Help! Are my Jaguars breeding?!?

[Fanatic_Fish_Lunatic]

I have a pair of 5 inches managuense. Normally these twos always lips locked with aggression, but just yesterday, I redecorated the tank, and after that, these twos are always staying in the same pot. I saw the male and the female sometimes shaking at eachother, no lips lock since yesterday. The male always ward off anything that goes near the pot, and always prepared to lips lock with nearby fish, while the female just stays inside the pot. So are they breeding or what?

And also normally, their colours are a lot darker than yesterday that I could barely see their patterns, but since I redecorated the tank, and their behaviour started to change. Their colour brightened up and I can actually see the patterns on their bodies.

 

[neutrino]

Could be from the sounds of it, similar to their classic breeding behavior and they can breed at that size; the male guarding is a good sign. There's a pretty thorough description of the process here.

Parachromis managuensis Breeding Cycle | TFH Magazine

An expert aquarium photographer and big cichlid lover captures the exciting drama of the jaguar cichlid breeding ritual.

www.tfhmagazine.com