# 20G Caudopunctatus Tank Question



## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Hi all,

I recently set up a 20 Gallon (24x16x12) with 5 Caudopunks and it appears that I have 4 males and 1 female, will this be problematic for getting a pair? Would I be better off taking a couple of the males back and trying to pick out some females, or could I remove a couple of the males, to improve the ratio and lessen the aggression a little bit?

Also, if I wanted to add a single fish for some variety, would a smaller julidochromis (transcriptus or dickfeldi) get along with the caudopunks ok? Any other recommended fish?

Tank Pic, CC Welcome:


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## lorax84 (Feb 19, 2013)

Caudos are pairing fish. If you get a pair they will claim about half the tank and can get pretty vicious when spawning. Depending on how long you have had them they may just still be working things out. How did you determine you have 4 males?

As to your second question, I keep one J. Dickfeldi with my pair in a 20L. They get along pretty good. I occasionally see some ripped fins when the pair spawns but thats about it.


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

The 4 that i believe to be males all have a yellow edging on their back fin while the one that I think is a female does not. (From what I've read online the males have the yellow fin tips and are slightly larger. The females supposedly have no edging and aren't quite as brightly colored) They have been in the tank for a little more than 2 weeks and the largest male has claimed the bottom area of the tank and will chase any of the others which drop down below the level of the slate. The other 3 males and female tend to hover above the larger rocks.

I have been referring to this thread (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=202047) for guidance because it is a similar situation to mine, even though my tank hasn't been set up as long and the dominant male is not quite as aggressive.


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## lorax84 (Feb 19, 2013)

Yeah, from the sound of it you have a bunch of males. If you can, what I would do is return a bunch of the males. Keep the one you want and if possible, rescape the tank. The reason your dominant male is claiming he whole tank is your two rock piles are two close and he sees it as one territory. you need a sizeable gap of no mans land between the two piles of rocks in order to demarcate territories.If you can get more females do that as well. If you can't find anymore females I would add some fast moving diters to the tank while you try to see if they will pair up, otherwise he will beat her up before they ever get a chance.


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Ok, I will try to get this worked out a bit tonight after work and will put up a new picture once I attempt a rescape on the tank. Would a shoal pearl danios work well for dithers?

Thanks a lot for your help so far


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## lorax84 (Feb 19, 2013)

Yeah, they would work great. You may want to consider tucking a shell back in a corner out of sight to give her somewhere to go that he can't see.


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Ok, I just redid the right rock structure by turning it 90 degrees and moving more towards the side of the aquarium. I also moved the aggressive male to a spare 15 gallon because he remained determined to own the entire tank. The remaining 4 fish seem unsure what to do but they are exploring the bottom parts of the aquarium now. I will probably take back the aggressive male for sure and pick up some dithers on Sunday.


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## 801boon (Jun 9, 2014)

Let's see an updated photo of the tank?


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Hey, I just got the new fish.

I took back 2 male caudopuncs because I couldn't catch the smallest male without tearing my tank apart. I picked up a little school of emperor tetras instead of pearl danios because they were way cheaper and then also a coll little julidochromis transcriptus.

I will put up some pics soon once they all have settled in


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Ok here is a tank shot, and the best shot that I could get of my new julie.


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## 801boon (Jun 9, 2014)

Looks good. Are you happy with the final results?


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

So far so good. The julie and the caudopuncs are getting along fine so far, and the tetras are a nice distraction for the caudopuncs as well. I may slightly redo the rockwork on the right side at some point in the future, but for now everything is looking good.


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## 801boon (Jun 9, 2014)

Yeah, for myself it's a never ending battle with my tank to get it how I want . It's looking good though , keep up the good work.


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## ChevoitStansman (Jun 7, 2014)

Haha yeah, I always have to rearrange my tanks every month or so to make it a little "better". I am going to try to hold off on this one since I have more territorial fish now, but we shall see how long I can.

Thanks guys for commenting and helping me out. I appreciate it


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