# How early will Mbuna attempt to breed?



## Witblitz (Nov 7, 2013)

See, I stocked my tank and by the start of the 2nd month the one Mbuna was overly aggressive and building nest (I assume this is male behaviour?). These fish are between 3"-5" not showing any coloration yet, like mature fish normally do. Some time after that I caught two of them "in the act". Now the one fish (which I assume is the female) is hiding a lot, especially behind the power head. It doesn't show any other signs of stress or parasitic infestation on the skin. The specific fish used to swim around a lot doing it's own thing like the rest but now it won't budge and only now and then it would wander around like it used to before returning to the power head. So the question is, will they attempt to breed this early? Or do I have a sick fish? Also, the male doesn't chase after it at all at the moment, so I'm stumped as to what the actual cause might be.

You can barely see the hiding fish in this shot, but to give you a general idea :










Thx!


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## cichliddoc (Oct 15, 2013)

What kind of mbuma is it, hidding at the top of the tank usually means stress, as far as when they start breeding, around 2"-3" depending on breed. A better picture and a little more information about the cichlids in question would help.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

agree with cichlidoc on all points. also is the one u believe to be female holding. a mouth full of eggs is a sign of breeding, if no eggs in mouth then probably not breeding. they will sometimes spit or eat eggs prematurely with first brood, but if this were case then she would be back out.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Both males and females can dig and show aggression. A hiding fish could be holding or sick. I've had fish hold at 1.5"...it depends on the species.

One thing to note...I've never had a holding female lurk at the top...it's always the bottom in/near the rocks for them.


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