Quarentine Tank Question

[FishLover66]

Hi all. Depending on availability, I may be purchasing some Bolivian Rams in the next couple of weeks with the hope that I'll end up with a pair. My plan is to try to find two females (they are VERY hard to find) and then purchase one male from my favorite fish store (he only gets males, but they are BEAUTIFUL and usually locally bred).

My question is would three BRs be too much for a 10 gallon quarentine tank (held for 3 weeks as long as no issues)? I'm worried that they would quarrel too much and potentially hurt or even kill each other. Or would I be better off getting the two girls first, and when they are ready to be added to the display tank (27 gal cube), get the male and put him in the quarentine.

OR, considering the male will be coming from a very reputable place, which I trust, I could risk it and just add the two females from the quarentine and the one male from the store together at the same time......

What would you do?!

 

[FishLover66]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[fluttermoth]

I would quarantine the males and female separately as they're coming from different suppliers

 

[mattlee]

what size are the rams? the reason i ask is because its pretty impossible to sex them at the young age the shops get them at so the guarentee of getting males only is not great. i have 7 bolivians bought from 2 different shops and have 4 males and 3 females, the only way to be sure about the sex is to grow them up and check their breeding tubes when visible

 

[FishLover66]

Ok, thanks! The rams at one of the LFS are very young and hard to sex. The ones at Petsmart a bit larger, but not easy--mainly because they are in the bottom tank and stick to the bottom, so it's hard to even see their breeding tube. The ones at the very reputable LFS are older and he knows how to sex them and only gets males--he says they sell better. I'm sure he could get me a couple females, but it also depends on availability. But if I do get three Bolivians at the same place, will the 10 gallon be ok temporarily?

 

[mattlee]

it should be fine for a short while. the only thing is if there is any aggression the fish wont have much room to escape but if they are young fish they may not bother each other yet.

 

[FishLover66]

Ok,thanks!