Fish issues, again!

[whitelop]

Some of us have talked about how we have issues with some of the fish forums. So I figured I'd ask on here again, since some of you guys are pretty fish savvy!
haha.

As some of you know, I have two blood parrots. I love my barbs in a water change and temperature increase. So its just the BP's and a catfish.

So, I've noticed my BP's displaying what I'm pretty sure are courting behaviors. I noticed like 2 weeks ago that the smaller one was being pretty aggressive to the bigger one. Then I saw the big one hiding more from the small one. I then noticed the big ones gills change, they became pretty pink, then her color changed completely. She went from being totally pale and almost white to being completely orange. This bright, vibrant pretty orange.

NOW, they're swimming around each other in circles, and "kissing" each other. I mentioned it to my husband the other day when I saw some changes in behavior, but he didn't believe me until today. Then he pointed out that they had moved some rocks around in 2 places to make "nests".

I know that most male BP's are sterile, but sometimes they aren't. So my questions are as follows; how do I tell the male and female apart? (They don't have any defining girl/boy features because they're hybrids) If they do manage to hatch out eggs, what do I do with the fry? If they don't hatch out the eggs, they'll eat them right? So I won't have to clean them out? lol

Thanks for listening to my rambling! hahaha. I've also posted this on a tropical fish forum, so hopefully they won't be dillholes and they'll help me out! :balloons:

 

[degrassi]

For sexing you'll have to vent them which can be tricky. Or sometimes when they are breeding you can observe their breeding tubes while still in the water. Circling and lip locking can also be signs of aggression so it could just be 2 males fighting. If they do pair up you'll notice them swimming together and sticking to one area of the tank. But since the chances of them actually breeding successfully are very slim it doesn't really matter the sex. Just watch them closely so they don't hurt each other while courting or fighting.

If they do end up having eggs. Unfertilized eggs will turn white and after a few days the parents will usually eat them. If they don't I'm sure your catfish will. Other wise you can just suck them up when you do a water change.

 

[Sweetie]

whitelop: would you mind if I posted your question on fishforums.com to see if they can help with this?

 

[whitelop]

I already posted it on fishforums.net
I forgot I posted it on that one, there are so many and its confusing.
Its in the hybrid section and it hasn't gotten any replies.