SPAWNING BEHAVIOUR?????

[CFC]

The two zebra tilapias (or butterfly cichlids) i added this week have just started excavating a pit in the corner the tank,it is a joint effort so im a bit concerned that it might be pre spawning behaviour,the trouble is they are only 3" long which seems a little small for a fish that can reach 15" to be sexually mature.
Is it possible that they are breeding already or is it just every day behaviour?I need to know because if they are breeding its gonna cause WWIII because everything in the tank is gonna want to eat the eggs and any babies and from what ive been told and read the zebras like a scrap and will defend them,someones gonna end up hurt (or dead).

 

[semper fi]

sorry but another down fall of the buttikoferi is that they are prolific diggers. one of the less finer points of the cichlids. they love to dig. they mature at a much slower rate than most of the africans. about 1-2 years.

maggie

 

[CFC]

Thanks Maggie,they seem to have stopped the digging for the time being so i can breath easy again (till the next time).When you say they love to dig do you mean they just root about in the substrate or do they excavate huge great pits and push all the gravel to either side of the tank?

 

[semper fi]

both! forget about having plants in the tanks. they do become floaters. and be careful of rockwork. they will dig under the rockwork for a cave to hide in and could possibly send the whole pile of rocks down on their noggins! nothing you can do to stop it. if you level out the gravel they will be back doing it all over again! my suggestion is to make note of where they are digging and work the decor and rockwork around their construction sites.

when they are mating, they will shimmy in front of each other. ime, these are way too small to be mating though.

maggie