Kissing Bolivian Rams

[Eastside Game]

Hello Everyone,
Today during feeding time, I noticed my male and female bolivian ram locking mouths twice for about 4-5 seconds. I remember reading that if they do that there is a good chance of them pairing off? What do you think is the possibility of that happening judging from your personal experience ? Could that behavior mean something else?

 

[cpetrosky]

could mean that you have 2 males and there fighting. ive never herd of a pair lip locking. could of been a fight. or just foreplay.

 

[OliviaBolivia]

You're right....if you do have a male and a female, a spell of lip-locking could indeed lead to pairing off! But it would depend upon whether they are both sexually mature, whether your water parameters and aquascape are to their liking, etc etc!

Equally, it is possible that this is simply two males sparring over food and territory. In my personal, short but intense experience of finally achieving a pairing after trying up to 8 rams in together, it's more likely to be two males. From the activity I've observed, the female I have rarely flares and postures like the males do, although she does defen her nest aggressively and chase other fish, including the male.

But I have only observed males squaring up an lip-locking. Do you have more than 2 at the moment?

 

[Star_Rider]

Lip locking is fairly common Cichlid behavior.. I have seen males use this to establish dominance and I have seen pairs also lock up.

my established pair(Altispinosa) don't do lip lock as much but I also have a male /female pair in another tank that are not establish.. they seem to lip lock daily..but have not yet paired up.
I have also seen males in other tanks liplock