are great fish. I love them! I have two and they flirt all the time. I've never seen any mouth locking. Shaking and circling mostly. The male is quite a bit larger than the female, and his dorsal fin has developed a "flip" in it. I've looked through pictures on the web and haven't been able to find an example of the "flip", which is only apparent when he raises his dorsal. Unfortunately I haven't gotten a good pic w/ my digital camera. For some reason they are terrified of the camera. I'd be interested in knowing if this is a typical development or just a "glitch" in my guy.

My keyholes spawned after several months of being together. They were very attentive to their eggs, before they ate them.