not seeing breeding colors yet, but the “old lady” has been much more tolerant lately…

[Magnum Man31 146]

the larger fish ( yellow acara) has laid eggs before, she was in solitary at the time, as I had no mate for her, and she was intolerant of any other cichlids… so I ordered a few more yellow acaras, when they became available, as potential mates ( they were smalls ) and I tried tank dividers, anything to be able to keep them together, without killing each other… not sure if either of these 2 smaller ones are males yet, but some larger stiffer plastic plants provided enough line of sight cover, that it has been working… she was still very intolerant of the new fish… but I’ve noticed the last couple days, that it’s ok if they hang together for a while… still, at least at feeding time, she wants nothing to do with them, but in a rare occasion this morning they were all tolerating each other..

 

[GaryE29]

It looks like she may have been playing bingo on that flat rock. There are tokens everywhere.

That's a fingers crossed situation. Maybe. But then again, if they breed, you will likely have a huge brood, and those fish can be hard to find homes for...

 

[Magnum Man31 146]

there was quite a large batch of eggs laid last time…

had to dig pretty deep, to find the previous photo

 

[Back in the fold3]

To me , the greatest sight in all aquarium and tropical fish keeping is a pair of cichlids , any cichlids , breeding and raising their brood . This is why I search diligently for a pair of Ports . I have to see it one more time in my own aquarium .

 

[Magnum Man31 146]

a much smaller clutch of eggs today, tank mates probably still too young to help her out… but still all 3 surviving in this tank…

 

[Magnum Man31 146]

it’s been taking a while for the juvenal fish to show any sex traights, I’m not seeing any male breeding colors yet, but the smallest fish seems to be getting fin extensions, while big momma, and the other juvenal, have noticeably rounded fin edges, so at best guess there are 2 females, and one male in the tank… they are better about not chasing around, with what looks like big momma, and the other likely female, at opposite ends of the tank, and the one that’s starting to look male, swimming around in the middle… still watching for overly aggressive behavior, but no tattered fins yet… this it taking a long time, hoping a breeding pair ends up coming out of this…

 

[Magnum Man31 146]

another new clutch of eggs, and no one has stepped up to fertilize them ( that I saw ) still 3 fish in this tank…