# splitting breeding groups between a 120 and a 125



## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

currently in my 60" 120g and breeding:

1m/4f red-fin borleyi (male is 7", females all 4-5")
2m/6f blue ahli (male 6", females between 3-5")
8 mixed gender yt acei (all between 4-6", not sure on sex but they are breeding)
4m/8f yellow labs (all between 2-4", just started trying to spawn)

^^ none of the above have cross bred with one another. my rfb gave me a huge batch a couple weeks ago and i have 2 female ahli's and one acei holding now.

--------------------

now, i just set up a new tank, a standard 72" 125g...

my friend is holding a my nice 5-" male yellow blaze and i'm trying to find him some females. plus i'm getting my hands on a full grown 9-10" venustus w/ 2 females.

now the question is what to put where to reduce the chances of hybridization. i know the ahli's and the yellow blaze should be in different tanks. and i know the venustus need to be in the 125, so currently i'm thinking this:

120
yt acei
yellow labs
yellow blaze

125
venustus
red-fin borleyi
ahli's

wondering if i can get away with a small group of red zebras in the 125 as well. i have a very very nice male i have been wanting to find some females too.

i think i'm pretty safe with them split this way but wanted to see what the experts think.


----------



## wax32 (Aug 3, 2013)

opcorn:

I'm curious to hear what you end up with!


----------



## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

Well long story short I just gave up on having venustus in a tank with other fish breeding as well, which means I am no longer going to have venustus. Good luck but everywhere I read and everyone with experience said they will dominate the tank and will not let other males color/breed. It may work but I chose to go with a group of vc-10's instead. Wish I could be of more help, and let us know how it works out with the venustus! I really want to do them breeding one day.


----------



## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

2m/4f venustus
1m/4f borleyi
2m/6f ahli
2m/4f yellow labs
7 mixed yt acei

my 120 is the tank in my main room. it has upgraded lighting, is almost brand new, just much, much nicer. i'm keeping the venustus up there, just cause i will enjoy looking at the much more than the others. i'm thinking of keeping the yt acei up there too (they contrast so nicely and are unlikely to cross breed). can i get away with the labs in the 120 also?

so 120
venustus
labs
acei

125
ahil
borleyi
third species TBD


----------



## gverde (Mar 3, 2010)

The male venustus could get nasty when he starts to breed and when the labs and accei start breeding they could pick on the venustus group. I would keep an eye on them when that happens. I would also be cautious if you are adding a group of red zebras to your mix in the 125. I had a single mature male red zebra in my 220G all male but took him out. He's in a 37G by himself. He was getting too aggressive with my smaller haps and peacocks, as well as some larger haps. You would be better putting another hap as a third species in the 125G.


----------



## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

gverde said:


> The male venustus could get nasty when he starts to breed and when the labs and accei start breeding they could pick on the venustus group. I would keep an eye on them when that happens. I would also be cautious if you are adding a group of red zebras to your mix in the 125. I had a single mature male red zebra in my 220G all male but took him out. He's in a 37G by himself. He was getting too aggressive with my smaller haps and peacocks, as well as some larger haps. You would be better putting another hap as a third species in the 125G.


i still have that beautiful male lithobates and as soon as i can find him females he's going somewhere, obviously just not with the ahli's. i'm thinking at that point the ahli's will go up front with the venustus in the 120, and the zrocks will go in the 125.


----------



## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

i'm also pondering the idea of splitting the 125 into two or maybe even 3 sections, to eliminate the possibility of cross-breeding. that tank is in the back. i don't care about it looking good or anything as it's not going to be viewed and is just for breeding.


----------



## Michael_M (May 31, 2012)

In that case, 125
yt acei
yellow labs
yellow blaze

120
venustus
red-fin borleyi
ahli's

I'd split the 125 into two sections, mbuna in one, lithobates in the other. That keeps the most mild hap on its own and the mbuna on their own.


----------



## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

how likely am i to see cross-breeding between protomelas taeniolatus "likoma" tang tiger 1m/3f with s. fryeri 1m/3f in a 125g?

and what about likelihood of protomelas steveni "taiwan" with o. lithobates "yellow blaze"

2 tanks, trying to split them. obviously the two protomelas should be separate, and the fryeri & blaze should be separate.


----------

