# Best Male - Female Ratio for Breeding



## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

I have 23 kirizas that I bought as juveniles and have raised to adulthood in a 90 gallon tank with good breeding going on.
I thought I'd like to pare the group down to about 13 fish and wonder about the best M/F ratio to have with 13 fish if I am primarily interested in a breeding tank, not just a show tank.


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

13 fish makes for a small colony. I'd suggest 2 males, 3 at most for 11 females.

But why only 13?


----------



## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Well with good luck one will get 12 females from the 23. :wink: 
I really can not comment on the best sex mix. I am just happy if with 23 starters I get a colony that breeds and lives together well.
I had a group of 19 starters which I only got 12 adults to breeding size and 5 breading females. I hear of folk managing with far less and only two dominant males, seems a good mix in a 48" long tank but do not know what is best for each tank size. I guess it depends on how well the males get on and how little or how much each individual male bullies females rather than just courts.
I would suggest "kirizas" I think you mean Tropheus sp. "Black" (Kiriza) or Kaiser II need high numbers and a larger tank than a 48" 90g to breed well.


----------



## fishboy11 (Jul 13, 2005)

Why, with successful breeding going on, would you want to reduce the size of the colony? Good breeding means the fish are happy and healthy, I see no reason why to reduce the size of the colony....


----------



## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

Maybe I should leave well enough alone. I imagine I have about half males and thought that the excessive males to be redundant and perhaps interfering with some of the breeding, but I have had 7 females holding at once so there are at least 7 females, my estimate is at least 10.


----------



## mobas4-life (Aug 11, 2008)

if its not broke dont fix it!
7 females holding at once is pretty darn good!!! :wink:


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

I would agree, why mess with success. People also say that Tropheus often respond poorly to changing the group, and doesn't having multiple males help keep the society balanced with less stress? Many worries about reducing the fish numbers so much, the only good reason would be to reduce the bioload some in the tank, if the fish are getting large.

You could remove a few "uglier" than average males, to improve the chances of desirable genetics for your offspring. i don't know why you would want to go down to 13 thou. And what would happen to the removed males? What are the chances they would end up in another good Kiriza colony?


----------

