Flowerhorn egg tube???

Hi guys I'm new with flowerhorn i have a few question that could be stupid for experiente flowerhorn/fish keepers, so for that im sorry!

I bought 2 short body SRD FLOWERHORN 2/3 months ago and I'm keeping them in a 300L tank with a divider....

About the tank:
300l
2x external canister 2000 lph (more than enough)
1x 300w heather (keep the tank in 26°c all the time)
Sand at the ttom and some rocks and wood to give cover for the plecos ( 6x bristlenose plecos)


All the water parameters are NORMAL!!

OK....

THE FEW QUESTION....


1st - could you guys tell from the photos if they are male or female
2nd - is that thing next to the anus from the dark one a problem or the egg tube??
3rd - not knowing if they are male or female i saw the one with the thing hanging next to the anus cleaning the tank sand.... until bare glass.... what that means?

4th - why the beautiful big one in the picture never change color and the other one keep changing color every day? Goes from beautiful do VERY DARK to almost pale every day....







Least but not last.... if i cant find a answer for none of the above should i just give up and let one of them go ? And free the other one to the whole tank?

Thanks
The 1st 2nd and 3rd pic is the same fish

 

The bigger one looks to be a male and the other I can’t really tell. It’s probably getting dark and pale because he/she is stressed out from being with another flowerhorn. Even with a divider it can be really stressful for them to see each other. And flowerhorns like to dig so that’s why one of them was digging to the glass mine has holes everywhere in the tank.

 

The bigger one looks to be a male and the other I can’t really tell. It’s probably getting dark and pale because he/she is stressed out from being with another flowerhorn. Even with a divider it can be really stressful for them to see each other. And flowerhorns like to dig so that’s why one of them was digging to the glass mine has holes everywhere in the tank.

So best choice would be removing one of them? From tge tank?

Thank you for your reply

So best choice would be removing one of them? From tge tank?

Thank you for your reply

And what about that thing hanging next to the anus from rhe dark one? What do you recon?

 

The dark one is a female, and ready to spawn as evidenced by the huge breeding tube she is showing. The other one appears male, and seems to be interested as he is staying near the divider. You could try putting a flat rock next to the divider on her side; otherwise, she may try laying eggs directly on the glass. If she lays eggs, he can fertilize them through the divider. If you are willing to take a chance, you could remove the divider for a short period and watch them closely. If they attack one another viciously, put the divider back in. Otherwise, you may get lucky and see them spawn.

The color change sounds like it's just night/day color changes, but could be her attempting to attract the male.

 

The dark one is a female, and ready to spawn as evidenced by the huge breeding tube she is showing. The other one appears male, and seems to be interested as he is staying near the divider. You could try putting a flat rock next to the divider on her side; otherwise, she may try laying eggs directly on the glass. If she lays eggs, he can fertilize them through the divider. If you are willing to take a chance, you could remove the divider for a short period and watch them closely. If they attack one another viciously, put the divider back in. Otherwise, you may get lucky and see them spawn.

The color change sounds like it's just night/day color changes, but could be her attempting to attract the male.

Even not sure if they were male of female i did tried to remove the divider, "Hopping THAT WAS HER TUBE DROPPE and they got lip locked for about 20 minutes and I separated them again..

Even not sure if they were male of female i did tried to remove the divider, "HAPPING THAT QAS HERCTUBE DROPPE and they got lip locked for about 20 minutes and I separated them again..

Should I try again for a longer time with the flat rock this time??? The thing is im pretty sure they are not mire than 5/6 months old isn't it to soon? Thank you

 

Figuring the age on shortbodied mutants is difficult, but I would bet they are a lot more than 6 months old.

The lip locking is a good thing. That's how they test one another for suitability. The only reason to separate them is if one gives up and starts running away.