Re: Cichlids caught playing
Interesting, when my larger group prefers to fight over food than eat it. I think that they're play fighting because after they are finished fighting over food, every one gets plenty to eat.
Re: Cichlids caught playing
I used to have a group of large cyphotilapia gibberosa "mikula"...these guys would go nuts when I came to feed the tank...I could hand feed them and they would literally lay in hand and let me stroke their flanks...some of my fish in the 500 gallon trust me like that as well...the 5 second memory theory is rubbish IMHE :p
Re: Cichlids caught playing
I've read about Oscars playing "catch" with their fishkeepers using a ping pong ball. My wild discus have always enjoyed playing in the water flow.
Cichlids are extremely intelligent fish so I'm not surprised that they seek entertainment in some form.