# Can't decide on tankmates



## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

I upgraded my sorority into a 20 gallon tank. 

It's heavily planted with real and fake plants, the substrate is medium sized gravel.. I have a heater at 28 and a sponge filter in there.. 

The tank has been running since June so it's cycled and I do 50% weekly changes in the water... 

I will have six girls in there (right now it's 5).. And they're learning to get along with each other right now.. My problem is that the tank looks pretty empty and I want it to look "alive".. I want to have 3-6 more fish in there but I don't know which ones.  And I'm confused because there are so many different opinions out there. Any actual experiences would really help..

My options:
Fancy guppies (2-3 females, 1 male)
Danios (6)
Platies (same as guppies)
Tetras (neon? or which others? 6)
cory cats, if I can find them and afford them but worried about substrate(3-4)

Any other options are also welcome  Thanks!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'd say danios just so your one guy can have company. Platies or guppies so your fishies have food. Neons nip. Maybe try harlequin rasboras, they're peaceful.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

What about the whole "the guppies will be dead in 3 hours" theory? Do danios nip? They're quite shy with my tetras.. I'm liking the idea of platies.. And I'm going to google harlequin rasboras XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Guppies . . . depends. I haven't gotten the opportunity to put a betta with my guppies yet. Then again, Awesome Sauce and Chunkers ARE big girls . . . platies will definitely be able to hold their own, being 2" or so. Neon tetras nip and may be too small. Danios do nip but maybe if you kept a big enough group they would stay occupied with themselves and ignore the girls? Plus, they ARE fast . . .


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

If your worried about the new fish, of all the ones you listed, platies are probably the safest since they get as big or bigger than female bettas. If your worried about your girls, Youd need a decent sized school (6-7) of Danios or Neons to minimize the chances of fin nips


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Danios or tetras can't do any more nipping than the girls do to each other, haha.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Neons is out, the whole neon disease and being tiny is scary, like I'll wake up one day and they wont have eyes or something. :shock:
Right now I'm thinking platies (big and peaceful and food), danios (lively and fast but small), guppies (pretty and food)... I'll look for the barbs, I didn't like the rasboras so much.. But I'll check out my lfs...


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Yes, and I doubt they carry around dynamite, either XD


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

With the kind of nipping these girls do, I'd be worried about the new fish losing fins XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Haha, yeah. Your girls do nip as much as any danio or tetra. And personally, I don't really care for harlequin rasboras either, I've just heard they're peaceful. But dull-looking. Very dull-looking.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Yeah, they look pretty blah, the cherry barb males are cute though.. The females look like they have stress stripes lol! If I get platies, I'll get mickey mouse ones :3


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

My rasboras are much more colorful than my Danios and Tetras... but not my Swordtails. Nothings as bland and blahh as a Tetra lol









The orange you see, that glows 

Personally I would recommend the rasboras (harlequin, not regular) as they are the sweetest fish in my tank.

I don't care what Fish Stores tell you, Danios are a semi aggressive fish HAHA Mine pester the crap out of all my tank mates to the point they keep getting stressed and sick. I have one, she's loving called someone I cannot say on a family forum... urgh. You need at least 6+ of these to make them halfway peacefull lol


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

fightergirl2710 said:


> Yeah, they look pretty blah, the cherry barb males are cute though.. The females look like they have stress stripes lol! If I get platies, I'll get mickey mouse ones :3


Our LPS has Mickey Mouse Platys for $0.99 right now, usually they are $6ea. STOOPID me bought Red Eye Tetras instead, and now I have no room and there are not many platy's left  I love them, tetras not so much!


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

you might as well say the name pitluvs 'cause you already cussed in that post, lol


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

A school of neons are flashy but they're touchy nervous fish. Kinda like fishy chihuahuahs. I read somewhere that they have super sensitive hearing so you can't have them in a tank near loud noises like TVs or computers etc.

Your harlequins shine because you take good care of them.  I must be thinking of the pet store harlequins I saw last night who looked very dull. Very unhappy. I also heard they have gold harlequins now.

Fighter: When I first got Goldi she looked exactly like a female cherry barb.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Is that so? I'll check out if they have rasboras here then, if I like them in the store I'll buy them.. Google makes them look very blah lol! I heard that swordtails and bettas don't mix.. Otherwise my lfs has pretty tangerine ones right now.
I'd rather have the platys than red eye tetras any day XD
Maybe my danios were all subdued by Handsome's awesome hugeness or something and behaved..

Lol! Goldi does look like a barb XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Your danios were all subdued by Handsome's awesome appetite, that's what. :-D


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Definitely! The tetras aren't as subdued though..
I finally see the image you put up Pitluvs, they do look pretty! Like glowlights  They must colour up when you bring them home, like bettas..


