# Maingano? Male? Female? Breeding habits?



## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

I have 4 Maingano's; 1 is real dark black with blue stripes, the other 3 are black with blue stripes too, but lighter and have light blue bellies. They all have only one egg spot, so I figured they were all female, but I really am not sure.

Lately 2 of them have been acting weird. The black one has been chasing the other 3 around very aggressively, so I'm thinkin he might be a male.

Last night I was watching them swim around... Everytime the Black one would get close to the biggest lighter one the lighter one would almost instantly turn real pale. When the black one would swim away again it would almost instantly turn black again. It was really weird. While I was watching it turned pale and back again almost 4 times.

About an hour after I saw the color change stuff happening, the same 2 maingano's started doing a breeding dance, but I didn't see any eggs pop out of anywhere or anything. Could it be that they are really both males trying to breed together, or both females? Or maybe not capable of breeding, or too young to breed?

Does anyone have breeding mainganos that act like this?


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## eagl97 (Dec 26, 2006)

My male Maingano was black but I also had a dark female most the time females will be lighter. A less dominate male will also be lighter. Your fish could be breeding or determining who's going be the dominate male fish.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

The 2 that were "breeding" were actually fighting for to be dom male. The black one and the one that was turning white are now both Dark black/blue stripes and each has 3 egg spots. They both own one side of my 55 gal tank.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I had a group of mainganos - 1 male and 3 females, but for the longest time I thought it was 2 males and 2 females. My alpha female was dark like the male, would chase the other two females, and even had 3 eggspots (the same as the dominant male).

I've found that it's pretty hard to sex mainganos just by color and behavior. However, it sounds like those were two males that were fighting for dominance. I don't think 2 males will peacefully co-exist in a 55 gallon tank for long. Keep an eye on them. You might need to remove one soon.

I found that my dominant male maingano was too aggressive to keep with 3 females in a 55 gallon tank. Others on this site have had success with them in a 55 gallon. Sometimes it can boil down to the personality of an individual fish. Good luck!


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

Yeah, I probably will have to get rid of one, if not more because of aggression

Plus, I think the maingano aggression is preventing my Acei from breeding again :?


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

did you see this thread: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=207347

I'll direct you there rather than repeat my post here.


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