red faced and aggressive

[craig smith]

I do not have much experince raising fish, i do know the basics. the tank has 9 talipia in a 200 gal tank trying to get them to breed. two of the fish made spots in the gravel that i would say are for the female to lay eggs in. the biggest male`s face and front half is getting redish color. he is chasing all the other fish about then sometimes he will clean the bottom of his round area and when the other male comes close they open their mouths and push against each other like two rams would do.i don`t want to mess with them cause every time i move fish around they seem to get shocked and dont eat right for a week or so. should i take one male out, i think its mixed sex i tried to visually sex them when i put them in the tank. i know the ratio should be 3 or 4 per male fish.

if someone has experince in this please advise

thanks,

smitty

[Randy]

You didn't say how big they are, but it sounds like they are breeding now. Look for fish that are some what separated from the others and look for an extended area under their mouth. That is a sign a female is holding eggs/fry. You need to observer before you feed as all of them will stuff their mouths to a point they appear to be holding. The female will hold her young for about 4 weeks. I would leave them as they are until it is getting close to time to release the fry and then move the female. I put mine in a tank that has a strong light and lots of growing algae on the glass. I use a new pepper grinder to grind pellets to powder for them to eat but they will do a number on the algae. I will sometimes strip the female when I move her depending on if I feel she has been holding long enough. To do this just hold her face down open her mouth and gently rub the lower jaw area.

Here is an article you might like to read.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/raising_fry.php

[Jon Parr]

Yep, breeding is imminent. I'd say Randy nailed it on his advice, except that in my experience the females will tumble eggs for a week, brood the fry for a week, eat for a week, and then are ready to do it all again. In 4 weeks, she already has a second batch, and the first is near an inch long and already being sold as fingerlings. Good luck.

[craig smith]

One of the fish looks like she has a mouth full, lips closed tight bottom of the mouth pushed out.

[Jon Parr]

Pass out cigars, gentlemen, proud father coming thru...