Do male cichlids go into breeding mood on their own?

[Decoder]

Do they colour up and set up territory like sole females do (except laying eggs) ?

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

males do get territories and colour up when defending them or fighting with other's but i wouldnt say they go into breeding mode without a female to impress.

 

[dsubaru]

Mine only go in breeding mode when I play Barry White music combined with candle light..

all kidding aside I think its the female that gets them going for example the second I added female cons to the tank the males went crazy, they developed a hump within days of the female being around.

 

[cichlid2006]

Do they colour up and set up territory like sole females do (except laying eggs) ?

with single males its not breeding behaviours, its more about mines bigger than yours. that sort of a deal. they will have territories and if they have competition then they will colour up and be ondisplay almost constantly. cichlid species that have males who develop nuchal humps will develop them, or they will grow larger than usual, if they are dominant.