Acting Weird

[Wildfire]

My cichlids have been doing some funny things lately... Is it normal for them to go around in circle for a couple of minutes... They also tend to "scratch" against the rocks? My golden Ram and another one of my cichlids (pics to come soon) act like they are kissing or something?? They look at each other and just go back and forth and doing that for a couple of minutes... This is normally my only 2 that do this funky stuff. I must add my golden Ram almost doubled in size... He is the new bully of the tank. Could they be fighting?

 

[fam1197]

Well as far as your cichlids scratching on the rocks, it is kinda normal for them to do that sometimes mine also do that, If they are doing it alot you may want to check your water quality (PH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrate) if the levels are high do a water change and re-test, as far as circling for a few minutes are they circling or darting around really fast, if so that is another sign of a water quality problem.

Oh your cichlids aren't kissing its more like fighting, claiming their territory, they let the other fish who invade their area know that it is their spot. It can also be a dominance thing. Showing who is the dominent fish.

 

[Wildfire]

Thanks for the response Fam! As for the circling they do that in pairs. They go around each other?

As for the kissing I thaught they were fighting. Is this dangerous or just normal acitng? They wouldn't fight to death would they? My golden Ram also likes to dig is this normal? He takes some rocks in his mouth and moves them around...

 

[juanveldez]

it is normal for cichlids to do a bit of jaw locking. it is rarely harmful although you may notice some minor cuts, I have two fish that are still recovering fine they just needed to see who was the boss and then they settled in fine.

 

[fam1197]

No problem, the cichlids circling each other is just a way to feel one another out, if you look close in the pic under my name you can see two of my Aulonocara doing the same thing. In my experience the liplocks follow, like JuanValdez said you may notice a few cuts just make sure your water is at good levels to avoid infections. As far as them moving rocks with their mouths that is very normal, you will also see them doing that around their claimed territory, kinda like setting up their pad...