cichlid behavior??

[fishluvr]

so the three unidentified cichlids that i have, started 3 days ago to ESCAVATE the landscape. Now i've had fish before do a little furniture moving/rearranging/. but nothing like this, they actually managed to move an entire area that was 3+inches deep of gravel, and is around 8inches in diameter, all the way down to the glass, and one of them just stays in the hole now. What on earth are they doing, could it be breeding behavior??? its absolutely amazing how much they moved. once the water clears up from feeding time, ill post some pics!

[MCHRKiller]

That is pretty normal for many species of cichlids. But to know what the behavior is you really need to figure out what your fish are.

[fishluvr]

ive tried several times on this and another fourm, no one has been able to tell me, and i was never into cichlids, so i just rehomed these guys from someone who was breaking down thier tank.

[KatzeSlaugen]

post a picture of them for us!

[fishluvr]

per your request

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[MCHRKiller]

Looks like a bluegill to me....

[fishluvr]

i looked at some pics of a blue gill, and it really doesnt look like what i have, however i did read that they can get to be 16 inches, so i HOPE its NOT what i have lol, and also i did read this "The reason most cichlids do the digging a hole then quivering item is because they are spawning" so maybe thats what they are doing

[Nautilus29]

I also think it looks like a blue gill. Blue gills dig holes to breed, and are also known to breed like rabbits.

[MCHRKiller]

The mark behind the gill area is pretty classic of a blue gill, I dont know any other fish which have a for the most part paternless body with that mark. :11: It also isnt uncommon to see them turn up in LFS.

[KatzeSlaugen]

looks like a long ear sunfish (Lepomis megaloti) but the thing holding me back from saying its definite is that all the sunfish/bluegill species i know do not have pointed fins with an elongated body.

my other guess, going from the general bass shape and the fin characteristics of bass, and also the spot on the base of the tail it could possibly be a very young peacock bass.

edit: might be a pale jewel cichlid after looking it up they have the same gill extension thing and the spot above the base of the tail, and the same style mouth joint and the spot-striped color style on the dorsal fin also makes me lean the heaviest this way...

then again who knows..

[flydustydawg]

the mark behind its gill does look like a blue gill. I fish for blue gill alot though and I have to say this is not a blue gill. It does have similarities but definitely is different. Maybe it is some kind of cross. Thats all I can think of.