interesting cichlid behavior

[Dylan]

lately, ive been seeing my oscar performing some very interesting behavior. It sitcks its gills out really wide with its mouth open all the way and all the colors on the oscar are way more bright. it also twitches its tail fin. ive read that these are signs that it wants to mate. but there are no other oscars in the tank, and it does this with my flowerhorn. and not till lately, the flowerhorn has been doing the same. and now they keep swimming around each other touching their tails and all.
is there a way to tell which one is a male or a female, or if both are the same sex?
have there been any reports of oscars and flowerhorns mating??? is this possible?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Sounds like bettas flaring... they'll do it at a rival and also at a potential mate. They might just be trying to impress each other and say "Hey, I'm the biggest one in here, you're in my tank."

Not sure about your big cichlids "dance," though. Maybe they do want to get it on...

 

[Pure]

How big are these fish?

It does sound like mating behavior. Seeing as the flowerhorn is such a mix of other fish I'm sure he doesn't care who he does it with.

 

[Dylan]

it seems like the oscar is way more interested than the flowerhorn. the oscar does most of the "flirting?" and the flowerhorn sometimes participates and at other times may swim away.

the oscar is about 10-11 inches and the flowerhorn is a good 7 inches or so. the oscar is the king of the tank and the flowerhorn is right behind him.

i put the flowerhorn in the tank about 2 months ago when it was given to me from a friend, and right when i put him in, the oscar showed him who owned the tank and the flowerhorn hid under some bogwood for 2 day before coming out. so at first i think the oscar was protecting his territory, but now it is not so violent, he seems to send invitations and is friendly.

also, just last night i noticed that the oscar was trying to take a bite out of one of the flat smooth rocks that i have, in case they want to use that as their egg dropping place. i know that before oscars do mate, they usually would clear the surface of any debris. but it seems like he/she was trying to take a bite out of it?