ShyGecko
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have this 10 gallon aquarium that has been sitting without fish in it since the end of April, and I've wanted to get some Cichlids lately, and read that it's good to start out trying it out with a couple Convicts, so tonight I went and got two of them from the lfs (yes, I know they will quickly outgrow the tank, which I'm prepared for). The ones I got were a couple of the biggest ones in the tank, and they are about an inch and a half long. The others in the tank were 3/4 to 1/2 that size.
The lady at the store said that at that size it's hard to sex them...I don't know if she's just ignorant or if that's true. I've read that females have a pinkish hue to their belly and fins, and to look for fish that are hovering over a dent in the gravel back in the corners. Well, I found two that I "thought" were male & female. One is a really pretty bluish grey color with dark grey stripes...the other is more of a brownish grey with slightly lighter dark grey stripes and has a pinkish hue. Does this sound right? They are both about the exact same size.
The problem I'm running into is that I've heard they are usually very timid the first couple of days you have them, and they hide most of the time. Well, not these two. They've been swimming around, and have been staking out the clay pot I put in there as a cave for them. They have even been pecking at the insides of the pot, which I read was a breeding behavior?? Well, now the darker, more bluish colored one is chasing the other one around, nipping at her sides and her fins, and she ends up cowering in the top corner of the tank, back by where the filter is. Is this normal? Even if I ended up getting two same sex fish, is it normal for them to be so agressive with each other? Should I get another fish to go with them? Or do you think this is breeding behavior already? I heard that when they breed they get agressive, but geeze, they were in my tank for not even 20 minutes before they started in on each other.
What's up with my fish?? LOL Fish shrink needed maybe?
The lady at the store said that at that size it's hard to sex them...I don't know if she's just ignorant or if that's true. I've read that females have a pinkish hue to their belly and fins, and to look for fish that are hovering over a dent in the gravel back in the corners. Well, I found two that I "thought" were male & female. One is a really pretty bluish grey color with dark grey stripes...the other is more of a brownish grey with slightly lighter dark grey stripes and has a pinkish hue. Does this sound right? They are both about the exact same size.
The problem I'm running into is that I've heard they are usually very timid the first couple of days you have them, and they hide most of the time. Well, not these two. They've been swimming around, and have been staking out the clay pot I put in there as a cave for them. They have even been pecking at the insides of the pot, which I read was a breeding behavior?? Well, now the darker, more bluish colored one is chasing the other one around, nipping at her sides and her fins, and she ends up cowering in the top corner of the tank, back by where the filter is. Is this normal? Even if I ended up getting two same sex fish, is it normal for them to be so agressive with each other? Should I get another fish to go with them? Or do you think this is breeding behavior already? I heard that when they breed they get agressive, but geeze, they were in my tank for not even 20 minutes before they started in on each other.
What's up with my fish?? LOL Fish shrink needed maybe?
