Is this tank to small?

[supadave]

I have a breeding group of Rubescens (1M/6F) in a 45 gallon breeders tank. I put this group into this tank about two months ago. Since being home in this tank, I have not had a successfull spawn.  The females hold all the time, but I'm thinking that my male is not fertilizing the eggs properly. After about two days. the female is no longer holding. I have witnessed the females wanting to spawn, but my male does not seem to be interested. Sometimes it seems like the male is too busy trying  to chase away the other females. Also, it seems like the females fight alot when it comes to spawning. I removed these fish from a 135 gallon 6ft. that also housed my Taiwan Reef breeding group. My question is, could this group of Rubescens be too many fish for a 45 gallon breeder? If so, would moving them to a 4ft tank be better? Or, would splitting the group to 1M/3F and leaving them in the 45 gallon breeder be better?

[Zulaab]

Re: Is this tank to small?

Supadave -- my 1m/6f red rubesens group seems to have had no problems with 50g of water... or less...  they spawned like mad when I had them at Mike fish store.  I have mine (now 1m/5f -- one died one day) in a 75 with a ton of other fish, and they still spawn like mad.    If they are only holding for 2 days.. one of two things happens.

1.  She is stressed and gets chased a lot.  -- Put more rocks in the tank where she can hide.
2.  Not fertilized..  this can be the problem.. but you can figure that out by catching her... and stripping a couple of the eggs out.. you will know soon enough if they are fertilized, as you will see eye developing in matter of a couple of days.  If no eyes and the eggs turn to fungus...  no dice on the male.  He is not doing his duty or is unable to perform under pressure.