Questions about Cichlid Females CA/SA

[troublesum]

I have read that female cichlids grow faster and are healthier and live longer if they don't breed or lay eggs. But in the same sentence I've read that they can become egg bound and have problems.
The reason i ask is i have a 8-9in F1 Female Festae with a infertile male Midas the female runs the tank but lately I've noticed her starting to display breeding behavior trying to lip lock with the male, tail slapping but the Midas could care less he just wants to dig and glass bang.
I would prefer to have her as a solo fish so she wont lay eggs or is she going to lay eggs regardless if there's a male present or not?

My female lives in the bottom of the tank only coming to the surface to eat, If i ditch the Midas could i add like 15-20 Columbia tetras for movement at the top TUIC has them for 3 bucks each or would they become snacks for her. OR are there recommendations for a small schooling fish for the top?

Thanks

 

[Conchonius]

Not a cichlid expert by any means, but my understanding is that becoming eggbound is a rare pathological issue. This is to say that eggs normally get resorbed if the fish is not stimulated into releasing them, and a healthy female fish does not suffer damage of any sort (except some frustration, perhaps?) if she does not mate. She simply resorbs old eggs and produces new ones to remain in breeding condition. In some cases this process is prevented and the animal becomes eggbound, but this is less "the fish died from not being able to lay eggs" and more "the fish died from the aquatic equivalent of ovarian cancer".

Mating and laying eggs, by contrast, is a stressful, energy-intensive business, so I wouldn't be surprised if non-breeding females live longer. For what it's worth, count my vote towards the "solo female with small agile school of dithers" idea. Unfortunately I can't give any pointers for dithers as I keep smaller fish in general, my preferred dithers (mosquito rasboras) would definitely be a snack for something the size of a festae.

 

[Jexnell]

I had a female Andinoacara Rivilatus that would lay eggs without the presence of a male. She would lay a string of eggs and turn right around and eat them.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Egg binding to my knowledge (at least in reptiles) is usually tied to obesity. If you're sticking to a good diet that will genuinely make your fish live longer anyway, then it shouldn't be a problem. A lot of my female cryptoheros/amatitlania without males will lay eggs when they need to. They grow better than the females with males too. I think it's less the egg production itself more the frequency, as when paired they're essentially producing (and probably laying) eggs every two weeks.