Cupid making a nest...

[Magnum Man]

this just started today... I only have 2, and they were not mature yet... do you think this just means this one has matured, or possibly the other is a female ( I suspect it's a less mature male, but I really have no idea... the sand is typically flat...

 

[Magnum Man]

well the Cory's flattened it out over night... assuming it's just practicing, as a sign of maturity...

 

[GaryE]

And the games have begun... Biotodoma prefer much deeper sand than that. They reached the bottom before they usually would, and in a crowded tank like that, may not be able to maintain a nest.

They'll try. They are telling you you have a male. Probably, you have a pair. I will be a pretend expert and say the odds are 50/50...

It's a showtank and the real odds are they will be pushed around enough that nothing will come of it. But it's cool to see. I would check this out to confirm the ID.

Orinoco eartheater, Biotodoma wavrini - Practical Fishkeeping

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[Magnum Man]

I'm beginning to think the other is female, but really no idea for sure, but he's testing ground in 2 or 3 other places around the tank this morning... the smaller fish seems interested, and following him around to the various spots... but so far the display theme has held... no deaths ( so far ), and no one is willing or able to except all the traffic... guessing if there were a pair of mouth brooders, it may be more likely...but too much traffic, for anyone to leave eggs laying around

 

[Magnum Man]

thanks for the link... according to it, these are cupido, as the spots are above the lateral line, on both fish...

 

[GaryE]

Good. They get mixed up a lot. Both are great fish. And neither is likely to harm tankmates - they are quite mild mannered Cichlids. The threat is how they react to the stress of constantly being stymied. They wouldn't be the first Cichid to develop stress related issues in a crowded tank.
Hopefully, they'll fall out of the breeding cycle quickly and harmlessly.

 

[Magnum Man]

he hasn't given up... of course he can't keep everyone out... the Acaras think it's a nice nest too... doesn't help that the flow of the water , washes the food into his bowl, at feeding time, which brings all the Cory's... even if he can talk the female into laying eggs, they can't hold the spot... maybe they should be moved to the 1st 30 gallon I set up... they are relatively had to get, so babies should sell relatively easy

 

[GaryE]

I would go for a breeding tank. There's no guarantee of success. Just getting eggs doesn't do it. But you haven't been into breeding fish, so standing pat may make sense.
The eggs interact with the environment. This is hard for many of us to get their heads around, but they are alive. Water composition is crucial to them.
I have had many South American Cichlids spawn a dozen times and never hatch while I adjusted and adjusted some more to create an environment that allowed a hatch. I had a blackwater Apistogramma agassizi from Alenquer, a beautiful colour form, that gave me fry on spawning number 17.
It's rarely "they lay eggs and you get fry". They can drive you up the wall.

When I attempted SA Cichlid communities, they reached a stage where my choices became stark:
a) leave them to try to breed in the community and possibly lose them to stress;
b) leave them and have them kill tankmates;
c) buy and set up a new tank. Then another. Then another as the community emptied out.

Ever wonder how a guy ends up with as many tanks as me?

I ended up with a 40 gallon long that I still have, because of Biotodomo wavrini, which I don't still have (I could never get those eggs to hatch).