[jlspitler]

here are a couple of my fish 1 i know is a colbalt blue zebra that i got from a friend and the yellow one i am unsure what he is. i got teh yellow one from wal mart and know theyh ave been in teh same tank know for about a month and they are both tending to the same nest. any ideas if they are the same species. thanks for any help.

pics of building a nest

 

[MalawiLover]

Well, first of all mbuna (the rock dwellers of Lake Malawi) don't build nests. Males (and some females) will clear out caves between or under rocks for themselves as their territory, but they are mouthbrooding fish, so no nest.

They are definitely different species. Both sexes of cobalts (Metriaclima callainos) look identical (solid blue). The yellow fish could be a female Ps. saulosi or a red zebra (Metriaclima estherae)of either sex though I am leaning female. So any fry they may produce would be hybrids.

While pairs will do the circle dance as part of spawning, fish of both sexes will also do it as a way to size each other up and as a show of aggression.