Rod_Lewis Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 Hi All, I recently purchased a dozen young red humps and they are growing and looking really nice. My question is to do with sex ratios. The tank i have them in is a 4 x 2 and i intended this to be the breeding tank as well. As this species is a polygamous breeder and don't pair in the conventional sense, what ratio of female/male will be the best to employ? Thanks Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutters187 Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 I'd stick to Malawi rule with 1m/2-3f I seen a 4cm female holding in a 2ft barebottom species tank! Just like Malawi rabbits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 most geos irun 4-5 girls per boy in 4foot iwould run 2boys 8- 10 girls with 2 or 3 seperate areas for teretory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'd probably just keep them all. Redhumps pretty much just breed anyway and in a tank that big you have plenty of hiding places hopefully more males prevents the dominant male annoying holding females until they spit. Some floating pipe and broken pottery are good to help holding females hide. You do get the occasional aggro redhump tho can be a male or a female Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_Lewis Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'd stick to Malawi rule with 1m/2-3fI seen a 4cm female holding in a 2ft barebottom species tank! Just like Malawi rabbits. Wow, 4cm and breeding!! My group range from about 4 to 6cm, hopefully not too much longer before the first spawn. The largest male already has a nice red hump forming and i have noticed him getting rather excited with some of the others....maybe not too far away!! Thanks for the advice. most geos irun 4-5 girls per boy in 4foot iwould run 2boys 8- 10 girls with 2 or 3 seperate areas for teretory Thanks Daydream. It looks like i have at least 4 males (judging by the colors and the humps). Your suggestion confirms what i was considering. I'm thinking to keep the best 2 boys with all the girls. I have a very large piece of wood in the tank, squeezes in the diagonal space and is around a foot tall with all sorts of nooks and cranny's through it. I have also added some woomera rock and a few broken pieces of a clay flowerpot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_Lewis Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'd probably just keep them all.Redhumps pretty much just breed anyway and in a tank that big you have plenty of hiding places hopefully more males prevents the dominant male annoying holding females until they spit. Some floating pipe and broken pottery are good to help holding females hide. You do get the occasional aggro redhump tho can be a male or a female Thanks DFF, yes i have the tank well furnished. It's rather novel for me, gravel and fish together that is...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I was raising about 200 a year of these guys for several years from a single male and 2 females. But I ended up with mixed tanks of all sorts of combos and really never had any major drama. The boys take a loooooooooong time to get to full size, but even once there they dont tend to bash each other IF they have space to run too. lol not the bravest cichlid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_Lewis Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I was raising about 200 a year of these guys for several years from a single male and 2 females.But I ended up with mixed tanks of all sorts of combos and really never had any major drama. The boys take a loooooooooong time to get to full size, but even once there they dont tend to bash each other IF they have space to run too. lol not the bravest cichlid I have some hoplo's and common b'nose's in with them. So far i have not noticed any agro between them, in fact they pretty well ignore each other. No potential problems combining all these together do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 nah should be fine they do tend to have a problem with arrowana tho not sure why but they get in a tizzy when they see them and go all angry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raycam01_au Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 awesome little fish as above when i used to breed them, i had a big boy a few small boys and round 10 girls, little agro from time to time, but one of the best fish to watch spawning IMO, hilarious the show the males put on is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
