Cichlid digging holes under rock.

[parrisa4]

Hi there. I have a cichlid digging a hole under a rock. He swims in and swims out with a mouthful of sand and spits it out. Whys this??

Also what type of cichlid is this and what sex?

Thanks

 

[Steli89]

It's getting ready to breed. My male kenyi does the same thing. They like a clean area to spawn.

 

[sadaas]

It's completely normal, digging a cave to claim it's own. Very common behaviour in Mbuna. Might be a one of the labotropheus trewevasae but the mouth throws me off a bit.

 

[parrisa4]

Thank you. Does anyone know how often Cichlids breed.?

 

[sadaas]

Depends really, some of mine go for it once every 3 months while others aren't so fruitful and breed maybe once a year.

 

[SonicsDC25]

I hope your rock isn't laying on top of gravel or sand, last thing you wanna come home to is a cichlid pancake O_O

 

[Wy Renegade]

So I believe that that fish is in a fairly large category of mbuna that are commonly referred to as "zebra" cichlids. They are classified in in the Metriaclima or Maylandia genus depending on your source. So he is likely a "Blue Zebra". If you google images of Blue Zebra cichlids, you will see that this group encompasses are large variety of both color morphs and species.

 

[peacockkeeper]

Nice looking fish!! And mine dig all the time I have pool filter sand. The first time I set up my rock work it was resting on 3" of sand and they dug it all out from underneath. Luckily I had them set up pretty good and no fish were crushed. When I reorganized the rocks the next time I moved a lot of the sand out of that area so they would be practically sitting on the bottom this has helped but they still dig an move them some. I know 1 thing you have to watch out for if you are using large rocks is that they don't fall and crack the tank. All mine are relatively small though.

 

[Rare]

He is the only in my aquarium that digs....

Digging a new home - YouTube

 

[peacockkeeper]

I just cleaned my tank yesterday and he already dug the hole in the first picture. He is my main digger but the rest of them do it some to. A lot of it has to do with clearing out a spot to spawn from what I have read. It's an all male tank though maybe I should let him know he is wasting his time lol.

 

[fishyd]

He will always find a spot to claim as his and dig. You could try rearranging rocks around to force a territory change, but he will find another place to claim and dig again.

 

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mostly they tend to dig to claim there territory... this could be to show his rights or for spawning

 

[parrisa4]

Thanks everyone for the replies appreciated.