Question about keyhole cichlids

I have 2 keyhole cichlids, I am fairly certain they are male and female, but they are not a pair.
One has the other now driven into hiding in a corner and not willing to come out for a few days,

If I would add another keyhole to this combination would there be trouble?

Hey there, I have never kept less than three as even keyholes can be picky with each other.
Cichlids are cichlids after all.
I would defo get another one at least, maybe increase to a group of five.
That also increases the chances of a pair too.

This might sound opportunistic and I suppose it is but I have 3 for sale dirt cheap right now, check the trading section.

I know you have them, they have been on my mind, is there any pair in with your 3??

Not as yet, two are bigger than the other one though.
They are very peaceful but they are in a tank with much bigger and more aggressive fish, the smallest one has taken a bit of damage recently, nothing that shouldn't heal with tlc, but its tlc they won't get in mine unfortunately.

Whether you go for mine or not though I really recommend giving the now dominant fish something to keep it occupied, i.e. at least one more fish.
Like I said a group of 5 is small enough not to take over your tank and big enough to even out aggression.

hi there , dunno if this is gonna be any use to you , but thought i'd share my experience .

I have 3 keyholes myself . A bonded pair which have spawned on quite a few occasions although never successfully ( they are in a tank on their own incase they spawn again ... so as to avoid any interference )

Then in my main tank ( community / south american ) i have another female ..... more juvenille than the pair , but still the only keyhole in there

My bonded pair haven't shown anysigns of spawning in the last 4 to 5 weeks .... so tonight i thought i would put the other female into the tank with them , in an attempt to place some competition between the 2 females .

Instead both the male and the female of the bonded pair immediately began to show signs of agression and attacked the more juvenille female to the point where within less than a minute she was hiding behind the filter in the corner of the tank .

I immediately took her from the tank and placed her back in the community .... where after a minute or two she was swimming around as happy as ever

I'm sure ppl will think wot i did was kinda dum .... but there was no serious outcome and all fish are healthy and happy .

Never thought the pair would act like this because up until i put them in the tank on their own .. they had never shown any agression in the community tank , apart from when they spawned ( which they did , 3 or 4 times )

as i said ... probably no use .... but just my 2 cents

martin