I know what you mean, breeding cichlid can be very rewarding as well as keeping them. I really love Angelfish and have always had one in my 50 gallon aquarium. Over the past 3 years I've decided to try and breed them and have noticed some very nice behaviours from them. I have only bred them twice during these years due to space requirements for them to growout so I kept a few to grow up and this has halted now.
Since breeding them I have noticed that they really do love to socialise. They are not as aggressive as some say, since previously I've only kept them in pairs or trios I've never got the chance to observe a group behaviour as much as when I started to breed them. In order for me to breed them I had to buy 6 to let a pair form. I would say they stay quite tightly as a group, they don't have the boarder of territory as some would say they like to make. The only aggression comes when I'm feeding my Bristlenose plecos/corydoras in the tank as they fight for the tablets or frozen food that reaches the bottom. There will be the odd times where some will liplock and I put this down to establishing order within the group and after this brief encounter the aggression stops until the same happens again which is not often. I find if you introduce younger angels they will settle without problem from the older, larger ones int he tank. It does show that these are gentle giants and that they get some really bad reputation. Obviously they would prey on fish that are big enough to fit in their mouths, I'm sure this will apply the another fish but if you avoid that then its all good.
When it came to breeding, the pair will drive the others to the other end of the aquarium. However, the other Angels show no signs of attempting to eat the eggs, although they do wonder close they do not appear to be targeting the eggs more to have room to swim about in my opinion instead of being forced into a corner while the two are breeding. The pair will take turns to guard the eggs while the other will go feed and to actively warn the other inhabitants.
I know I went off topic but this is just some observations I really want to share, as Angelfish have always been my top most loved fish since my dad started keeping them when I was young.
Dwarf Cichlids I've kept many times but its so hard to find pairs. Most stores only sell males due to their colours, they rarely have the care to allow females to show their breeding colours to appreciate their true "show quality" so to say. I have kept a pair of A. Panduro, the male refused to co-exists with the female and ended up bullying her, I had to remove the female to my 20 gallon to keep him from killing her. I've had Apistogramma Cacautoidies and A. Hongsloi too and even on their own they have their own personal behaviour which are awesome to watch. My Hongsloi was not aggressive but he could definitely stand up to some large angelfish, even they are scared of him!
The Apistogramma species and Rams are definitely something everyone should keep at some point!
Michael.
