my angels are making out...

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Jan 14, 2003
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victoria bc
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hey, my angels are making out, they are locking lips... i realize that its part of the breeding process, but what actually are they doing? is that just flirting or is there something going on there?? thanks
 
jaw locking is typical new world cichlid behaviour and occurs as a prelude to spawning or is an aggressive, frontal display, usually between two males.

If you have a pair hat is preparing to spawn, you will see eggs or evidence of spawning behaviour in a week or so give or take a few days.... anglefish courtship is not a terribly prolonged process so you will know soon enough.

If this is simply aggression between males, I wouldn't be too concerned.. I have never seen angelfish inflict any damage to one another in these displays.
 
jaw locking is typical new world cichlid behaviour and occurs as a prelude to spawning or is an aggressive, frontal display, usually between two males.

If you have a pair hat is preparing to spawn, you will see eggs or evidence of spawning behaviour in a week or so give or take a few days.... anglefish courtship is not a terribly prolonged process so you will know soon enough.

If this is simply aggression between males, I wouldn't be too concerned.. I have never seen angelfish inflict any damage to one another in these displays.
 
thanx, i guess i was wondering if any fertilizer was being transferred or does that happen once the eggs are layed....?
 
the female lays the eggs on the spawning site and the male follows her, fertilizing them.

No fluids are exchanged in the jaw locking process..its completely safe sex
 
haha thats good. thought maybe i needed to cover up the tank for a few minutes or something... :eek:

it was really cool to see that. so i guess i can look for eggs within a few days. i cant wait

thanks again
 
hey longer, quick question, maybe two......are you absolutely sure you've got a male and female AND do you have other angels in the tank with them?

reason being, I've had 3 angels before and had 2 display this same behavior.......ultimately, I had to remove one of them because while the lip locking went on, things apparently got worse. My one angel suffered a good beating while I was at work one day and ultimately died after I had removed him to a hospital tank to treat him for his injuries. Evidently, they had been fighting over the female in the tank and the tougher guy won....... so if there are more than the two you speak about, watch them closely so yours might not suffer the same fate as mine did.

EDIT: whoops, just read your other post in regards to getting a breeding pair (the only inhabitants of a 90 gallon). I guess you can just look to this for future references but still keep an eye on them for this behavior. My breeding pair never lip locked once.
 
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yeah its just the two of them, im still not sure whether they are male and female but that was what i was told. guess ill know soon. i was wondering if i should do a water change right now, or would that interrupt the whole process.... i got some slate in there for them now too...
 
let me get this straight

The lip locking thing can occur between two mates or between rival males? I get quite a bit of this with my 9 gold angels, but it is kind of hard to remember who is who later. I had one spawning last week and am getting ready for another, but I bet I've got more than one pair.
 
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