identification of an african cichlid

[jagged]

I've had her for almost a year and I'm really fond of her, but I've got to admit, I'm still not entirely sure what breed she is. I've been thinking it would be great to find her a mate, anyone got any ideas on how I might go about doing that?

[earthie_9]

That acie looks like a male to me, not a female - it's huge. If it's been a year and no eggs, then it's probably a male. My females all laid eggs way before a year old, around 9 months or so. They'd even hold them for a bit before spitting them out, no male needed.

You might want to ease up on the food, that fish looks really overfed, but the color is incredible.

[jagged]

Thanks for the ID, I was pretty sure it was a yellow tail acei. I appreciate the confirmation. I'm still thinking it's a female, though - I've got a pic of a male OB that she's been trying to mate with, but I could be wrong. I see what you mean about the weight, but cutting back on feeding would be tough since she's the biggest in the tank - I'd have to skip a couple of days for the whole tank, which isn't ideal.

[earthie_9]

He's probably just trying to assert his dominance. I've got a dominant male that does the same thing - flashes and shimmers at all the other fish, even his own brother and son.

Your livingstonii is adorable, by the way. I had a big female once, but she became a real handful whenever she was ready to spawn. She'd take charge for a whole week, and I'd joke that she was going through PMS. I miss her, she was my first African cichlid.