Convict Cichlid turning orange

[agp]

Hey guys, my friend has a convict cichlid in her tank, and it's turning yellow/orange around the top and bottom outline of the body... Any idea why this may be?

Here are some pictures:

 

[excuzzzeme]

It is signaling that SHE is ready to mate. Only the female has an orange markings.

 

[agp]

How do you tell if a convict is male?

 

[GEV83]

Females get an orange spot on there belly males don't.

 

[nano cichlids]

That female is ready to spawn, she looks really good honestly. You can tell the sex by looking at the abdomen. There will be oranges spangles across her Stomach region.

 

[MoonstruckMuse]

Males can get the pinkish orange hue across their fins like that too - the main cue is the red spangling on their bellies.

She looks like she's in great condition, haha. The more colorful cichlids are, usually the more ready to mate (and therefore, they're healthy!) they are. They'll also do it as a territorial thing as they're fighting, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

[agp]

Should I just drop a pot in the tank, and leave the fish be? Two months ago, the fish laid eggs on the corner of the tank, but my friend says she thinks that the fish ate her own eggs, because they just somehow disappeared.

 

[nano cichlids]

Rocks, slate, wood, pots, anything will do to be honest. She probably did eat the eggs. Cichlids do this often.

 

[agp]

Should she be removed from the tank after she lays eggs? How do I prevent her from eating her eggs in the future should she lay them again?

 

[nano cichlids]

No dont remove her convicts are one of the best parents out there. Does she have a male? Let them try to spawn a few more times they'll get it right.