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I have 2 females and a male Danio, I figured the male would be a bossy one because of the females in the tank. Nope.. my golden female is the problem! Little Piranhas I tell ya!

I have 2 adult (1m/1f) H Rasboras, and I picked up two juvies a few weeks ago. They are SO tiny! 

Ya female swords have bright colors, and males have a long fin. My black male has a blue iridescence, which makes him shimmer lol Not good with Betta.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Aw, Now I want more fishes!


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

fightergirl2710 said:


> Definitely! The tetras aren't as subdued though..
> I finally see the image you put up Pitluvs, they do look pretty! Like glowlights  They must colour up when you bring them home, like bettas..


Yes, just like Glowlite (I have a few of those too)! Only Glowlights is like a red, these guys have an orange glow. They're my favorite, besides my Swords. They just sit around the tank like "Yup, another Thursday afternoon... wonder what's on the menu today?" while my Tetras are like "asdfhsdhytr OMGGG FISH kdhafsyr HUNGRY *SPAZ*" 

:crazy:


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

diablo13 said:


> Aw, Now I want more fishes!


That's called the MTS... More Tank Syndrome in the Tropical Fish world lol Kinda like the Betta Bug, only a new tank for a species  Hence why I have 3 on the go for tropicals.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Too bad after I get cories in two months I'll be done......maybe


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I was trying to save room in my community tank for future guppies so I understocked with 4 (soon to be 6) cories and 3 guppies. Now I want more fish too!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

I have more of a MPAD thing... Multiple Pet Acquistion Disorder.. Anything cute or in distress will do XD But I've improved now..
Tetras are fun to watch, even danios.. They look like they're from Speed the movie.. "OMG If we stop moving we'll dieee!!!1!!1"
What about cories and otos? Do they absolutely need sand? Or is medium gravel ok? No pointies...


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Dang it! I'm out of meh tank money


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Smooth gravel is fine, you can use medium but they prefer small, god, I'm gonna play video games to see if I can get meh mind of of da fishes


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

That never works or me..b Sometimes I dream of my fishes :shock:


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Otos don't even need gravel or sand, they tend to suck on the tank walls and the leaves of plants. Fine gravel is best for cories, with medium you may find a lot of their food sinking down in between where even they can't find it.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Right, so if I want cories I have to find out which types they have and if I can afford them and if I can afford fine gravel as well -___-


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeeeah, pretty much. My guess is the cories they'll have will be bronze/albino cories or peppered cories. Those are the most popular and common.

Edit: Be aware you may run into the same feeding problem I did when I tried to keep my cories in my sorority.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

If they have those then I'm not so worried, I'm going to save the images of all the popular cories in my brain to figure out what they have XD
Apart from bloodworms I don't think and I hope I wont have the same problem because my girls will eat nothing, except bloodworms.. Wont even look at a pellet XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If you get cories you can count yourself lucky your girls are so fussy.  I'm still not sure Winnie has shrunk completely from that disasterous night. Actually they're all a little fat so they're being fasted today. Very unhappy girls.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Hehehe they're going to hate you XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

They're all sulking at the back of the tank. Usually they're up front and always swarming around where I can see them. They're also swimming in slo mo as if to say, "Soo hungry . . . can't swim . . ." :roll: Not buying that act, girls, sorry.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

The little blackmailing she devils! Peaches threatens to jump if not fed XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I haven't dared to open the tank lid, even the feeding lid today, for fear Goldi will threaten the same. They might just jump out and try to eat me!

Edit: Haha, usually when I look over they're just all over the place, usually swimming into each other at the front of the tank. Today on fasting day? The tank looks empty. I have to watch for a moment to see one of them skulking in the plants.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

I think I'd cave heheh! I don't fast any of my bettas, never need to, maybe once a day instead of twice... Its weird, when feel hungry and haven't fed them I imagine how hungry their little tummies must be XD I'm a softie .__.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

My problem is I think I overfed them the other night in my effort to make sure everyone had enough to eat. I wish they'd line up nicely and wait. Haha, like that's ever going to happen.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If you get guppies, you may end up with a few nipped tails on them but as long as you provide lots of plants, they should be able to hide. Same thing with danios, as long as they can hide. Platies and cories will be fine because they're bigger. Bronze cories get about 3 inches, way big enough to handle even Chunkers and Awesome Sauce. If you get danios, you might actually want to get 7 (plus the one you already have) for a school of 8. It's not adding that much more to the bioload and the more there are in a school, the happier the danios will be. 

