what are my discus doing? iss this some kind of pairing behaviour?

[markandhisdiscus]

hi

2 of my discus tonight have started swimming around together , staying real close to each other , and when they are side by side they spread there dorsal and anal fins as wide as they will go , and sometimes kind of rub their bodies on each other. they are following each other everywhere . if 1 swims up to the top of the water from the bottom the other folows and vice versa.

it is lights out and all the other fish are at rest but these 2 are very active , and seem very tactile towards each other.
is this a sign of a pair bond forming or something else?
they have only been in the tank for a couple of days and are 2 different strains
1 is my checkerboard pigeon and its hard to tell with the lights off but the other is either 1 of my red turqs or ring leopards.

[David Rose]

I suspect pairing behavior; especially, given they are different strains. Time will tell...it could be weeks, but I would watch out for them to begin cleaning and guarding an area in the tank to come next if they are. They could still be two females, but time will tell.

[markandhisdiscus]

i will keep an eye out for any signs of that . is it very common for 2 females to do this?

[David Rose]

I've had more turn out to be two females than actual female/male, but that's just me. It may be a factor of having two mature females and no mature males ATM. Maybe some of our University folks will chime in here with their thoughts as well.

[markandhisdiscus]

i will be interested to see what develops. the 2 of them are definately sticking together like glue at the moment. are they hard to sex?

[David Rose]

I believe the consensus will be yes, they are hard to sex. Often for those not being experienced in breeding, it's not until the eggs become wrigglers that you know for sure. Or when the eggs turn a darker color and not white indicating they have been fertilized.