Well...I've been putting my 07 pastel male in with her (she's a four year old 2100g girl) since Thanksgiving, but have not observed any locks, and while the first few times I put them together, they would lay together, for the last month or so they've been sitting on opposite ends of the tank.

Now, I've seen a lot of very abnormal behavior this fall and winter...for one, going off feed which I took to be a good sign that she was ready for breeding. She'd never refused a meal before this fall except when I discovered that no, she doesn't feed F/T. After a month or two of being put in with him, I began noticing that she was spending a lot of time laying on her side, with her belly exposed to the air--something she's never done before. She's also been doing a lot of laying in funny positions.

I have not observed her spending more time on one side of the tank or another; she's always been fairly active, and thermoregulates actively. I have also not observed bowl wrapping.

However, she shed for the first time since right before Thanksgiving the other day...and she's lightened a LOT. Especially her head and neck; she matches all of the pics of "glow before she goes" that I've ever seen.

Because I had not observed locks, and because they were avoiding one another, I assumed that Chocobo (my male pastel) was just not ready to breed...until she shed out that light, and then I reexamined everything and began to doubt that. Yes, I didn't OBSERVE any locks--but I only got to check twice a day, and spent most of the day gone (and the nights asleep!). Considering how shy Chocobo is, it wouldn't surprise me if he decided he wasn't gonna do anything during daytime...but I didn't really think so. I've never bred before, so...what do you think? Should I keep putting them in together? Or keep them apart?

Thanks for the help!