What Kind Of Cichlid?

[DevilsRainbow]

These guys are pretty old. 3 years i think. I got them from a friend, and he's said they've had eggs before.. but never hatched cuase eather they would eat the eggs or the other fish would.
but the thing is, is that they keep moving plants...digging little ditches...but i never see eggs. after a while i'll just move the plants back and everything. they've done this little ritual several times.
another thing, is it seems like before they going to start messing up the tank, they kinda fight, lock lips, circle around each other, wack each other with their tails...and then they start digging.

you can see on the pictures/video, but around the eyes the scales are a little blue/green and they have black stripes on their body.

View My Video

 

[willtang3000]

these guys are severums obviously they are cichlids so breeding behaviour such as lip locking and tail slapping is all part of the ritual.The parents may be potential egg eaters or atleast one of them and raising severum babies is quite difficult compared to kribs or convicts

 

[DevilsRainbow]

if i do ever see eggs..how will i know when their fertilized..and when they are..should i contain them imediatly? i have a small brooder basket i could put the eggs in..

 

[willtang3000]

after about 15hours or a little less the unfertilized eggs will go completely white and the parents normally dispose of them in means of eating them and if you setup a special tank with a bare bottom and a bit of slate and remove the parents after they have bred as this method is much more safe as the eggs are adhessive so they will most likely be damaged when you remove them from the breeding spot hope this helps
edti:got words muddled up