2 haitiensis cichlids, is it a pair?

[AAUSbob]

Might be too early to tell but, are these two a opposite sex pair, they fight alittle but the one in the first few pics chases everyone right now. id say the one is 2.5+" and the other is 2+"

if not a male/female any other reason for such a difference in looks? is the larger one showing better color cuz he is king of the tank now

 

[BKeen]

Hard to tell with both being lightly colored. If one turns really black, it's a female. Are they sharing a territory in the tank, or displaying breeding behavior?

 

[AAUSbob]

they arent really doing anything that leads me to believe they'd wanna breed yet, if they were even a pair. im moving them into a 110g probably by tuesday or wednesday, so i guess ill just have to hope one darkens up and the lights dim.
thanks

 

[BKeen]

they arent really doing anything that leads me to believe they'd wanna breed yet, if they were even a pair. im moving them into a 110g probably by tuesday or wednesday, so i guess ill just have to hope one darkens up and the lights dim.
thanks

You'd be surprised, my first batch of fry came out of nowhere around the first of the year, and the fish were around that size. When you get 'em in the 110, put a piece of slate or other rock that is flat on the bottom of the tank and build a crater of gravel around it (kind of a reverse dome). That's done the trick for my pair three times now.

 

[AAUSbob]

​

You'd be surprised, my first batch of fry came out of nowhere around the first of the year, and the fish were around that size. When you get 'em in the 110, put a piece of slate or other rock that is flat on the bottom of the tank and build a crater of gravel around it (kind of a reverse dome). That's done the trick for my pair three times now.

mind posting a pic of that? i have half set up the tank with some rocks, just waiting on some driftwood i ordered, plus i have a clay pot and gonna get some plants

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Did you get those from Ira?

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

If you did then they were from me and heres their parents
[YT]0HnO2aHqJQU[/YT]

So yes generally if one turns black then yeah its female. But after seeing the parents would that technique be any different from the pics i am seeing the odo in the first pic is female. yeah it is really early to tell but i blew the pic up and i can see a spot in the dorsal which should get larger as she grows and turn the first 2/3 of her dorsal black. the odo with the spotting on the body i would say is male and im assuming thats the one running the tank. a 110 is a great size tank for them if they were already 5-6"+ IMO since with keeping Haits by themselves that tank is creating too much space for them at an early stage. but the dimensions are more important. as long as its a 4' tank then it shouldnt be an issue. its just if your trying to pair them then you would want them to be able to see each other more often. I would also be against keeping them with anything else in the tank since the majority of the bloat issues stem from stress which affects their immune system and they arent able to fight off heximita which is the parisite that kills them "bloat"
also you can never add enough oxygen to the tank wether its airstones or power heads. and they should be fine on any diet as long as you dont over feed. because they will eat themselves sick.

 

[BKeen]

mind posting a pic of that? i have half set up the tank with some rocks, just waiting on some driftwood i ordered, plus i have a clay pot and gonna get some plants

This is the current one (with rocks around it, kinda hard to see) It's about 3-4" lower than the gravel level in the rest of the tank.

This is the one from a previous spawn. The gravel is really high around the edge, these are the only pics I had on my photobucket account.

 

[AAUSbob]

thank you for the pics i didnt quiet understand what you meant, but now i do. i have a few rocks that are partially buried like that, so i can definaly moves some gravel around.

and yes those are fish i bought from Ira, well, i bought some festae from him and he toss'd in those 2 for free. was hoping i got lucky and they'd pair up.

cylcing a 110g tank as i type.

 

[AAUSbob]

thank you for the pics i didnt quiet understand what you meant, but now i do. i have a few rocks that are partially buried like that, so i can definaly moves some gravel around.

and yes those are fish i bought from Ira, well, i bought some festae from him and he toss'd in those 2 for free. was hoping i got lucky and they'd pair up.

cylcing a 110g tank as i type.