Convict Cichlids mating?

I have a male and female together in a 20 gal long tank with caves and plants
I also have one yoyo loach in there and they haven't even noticed him really since he stays pretty hidden and the 4 Amano shrimp do their own thing.
My question is...
they've been together a week now and my female has gotten super dark with BEAUTIFUL colors of orange, pink, real and purple all around her where my male has seemed to get brighter greys and darker stripes.
Anyways, today my female has been chasing him and flaring at him all day and I'm not sure if that's good or bad since I haven't kept convicts before.
Should I exchange males and see if she pairs with a different one? Or is this okay and then pairing? They're about the same size, male may be barely smaller.

 

It could be that she already laid the eggs, and is scaring the male away from them.

 

I was curious if maybe that was the case... I haven't seen her stay in any particular cave for too much of time. Should I exams around to see if I can find them or would that stress her out more?

 

Can you rehome the yoyo loach? They need to be in groups, and this one is probably very stressed by himself. Additionally, the convicts might kill him if they're breeding.

 

He isn't showing any signs of stress and seems pretty happy imo. I can't rehome him to anyone around here and my lfs won't take him. He was given to me from someone who had horrible tank conditions.

I've been keeping a close eye on their interaction with him and they don't even acknowledge his existence, he has an entire cave to himself that's his and they don't go in there

 

He's really not okay alone; he likely is stressed, that's why he's hiding all the time. Is there anyway you can find someone to take him, or could you get another tank and get more? It's not normal for them to hide all the time, and I would expect that the convicts will eventually harass him when they start breeding. They even kill dither fish.

 

The convicts could still be courting, there tends to be a lot of back and forth with this species. If she has eggs, they are in a cave, often dug by the female underneath an object in the tank.

The danger is that the Yoyo will eat eggs and/or fry. Convicts do not have the "stuff" to take down the Yoyo, after all, he's carrying two switchblades under his eyes. And believe me, they know how to use them. I've watched a 3 inch Botiid type loach chase off an 8 inch managuense cichlid.

It is correct that they are more of a social species and prefer others of their own kind, though this species has been seen to shoal with other Botiids.

 

The loach isn't a problem right now since I'm getting a 120 gal tank in the near future so for right now he's in here with my cons until I move him over into the bigger tank where I will attempt to find other yoyo's. Which aren't sold around here and have been looking into buying online. But he doesn't hide all the time. He's out quite a lot and interacts with me and eats regularly. He's out more than he hides. I was simply stating he has his own place if he does decide to hide.