# Questions about making a colony?



## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

I have an empty 135 gallon 6 foot tank!! I'm working on getting it ready for fish right now... have a couple of questions regarding what to put in it. I'm on a fairly limited budget, so there'll be no wild caughts or already made colonies...

I have the chance to buy 14 Burundi juvies that are each about 2 inches in length, seems like a good price.

I'm thinking I could get all 14, then as they grow I could pull out males, leaving one I think is alpha and another to be the beta male... could I have 3 males?

Is it ok to leave the males and females from one batch of juvies? Should i be concerned about them coming from one blood line? I suppose I could get rid of all the males and buy different males to go with those females... is that highly important? I'm not a breeder (at least right now anyway).

I appreciate any answers to these questions...


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## Ego-Killer (Nov 15, 2007)

very good question. I wonder if you can just add fish 1 by 1 as time goes on?????


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

I'd say get the 14 and enjoy them. I'd guess you'll have, maybe, a year before you have to yanking any fish. Males of a different bloodline will always be easier to get than females. I think you are on the right track. When the time comes, assume you have a 50/50 mix and start getting rid of the dominant male one by one. You can decide later if you want to get rid of all the males and get some new blood in there. You may get attached to one of your alphas.

Have fun!

Russ


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

Razzo said:


> You may get attached to one of your alphas.


Thanks for the information... I do just want to enjoy them and will probably get attached...

correcty me if I'm wrong... as you pull males, you start with the ones you find to be the alpha... and get rid of that one first. Then as the next one steps up to be the alpha you get rid of him too, then eventually when you only have about two males left, you stop pulling males out and let them be the males you keep?

I've read in the library section, that M/F ratio isn't that crucial with fronts. There have been colonies with a high number of males that have been successful... I guess I will wait until I have a particular male be a big bully and get rid of him... and then see what happens.

sounds fun to me... :wink:


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

too many males can cause the spawning male to chase them away rather than doing his job.

I would stay with 2 males. Burundi has been in the hobby for so long, I wouldn't go to get another male from a different group to breed with all your female. There is no way to tell if the male you getting is pure.


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

Well, I went ahead and told the guy I'd take all 14 burundi. Now I can't wait until they come in. I should be getting them sometime early next week. It sounds like it may be a while before I would need to pull any out, as these are in the 2" range. I'm glad this forum is here, I feel much more confident about my purchase than I did 24 hours ago when I couldn't make up my mind what I should do.

Kerby


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

I would say at least 4" before you can sex them and pull some out. Enjoy them


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

kerbchek said:


> ...correcty me if I'm wrong... as you pull males, you start with the ones you find to be the alpha... and get rid of that one first. Then as the next one steps up to be the alpha you get rid of him too, then eventually when you only have about two males left, you stop pulling males out and let them be the males you keep?...


Sounds like a good plan and like Charles said, once they get 4-inches or bigger you can sex them (venting) officially. There should be an article if I am not msitaken.

I sense your excitment - that's cool. I hope you enjoy them and I am sure you will.

Keep us "posted" :wink:

Russ


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

kerbchek said:


> as you pull males, you start with the ones you find to be the alpha... and get rid of that one first. Then as the next one steps up to be the alpha you get rid of him too


 i do not follow the logic with this type of cull. i've read it before, but have never understood. why would we cull the most dominant male specimens?


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

lloyd said:


> kerbchek said:
> 
> 
> > as you pull males, you start with the ones you find to be the alpha... and get rid of that one first. Then as the next one steps up to be the alpha you get rid of him too
> ...


The thought behind that system is, that's one way to id the males when they are smaller. I suppose, once they reach venting size you would have a more accurate & reliable way of determining who is a male.


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## Heyguy74 (Aug 11, 2005)

lloyd said:


> kerbchek said:
> 
> 
> > as you pull males, you start with the ones you find to be the alpha... and get rid of that one first. Then as the next one steps up to be the alpha you get rid of him too
> ...


I think they mean to get rid of the fish by selling them etc. Not culling them.
At least that what I think is veing suggested.

I personally would keep the dominant male. He is the best fish of the group. You could always seperate the dominant male and weed out the others as they take up the dominant role. Once your sure that you have seperated all the males , I would reintroduce the dominant and a subordinant male and sell the rest.


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

i would separate 'early' males, from a group in grow out, if their premature attitude affected the cohesion of the other fish. but i would not want to give up any males before i see their potential.


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

Thanks for the interesting discussion... I'd probably sell males I'd pull out of the mix, or take them to a local pet store for credit... Maybe I could keep some of the males in another tank until I decide which ones work the best... hopefully those decisions are a ways off yet...

The Burundi's did come in today... all about 2 inches long - there are 14 of them. I'm still learning about Frontosa, but they look really nice to me - dark stripes, solid lines... not sure what to really look for, they are kind of small still. They're in my 75 gallon tank until I get my 135 gallon ready to go - I'm researching different filtering methods now, HOB's, canisters, wet/dry sumps... not sure what direction I will go with that...














































Thanks everyone,
Kerby


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## chago (Mar 4, 2008)

they are good looking Burundi!!!!! :thumb:


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## chapman76 (Jun 30, 2004)

Heyguy74 said:


> I think they mean to get rid of the fish by selling them etc. Not culling them.
> At least that what I think is veing suggested.


Just to clarify in case a newbie reads this, culling means to seperate from the breeding group. While most the time I does mean killing, it can mean just put in another tank, sell, etc. Doesn't always mean kill.


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## kerbchek (Apr 1, 2008)

chapman76 said:


> Just to clarify in case a newbie reads this, culling means to seperate from the breeding group. While most the time I does mean killing, it can mean just put in another tank, sell, etc. Doesn't always mean kill.


Thank you for clarifying -

I'm pretty much a newbie - now if I could find a website where I can hear how to pronounce all of the different species names without making a fool of myself trying to pronounce them in front of vetran cichlid keepers, I'd be happy...


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