Rainbow Cichlids

[Big Vine]

These guys arrived at my door bright and early on Friday morning last week...an overnight delivery from USPS. I was very happy with how early it got here, and the packaging was fantastic...thanks, Jess!

There are three of them...one male and two females, if I'm not mistaken.
From right to left: male, dominant female, sub-dom female

From right to left: male, sub-dom female, dominant female

It looks to me as if the two most colorful ones have paired.
The one I'm suspecting to be male was cleaning off a flat rock/shelf area in the far, back right-hand corner of the tank with the dominant female nearby. They have been hanging out together and most of the time the dominant female chases away the sub-dom female if she gets too close.
Male (left), Female (right)

Female (left), Male (right)

Thanks again, FishGeek...they're an awesome addition to my tanks! *SUNSMILE*
BV

 

[Cichlid-Man]

VERY good looking fish.

 

[Helena21]

WOW i've never seen rainbows before really and they are beautiful!! and i can see and ovipositer and a fat belly looks like your gonna have eggs soon BV.

 

[Big Vine]

Thanks, Helena...they're the most beautiful rainbow cichlids I've seen in person, and they're among the best ones I've seen posted anywhere (save perhaps for a few of the spawning pair pics in the profiles section on cichlid-forum). "Rainbow cichlids" in the LFS don't come half as close to being as nice as these guys! *SUNSMILE*

i can see and ovipositer and a fat belly looks like your gonna have eggs soon BV.

Yes, you're right---the crazy thing is that the ovipositor on the sub-dom female also seems to be quite prominent, along with the fat belly. Matter of fact, she has been making attempts at 'fraternizing' with the male---even coloring-up more as she approaches---but the dominant female doesn't allow for it and chases her away, lol. Quite the dynamic they've got going on!

VERY good looking fish.

Thanks, Matt...means a lot coming from someone on the 'dark side' of the cichlid world!

BV

 

[FishGeek]

They look nice BV!! *SUPERSMIL Yeah I would probably move the other female out if you can, as they do look as though there will be eggs on the way. The pair will get very dark coloring with some yellow and the blue. Not too mention that belly

 

[Big Vine]

Thanks, Jess.

I would probably move the other female out if you can, as they do look as though there will be eggs on the way. The pair will get very dark coloring with some yellow and the blue. Not too mention that belly

You read my mind!
I was gonna wait though until I saw eggs...do you think that's necessary, or should I just go ahead and move the sub-dom female right away? I've been debating that for the last little while.

Either way, she'll be going into my 38 gal. community tank with the angelfish & company. Matter of fact, once the pair has raised the fry for a bit in the 20 gal. long, I'll move them to the 38 gal. as well to leave room for the fry to grow-out.

BV

 

[FishGeek]

Yeah I would move her. Mine killed one of the others during their first spawn and it was just eggs, no fry made it.

 

[FishGeek]

Here are mine with 'normal' coloring (just for reference).

The Male investigating a flake that landed on the driftwood.

And the Female showingoff a bit to the male.

 

[Lovingmytank]

very nice BV very nice colours, how are yours mine are still timid as hell if anyone approaches the tank!

Interesting you view on the sexes let me know if your right obviously the ovipositor is a certainty but form the colour of what you are calling your dom female I would have said male! lol

with the suspect pair I have in my tank the male is a brilliant yellow with dark black spotting whilst the female has gone a pearlescent (Sp!!) colour more silvery than white but very defined colours.

Anyway keep us informed

 

[skratikans]

beautiful cichlids..im so jealous...lol

is that as big as they will get?

 

[FishGeek]

They get about the same size as a Ram. Some places say 2 inches and others say 3...

LovingMyTank: Ive never seen a female (or anyother) with that coloring before. Have a pic??

 

[Lovingmytank]

yeah I do I will post later and take some clearer shots,

Interesting what you said about size though fish geek, I read 5-6 inches was the size they get! and saw one in the lfs last week easily 6 inches if not bigger.

Will post shortly when i'm on the other PC

 

[FishGeek]

Im not sure the guy that I got them from breeds them and has for years and he said he has never seen one bigger than an adult bolivian ram, even though he has heard from others they get bigger. And personally Ive had mine for a while and they arent very big at all and I would think that if they got big there would have been quite a bit of growing going on.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Those are some nice looking fish! *thumbsups

I have to say, I haven't spent much time researching them before, but yours appear to be quite the specimens, The LFS had some a while back, that weren't anywhere near as vibrant colored as yours.

Did you end up taking the other female out yet (into the 38g)?

 

[Big Vine]

Nice rainbows, Jess. *SUNSMILE*
Well...it's official...it's now been about 24 hrs. since the pair has spawned, and the eggs appear to be fertile. I witnessed both of them making passes over them, but mostly the female sticks right by the spawning site and fans the eggs, as expected. And yes, I moved the other female to the 38 gal. tank last night.

These rainbow cichlids aren't timid at all...they come right up to the glass when I peer in at them. Having the tank between the living room and kitchen---with no background---leaves them even more exposed, yet they seem totally comfortable with it. Matter of fact, they actually chose to spawn on the kitchen side---where the fluorescent lights on the ceiling are on most of the time, making it the brightest room in our apartment. The spawning site is right in the corner on top of the flat surface of a rock. I'll try to get some pics up later. With the position they're in now, I should be able to get some super-close shots! *BOUNCINGS

BV

 

[Lovingmytank]

Congrats BV! that was damn quick, I may take mine back I have a spooked batch lol!

 

[big54bob]

Hehehe I want some rainbow cichlids. Wanna send me a male or a breeding pair?

 

[FishGeek]

Hehe! Thats AWESOME BV!!! See I told you I thought there was a pair with the three You should keep a few of the babies till they get good size and keep a male for your other female

 

[Helena21]

Thats cool BV! Cant wait to see pics

 

[Big Vine]

Spawning Site (pics)

Here's the spawning site:

(male is on the right in the last two pics)

BV