Yellow lab and Peacock Breeding???

Yesterday, I brought home some new fish. After about 5 minutes, I saw one of my new peacocks doing a mating dance with my electric yellow. They went on with it for about 30 seconds until they were interrupted by the boss of the tank, a blue zebra. I haven't seen them do it since then. I tried to look for signs that point to if either of them are holding and I can't find any. Nor do I know their genders (I'm guessing that the electric yellow is a male, but I'm not sure). If any of you guys have any advice to help me understand what occured please post. Thank you!!! And it would be greatly appreciated if a reply came in as quick as possible.

Edit: And is it even possible for them to breed?

 

Bump

 

could be a few things, literature always says keep one male cichlid per 2 or 3 as the male will stress the female out to near death if he doesn't have more than one female to chase after

also cichlids of the same size usually will lock lips and push one another for dominance.
most people when keeping african cichlids try to aim for all male fish that way they do not try to compete or fight for the right to breed.

how big is your tank? i had a 30g that i kept 4 cichlids in with 3 males and 1 female, but they were all under 2" and the tank shattered before they had a chance to grow into adults

 

I have a 75 gallon. What puzzles me is that they have only done a short(very short) mating dance only once (im guesing not enough time to finish) and I haven't seen them do it since then. He is not bothering her at all, he acts as if she doesnt exist. And from what I can see she isn't holding eggs. I know for sure that nothing you mentioned is the source of the problem.

So, what confuses me is...
He ignores her
She is not holding eggs
they are 2 completely different species and they are trying to breed
can fish finish breeding after about 30 sec
Why would they breed if she isnt holding any eggs

Edit: I think I know what you are asking now. When the dominent blue zebra interrupted the mating ritual the yellow lab did not fight with him at all, no lip-locking...nothing. So, the yellow lab didn't fight with the blue zebra to keep breeding with the peacock, he just swam away. Weird and complicated situation I know.

 

time will tell! sounds like a nice tank - pics when you get a chance would be great!

 

i have pics of my tanks in my thread here-> http://www.3reef.com/forums/say-hello/hello-all-126645.html

Also, the fish peaking out from under the volcano is the dominent blue zebra

 

bump. I still don't really have an answer to my question. The question that I asked has nothing to do with dominence issues, as none occured.

 

sounds more like aggression than mating. Remember, the way they mate and the way they fight look almost the same. So a couple cichlids swimming around each other after youve added new fish is almost certainly aggression. Fish dominance shows as this type of behavior, where an existing fish goes up to a new addition to show his dominance. It doesnt need to continue after a one or a few times. Its simply your residences making sure the new additions are aware of the hierarchy of the aquarium.

 

I had this same experience once with my yellow lab and peacock, it was making an attempt, at spawning but the species are to far apart, to produce Viable offspring, odds are the mom will spit the eggs with in a week. The lab is also noticing the female is holding, so he sees an easy snack too. keeps us posted, if she ends up spitting fry I would cull them personally. I dont think mutts have any place in the hobby.
If you cant see your female is holding, I would turn towards aggression.