How many N. multifasciatus in a 20H???

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

I had a small group of multifasciatus (6) that i bought when they were small and have grown into 3pairs, would have been pretty lucky if it was some other fish but not the best ratio for these guys is it? lol Well anyways, i had them for a little while in a 55gal w/ some small juli's and they multi's breed for me often just the fry would allways seem to just "disapear" so i decided to give them a tank of their own a 20h. It's been a few weeks and eveybody is starting to settle in and there is NO aggression between males, actually the tank is divided into three now and a pair is in ea. section. It took them less than a week to carry all the shell and such into 3 piles, and pile sand up inbetween. Only thing is the fry have stopped coming completly. Is this maybe because it's too many multi's for a 20 high? Or do they just need a little more time in general. I want them to bred and all but i'm not TOO worried about hurrying up because i know once it starts while there in a tank by themselves i'll have plenty of fry vs. the one or 2 that would survive in the community tank. I just want to know if considering my 1:1 ratio if 6 multi's is just too much for a 20h.

thanks
-matt
oh and i would be removing older fry to my fry tank so i wouldn't be allowing too much of a population growth to happen

[SGypsyMermaid]

i think that they're just still settling in. i don't think that the tank is overcrowded, by any means.

[jonah]

It's taken 30-60 days for my multis to start breeding after getting into a new tank.

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

cool, and thanks, but do you think that i'll be fine having a 1:1 ratio? i had allways that that if u had a group u had to have several fm's to ea. male?

-matt

[SGypsyMermaid]

that's for harem spawners/mouthbrooders, not pair bonders.

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

lol, ok, i had just thought that multi's didn't form pair bonds and just lived in colonies and males bred w/ as many fm's as posible. Well then i guess out of 6 getting 3males and 3females was pretty lucky!!:rofl:

well thanks again for the advice
-matt

[jonah]

They don't really seem like pair bonders to me. I had one dom male, one sub dom male and then an extra that got pounded on, but I only had 2 females at the time. Now I have just the one dom male, one female and what's probably a sub dom male. Whatever the case, a 20g might be enough. If not you can always trade out a pair or set up an extra 10g.

I do know for certain that a single male will spawn with multiple females if given the opportunity.

[SGypsyMermaid]

well, i certainly can't speak from experience...mine are a bunch of weirdos...they don't seem interested in each other, ignore the shells, and swim all over the tank like haps!:rofl:

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

lol, well my males stay about mid water level, but basically right above their shell bed, but the fm's seem to stay right near the shells.

Well except for feeding time, then they're all at the surface, or mid level planning their next strike up to the surface for the first flake they spot:rofl:

-matt