I think my H. notatus are up to something...

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peathenster

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Nov 26, 2008
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Got 5 w/c young adults from Wetspotcx in a 55g QT tank for almost two weeks not. They have recovered well from the long trip and are probably ready to move into the main tanks.

I think something interesting might be happening...

1. The dominant female chased everybody around
2. She claimed the left half of the tank
3. She allowed a male into her territory, but not the other three
4. The suddenly started engaging in some serious lip locking a couple of days ago, on and off for a few hours (pics below)
5. They are back to normal and defending the left half together, with occasional courting and flashes of breeding dress
6. The male is doing some digging next to a rock
7. No tube yet

I was planning to put some size on them before letting them breed....or well, whatever they want to do :D

Sorry about the dirty glass....it's a QT tank ;)

Heros_notatus_120509_05.jpg

Heros_notatus_120509_03.jpg

Heros_notatus_120509_02.jpg

Heros_notatus_120509_01.jpg

Heros_notatus_120509_04.jpg


Video:
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Thats 2 males.
 
Those look awesome. I might need another in the future. I only bought 2 so I just may have 2 of the same sex. Hope you can get them into the 300 soon. Gonna be an awesome display tank.
 
glenbo;3681247; said:
Thats 2 males.

LOL very funny...

jworth;3681251; said:
Those look awesome. I might need another in the future. I only bought 2 so I just may have 2 of the same sex. Hope you can get them into the 300 soon. Gonna be an awesome display tank.

I have 4 more I got from Jeff back in June. They recently had a growth spurt and are showing a lot of color, but still a lot smaller than these. Can you sex yours yet?
 
Maybe... what am I looking for? They are getting close to 3" if not already. I tend to think they are really small until I take them out and then realize how wrong I am.
 
jworth;3681608; said:
Maybe... what am I looking for? They are getting close to 3" if not already. I tend to think they are really small until I take them out and then realize how wrong I am.

yep...other fish are growing too so it always seems that they are not growing too much.....until you measure them.

One good tell is the presence of dots above the midlateral line in males but not so much in females. The yellow throat is also more pronounced in males. Worming between the eyes seems consistent with this too.
 
peathenster;3681624; said:
yep...other fish are growing too so it always seems that they are not growing too much.....until you measure them.

One good tell is the presence of dots above the midlateral line in males but not so much in females. The yellow throat is also more pronounced in males. Worming between the eyes seems consistent with this too.


Ill take a closer look. They look way different from one another though, so my original thought was that it may be male and female, but like I said, I havent really paid much attention since everyone is so young.
 
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