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View Full Version : Male to Female Ratio's


LoJack
07-20-2006, 06:46 PM
The standard ratio is 1 male to 3 females. Why is that. What if you were to put in like 2 males, and 12 females. I bought some Haplochromis Obliquidens fry (1-1.5 inches) and I plan to keep all the females, and put them in a tank with my F1 male. if there were 10+ females and only 1-2 males ... would that be a bad thing.
RustyNut
07-21-2006, 04:17 AM
The 1:3 ratio is MINIMUM females to Males... 2:12 is fine too... less than 3 females per male usually winds up with the male harrassing the holding females too much... 3 seems minimum to keep it spread out between them.
LoJack
07-21-2006, 01:48 PM
gotcha, thanks rusty. Wasn't sure if it was a minimum, or the standard.
Matt V
07-21-2006, 11:35 PM
that's an mbuna ratio, not a Victorian mbipi ratio.

2 things: victorian females can be merciless on eachother and often it's a good idea to have more than one male when keeping vics.

what size tank? that fish is one of the meanest, foulest-tempered cichlid i've had the pleasure of keeping...
RustyNut
07-22-2006, 04:11 AM
I was under the impression that it worked for most VICs as well... although I have heard that the males need another male to show off for...
LoJack
07-22-2006, 09:24 AM
Its just a 55. So if the females can be mercilous should there be a lot of them?
Matt V
07-22-2006, 02:34 PM
Originally posted by RustyNut
I was under the impression that it worked for most VICs as well... although I have heard that the males need another male to show off for...

Oh, it works, but you hit on why to add extra males. also, i have a couple of sub-dom males that are just as nice as the top dog. plus, you get to watch them "squak" at eachother. squaking is my term for their "fighting". they open mouths at eachother over and over again, fully display and then repeat. in mbuna, that's often followed by a fight, but with vics, that's usually as far as they get.


Its just a 55. So if the females can be mercilous should there be a lot of them?

just lots of cover and you'll be ok. just keep an eye on them. it's when one is holding that they can get really brutal and a 55 is probably too small for a holding female to hide for long in a big group.
LoJack
07-22-2006, 03:39 PM
sounds good, no worries there. And holding females will be removed
StructureGuy
07-23-2006, 03:02 PM
Originally posted by RustyNut
I was under the impression that it worked for most VICs as well...

Yea. It's still what most people recommend. But I have 3M:3F Hap "dayglows" in a 55 and 5M:3F Hap "blue bars" in a 55 and all is well and they're breeding like...well victorians. The male on male aggression seems to help the females avoid getting too much attention.

Kevin
RustyNut
07-24-2006, 06:07 AM
Over 25 years into cichlid keepeing and I am still learning!!! What a great hobby!