Help with breeding setup

[dneiman]

I am wanting to start breeding yellow labs, Taiwan reef, and sunshine peacocks.

My plan is to keep the females of each species in their own 40 gallon tanks and bring the male from my main tank in to breed. Once the breeding has occurred I will move the male back to the main tank. I will keep the fry in a mesh breeder until they are moved to a different 40 gallon breeder with a divider to grow out.

My question is will I need an additional tank to continue growing out the juveniles before the males can be put in the main tank? Can I put fry in a tank with small juveniles or will they be eaten?

Any help on this will be much appreciated as I'm having a tough time finding out how many tanks I will need to accomplish this.

[moganman]

I know that males stay ready but with African cichlids the hierarchy is important. If you want to breed, why not just have female heavy colonies?

[dneiman]

I know that males stay ready but with African cichlids the hierarchy is important. If you want to breed, why not just have female heavy colonies?

I am wanting to have only males in my main tank.

[morpheus]

I know that males stay ready but with African cichlids the hierarchy is important. If you want to breed, why not just have female heavy colonies?

Agreed. africans establish territories and removing/reintroducing them can start a cycle of fighting and possible death. peacocks are notorious for fighting anyway. yes all male tanks tend to make them show the most colors, but i would keep a heavier female-to-male colony selecting your favorite ones. then remove fry as you can to grow them out. keep them of similar size in their dividers, and introduce into your main tank in groups so one fish isnt relentlessly attacked. there is always risk introducing newcomers

these arent like communal rearing cichlids such as brichardi. they will eat ones they can swallow.