Gold severums breeding? (pics)

[joey02]

i have 6 gold severums in a 135gal tank. i just did a 50% water change today, and now i have two of the severums liplocking. they have been doing it all day now. they are also keeping every one else to the other side of the tank. only one of them have the squiggle marks on there face, but when i took pictures with the flash on it looks like both do. without the flash, one has stong squggle features while the othe one has a couple faint stripes. they are only around 5 inches now. do i have a pair or are they both males? why are they doing this now? this is the first time i have seen this in these fish, they were always so peaceful befor. they wont stop it! still going at it as i type this. if i do have a pair, do i add a piece of slate or leave it as is? all i have in the tank now is wood with a bare bottom.

 

[pleco52]

i think youve got a pair because the female can have some faint lines but males have very obvious ones and if u look closely ul c that the males lines go into dots on his forehead

 

[cichlid_25]

From the pics it looks as if those two are both males. theyre probably trying to determine who is the dominant male, becuz they are probably planning to breed with your females soon. My severums and my RDs do that all the time trying to prove who is more dominant. You could add a piece of slate, but they will lay eggs on driftwood as well. Good luck with them, theyre lookin really healthy. Keep up the good work.

 

[HiGhTiMeZ]

looks like 2 male to me.

 

[HiImSean]

yep, 2 males