Raised Dorsal Fins

[Azedenkae]

I see my cichlids do this once in a while, and I'm pretty sure there's different reasons as to why they'd be doing that but since I don't really know...

Out of curiosity, what potential reasons are there for a cichlid to raise their caudal fins fully?

 

[JK47]

Thre are a couple of reason why this would happen. The two main reasons IMO is 1) displaying to the to opposite gender or as part of the courting process 2) displaying in a territotial way to another fish or even the person keeping the fish. My midas displays to me all the time, he wants to find out what I taste like and the fin display is his little way of saying "hi I would like to bite you please come on in here".

All cichlids have some form of social behavior that is displayed to one another through behavior, body movement, displaying, dressing territory in the tank to their liking etc.. It obviously will vary by species but they all have some methods of communicating with one another.