Boy Girl Mix

[lpiasente]

I went to an aquarium today that had 1 male in a tank with about 15 females. I did mention this to the store employee. He said he knew and the fella had been in there for over a month with no fin damage at all. I couldn't believe it There was hardly any plants in the tank and it was just a small display tank that most lps have.

[Callatya]

Did they look to be from the same spawn?

It happens a lot at the LFS, especially with plakats. Sometimes they are violent, other times they sort out their pecking order early on and there aren't so many scuffles :)

[lpiasente]

No they ddin't look anything a like. I thought if they were from the same spawn then it could happen but these were clearly not. I was very surprised to see him swimming around with them all. He must be a very girly boy . Come to think of it he was pink so maybe the girls are fooled.

[Bettarazzi]

When they're young the boys seem to be able to slow down their development. I've had a spawn where a male stayed hidden among the girls then one day he sprouted and I was a bit slow removing him and before I knew it he'd spawned with one of his sisters.

[lpiasente]

This was a fully grown male and lots of big girls and not related.

[Lyarlla]

Some males can get along with females. I kept my older boy in with a girl and they never once nipped or flared. These two are the only two that will get along in one tank though, all the others just want to kill each other, even the girls!