Help -Blue Acara Liplocking

[fishnovice]

A couple of months ago I bought 2 juvenile blue acara 5-6cms and was told they were both female even though one had longer fins. Since then they have developed drastic differences in shape and colour. The larger is rounded, sort of convict shape, silver with two black spots in the middle of its side. The smaller (male?) has a longer leaner shape sort of like mbuna and has developed very noticable black stripes so it looks like a slimline convict.
Today the slim striped one started chasing the silver rounded one all over the tank. Then they liplocked for at least 20mins. My female con swam beside them acting like a refereee and even tried to split them up but they refused to part like their lips had been superglued together and even swam backwards.Have I got
1. a pair and this is part of th emating ritual though it looked quite violent to me
2. two very different females who hate each other, perhaps different sub species or colour morphs

Worried they might kill or badly injure each other -advice needed.
If they do breed, would they kill the convict and 2 syno they share with? My female con has never bred and is pretty big, twice the size of the "striped" acara

 

[minnnt]

It sounds like aggression. It could be them testing each other to see if the other is a suitable mate though. The male will probably want to breed and the female doesn't. I know females can take a bashing from the male at breeding time.

 

[fishnovice]

It sounds like aggression. It could be them testing each other to see if the other is a suitable mate though. The male will probably want to breed and the female doesn't. I know females can take a bashing from the male at breeding time.

So you reckon they are a pair not 2 females? At what size do they start to breed? Mine are not very big, maybe

 

[minnnt]

Cichlids can breed when quite small tbh, they have smaller yields usually and the first few times they will probably be eaten. If they are two females then they're probably just asserting themselves as number 1. If they're totally different shapes then I would say male and female.... but the males are usually bigger so it's a strange one!

 

[fishnovice]

Cichlids can breed when quite small tbh, they have smaller yields usually and the first few times they will probably be eaten. If they are two females then they're probably just asserting themselves as number 1. If they're totally different shapes then I would say male and female.... but the males are usually bigger so it's a strange one!

Thanks for the advice...so nothing to worry about then? I didn't realise acara could breed at 3 in as adults are quite big. If they do breed, the man I got them from will be really upset as he was convinced he had 3 females and sold me 2 alleged girls because he wanted a breeding pair

 

[minnnt]

The lip locking can be very serious, it can cause quite a bit of damage. The resulting damage can lead to the mouth becoming susceptible to mouth rot. One of my angels died from this. Keep an eye on them and see if it develops or subsides. You may have to remove one of them. If the other person was sure of them.being females then they're probably battling for dominance, but it would usually be the larger one that was the aggressor.

 

[Caprichoso]

If you post a picture of the two fish, someone I'm sure can tell you the sex of them.

 

[hackmaster]

My pair used to lip lock after laying eggs and then disappearing guaranteed everytime they were like it for hours...

My female used to end up in a right mess, her face all battered up and cloudy eyes...

Get some pics up and we'll help you out

 

[minnnt]

My pair used to lip lock after laying eggs and then disappearing guaranteed everytime they were like it for hours...

My female used to end up in a right mess, her face all battered up and cloudy eyes...

Get some pics up and we'll help you out

Yours were the ones i was thinking of

And since when did you get a marine tank?!

 

[hackmaster]

Hehe I've had it running for about 2/3 months now it looks great, it is only a nano but boy does it look good...

Alot easier than I thought it would be though...

Also it's cost me roughly £300 and the tank was only £10

It's right when they say it's expensive...

Now it's setup though it's pretty much the same as trops ie maintenance and water changes