Cichla behaviour... Possible pair?

[SaltyPlum]

I have 4 xingus around the same size 5-6" give or take. I recently transferred them over from a 45g growout tank to now my 350g with 5 large SDs and a spotted gar. One of the pbass has become the dominant alpha, however it's not the biggest one out of the 4. When observing them he likes to keep the other 3 up high in the tank and tucked away in a corner, while he swims mid range and strike them from time to time (see pics below) and if they move away from the corner he will quickly round them back up into a corner (like a sheep dog). But i also often see him single out the biggest one of the bunch and will seperate it from the other 2 and keeps it close by to him around the driftwood (also pics below), with this type of behaviour could I have a possible future pair?

The dominant one also shows
a lot more darker colours and patterns to the other 3.

 

[bassinmike85]

Only way to tell is to vent them to confirm a pair. sometimes young cichla males will stick together.

 

[TheWolfman]

Too young for any breeding behavior or pairing. A male and a female doesn’t constitute a pair. They need to form a bond. That type of behavior will happen around the two year mark.

 

[SaltyPlum]

Thanks for your responses lads. Ive kept cichlas in the past but never raised a group from young. I do hope I get a pair out of this group.

 

[SaltyPlum]

bassinmike85 I came across a few of your threads regarding kels and xingus, do tou have any recent pics? Are you planning on breeding them?