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I have read alot of literaturew that suggests that male barbatus fight and so should be kept apart. Is this also the case with the females. I have a gorup of 4 youngsters ( 1 male and three females ) about 2.5 inches. I have even had them spawn twice but the tank is not set up for breeding and I made no attempt to take the eggs and raise the fry. My question is can I increase the number of females without causing fighting, this is to allow better selection for the male. The tank can take the additions and I have ample space in other tanks should there be a problem. I would rather avoid the problem in the first place which is why I ask.
Any experiences would be appreciated

Hi
ive had my group of barbie's for 3 year's now, for the first year i started with 1 male and 4 female's and the next year i got another small male and 2 more female's and then this year i got 1 more male and 2 more girl's, Now there is the dominent male but the other 2 are not much smaller than him and they dont fight much, and they breed all the time. He wont let them in on the breeding if he can help it , mabey it's because i introduced the male's at different stages they know there place????.

Kev

Thanks for that, How big is the tank and how is it decorated.? Sorry for being nosey?

sorry for the late reply, the tank is 24"x18"x18" with fine sand on he bottom and a pile of pebbles in a corner. Very plain really.

Kev

I keep colonies of 8-10 adults in a 20H. They've been spawning for over 2 years now, and I've never seen them fight.