# Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi ratio advice



## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

I have a 29 gallon semi-heavily planted tank with a sand bottom. Yesterday I added 5 Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi to the tank. Turns out that the store probably gave me 4 males and 1 female, based on the colors I am now seeing in the tank. I know this is a very strange ratio. My question is, will the female be ok? I see 2 possible outcomes:

1) All 4 males pursue the female so heavily that she dies from stress, or never manages to carry eggs.

2) With 3 extra males, maybe the aggression from the dominant will be so spread out among the males that the female will be fine. Doesnt it seem like they might keep each other busy?

Thoughts? I can probably trade in a couple males for females, but it would be a pain since I dont live that close to the store.

-Zen


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## Tezr (Sep 12, 2006)

From my own experiences with this fish you will end up with either 1 male or if you are lucky maybe 1 male and 1 female. They are very aggressive and competitive males. I had 2 males and 2 females in a 20 gallon and it took less than 3 days for one male to kill the other.


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

OK, 2 went back. They have been replaced with females.... I'm pretty sure anyway. That puts the ratio at 3 females: 2 males. I'll post some pictures up soon, the dominant male is amazing at just over 1 inch!! 

-Zen


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## zenobium (Jan 5, 2006)

Ok, the reproductive speed of these guys is nuts. At 0.75 inches, two females have already held eggs. One died shortly after (to be honest, she looked rough when I got her from the LFS, she may have been getting too much male attention there). The second is currently in a breeder net for safe keeping, though to be honest, nobody in the tank including the dominant male was harrassing her at all. Better safe than sorry though.

What kind of holding period can I expect with these guys? Judging by the size of the adult females, the fry must be tiny!!! 

-Zen


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