# Aquarium setup for breeding reds



## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

i just re-aquascaped my 75g tank that holds 4 adult reds, 7-9", two of which are a breeding pair.

comments and conscructive criticism welcome as to the layout of the tank.

hopefully you can get an idea from the pics as to the setup of the tank.

i tossed that fake peice of rock in the middle. about a foot out, from each end of the tank, is where they will hopefully breed, as i have it setup for that purpose. on the right a large, tall plastic plant, with some coconut fiber underneath it, kinda in a nest shape, but more flat. on the left side of the tank, a hanging, fake plant, and again, some coconut fiber.

just wondering what ppl think, i know there are no guarentees as some ppl get em to breed with no decor.

regardless, i have had them for a while now, and skittishness on their behalf is the largest factor to them breeding. gonna start spending more time in front of the tank and i moved them to a room with more traffic, to counteract that...computer room in plain site of me @ computer...when ihave my daily coffee/cigs in the morning will have it right in front of them, lol. i was considering moving them to a secluded spot, but decided on the higher traffic area, acclimate them to people and in the long run will enjoy them more.

my only concerns...is there too much decor for that sized tank, and, do you guys think i should maybe cut the schoal down to 3, or keep it at 4? the reduced bioload would help keep it cleaner, but i do enjoy all 4.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

personally i would keep all four and move the rock and fake plants all to one half leaving the other half open fror swimming


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

i was considering something like that for more room, as they are big fish...my idea was maybe it would help them induce breeding by giving them two areas to chose from, let's see what others say...

i do like having four, they havn't shown too much aggression or territorial behavior, mild amount, i just hope it doesn't get worse with the added decor, it was all but bare before this. who knows, maybe they other 2 will breed! crosshair, i believe, said he has 3 breeding pair in a 55g!


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Keep it split like you have it, but I would throw something higher in the tank, I'll try and post some pics of my GIN tank and my home tank and how I have it sectioned off. Picture a square box in either corner, that's what you want. Build the sides of the box with real or fake plants, rocks, driftwood, bottles etc....anything to where the "bottom" of this box is your gravel and the walls are something as mentioned above to the point that the fish have to swim up and over the "box" to get out. I find this works great for them having a territory to themselves as well as easy to defend.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

what about turning the fake rock sideways, 12" or so from the right side, and i could use a plant, or two, with more mass to section the rest off...so they kinda have to swim up and over the rock slate to get out of that area? is that what u are saying? plus if i did that, it would leave the other area more open for the others to swim, assuming the male takes the territory.

i can tell the 8" or so, male i bought in the breeding pair is the first/alpha of the tank, he always claims territory first, meaning i hope its a good sign.


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Yeah, that sounds like it would work. Long story short for your tank? I would say split it in two anyway you want and whatever you split it in two with make sure they can swim over the top to the other side so like 4+ inches. Can you do that with what you got there?


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

yup, thanks, i should be able to, i've got some extra decor laying around.

what about using a divider? i have an extra one that might fit well, it's for a 55g, if i turn on its side, might work well on my 75g, turn on its side and give hopefuly that amount of room to swim over.

i'll post a pic as well when i set things up.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

damn, my divider would be almost perfect...about the correct width to section it off and still leave about 4-6" at the top...but i dunno?


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

if anyone else cares, i did section off about 1/3 of the width of the tank, to create an area similiar to a square box, structure on one side of the tank, so it's like 18"x18" (width and depth). i used two peices each of fake rock and plants.

i'll post photos tommorow and try and let people know how things are going.

in case someone in the future reads this and wants to try it.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

or i'll post one now, lol.

kinda hard to tell by the pic, but sectioned off about 18" x 18" from the left end of the tank...like i said i used 2 fake rocks and 2 fake plants.

we'll see how it goes, right now they are only about half way up the tank, but i'm hoping it works considering p's stay on the lower half for the most part, or i may even adjust it more. all four are staying in the sectioned off area right now, look at the pic. hopefully means they like it there and the breeder male, hopefully will claim it.

the right 2/3 (lil less) of the tank is more open/spacious and i just have a large fake plant with some coconut fiber around it, there is also a little in the sectioned off left.

also, for those that might care, crosshair said that using a divider is a big no-no...according to him causes more aggression, for some reason.


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## CROSSHAIR223 (Jan 17, 2005)

Looks good, looks good!


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## XSPhoto (Sep 26, 2007)

any new updates on how it's going???


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