And actually, guppies handle salt just fine. It's the cory cats that can't handle salt at all.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Yeah, I read about cories and salt... Hmm if you were me, what would you get?
Think between guppies, platies and danios... I might get cories only if I find them in stock and the gravel and if they aren't expensive.. Otherwise I can always get them later... I'm keen on the platies right now lol! But my mood keeps changing X(


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Morning all.... If guppies can handle salt that's an added bonus. I had the weirdest dream last night where I had some guppies and they bred, but I didn't know where and by the time I found the baby it was a foot long O-o


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I had a dream that I moved into an apartment and was so happy because it had a whole bunch of power outlets and lot of space to put fish tanks. ^_^ Only problem was I had to share the apartment with my brother and his friend. 

Fighter - If I was in your place, I would wait to get cories because I would have to spend a lot of extra money to get them new gravel plus the little buggers are expensive. Although I think the guppies are flashy, I would be worried that my Amazonian girls would bite their tails off. I would feel bad for the one lonely danio and really want to get him tankmates so I would hope that getting him 7 friends would keep them entertained amongst themselves and not nip my girls. I would also hope my girls left the danios alone. But ultimately, I think I would go with platies because they come in a wide range of colors and are big and very hardy. I may get some fry but my girls can have them so my population never gets out of control.

And then, five minutes after making this decision, I would change my mind all over again.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol sakura, that's so true. I'm like arguing with myself right now. I think Cories are adorable, but this thread makes me want platies and they make food  IM SO CONFUSED!!!!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I want platies too now. But I have guppies. But now I want platies. See what you started, Fighter? :-D


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol, if I can find any fancy colored platies, maybe....but if I get a ton of non-eaten babies I'll send the babies back...


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Sorry lol! I saw some MM platies at the lfs today, and they are CHEAP! Less than a dollar for 3 (30rs) so I think I might get them.. I hope I don't change my mind either lol! Just realised danios are kinda expensive too but nowhere as compared to cories..


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Get the Mickey Mouse platies, they're colorful, big, hardy, and now also cheap.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol, you should get the MM platies, if your getting 1 for 10 rupees that's a steal!!!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Woohoo! I will go get them tomorrow! Hopefully he wont have anymore awesome bettas XD I managed to get another lol!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Walk in, say, "I'm here for the platies, that's it, don't show me anything else." :-D


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Daw, I think I will get platies, they don't school and they're eternally makin' bacon!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Lol diablo! I didn't that would be an excuse to get them!

Yeah I'm just going to stare directly at the platies, like I have blinkers on or like I want to burn a hole through them... *Must stare at fish that are not bettas* Avert! Avert!


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol, it's an excuse becuase it feeds bettas, so I don't have to feed him


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You just got a beautiful betta. Just keep telling yourself that. "I just got a betta. I just got a betta."


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

True....


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Ah, I get it..
Sakura, does that ever work? -___- I just bought 2 females remember?


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

I'm sure AS and Chunkers would nom up those Platy babies!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Definitely! They'll be a betta buffet.. That was mean lol! Poor babies..


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

That's one of the good things about platies....you do have to feel sorry though


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Fighter, no the little "Just got a new betta" mantra doesn't work very well unless you run past the betta section or have no more money to set up a new tank. :-D


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Hows Zenny doing? 
There's no point in even remembering the mantra lol!


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol, that doesn't work at all  luckily, I don't have more tank money


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

Glad to hear your getting Platys! SO jealous. I just love them, very similar to my Swordtails. I will own some someday lol Congrats!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Platies yay!

Fighter - My girl is not so good, looking bloated, won't eat and is in epsom salts. And the worst part is I'm not even sure if it's Zenny or Anju now! They're like identical twins, I really can't tell them apart! *despair*


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

That's horrible sakura  do you think it's dropsy?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

I hope its just bloating and nothing else !
I got the platies, they're floating right now, the girls are checking them out .. They're sho cute!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

She's not pineconed yet, but she's getting more lethargic. :/ If she's not better tonight I'll start her on meds. 

Platies! Yay! I can't wait for pics of the platies.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Platies! Yay! How many did you get?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Start the meds!!! Sooner the better Sakura, these things scare me! 

Sorry, I overreact! XC


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, I think you're right. She's all clampy . . .


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Aw, poor Anju/ Zenyatta


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

C'mon girl! Don't worry us!


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Be strong girls!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks, guys. I took pics and started a thread in the Emergency section. And now, handing the thread back over to Fighter. So, what colors are your platies?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Ooh, they're pretty! A bit of white, a shock of red and the mickeyness of course! They're hanging out at the back of the tank right now so pics are a no go..  I'll get some when they're settled.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

How many and what gender did you get?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

I got 3 (recommended dosage lol!) 2 girls and 1 boy, I like them better than the mollies already! They seem sweeter


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Daw, they sound adorable. Do you think it would be alright if I got 2 girls?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Yeah of course! Infact the girls will be happier with no boys bugging them


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol, ya I hope that's true. I just wanted 2 girls because if one or both come pregnant, fine. But I don't want a fish farm  and I heard the females are more peacful


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Yep they are! And you can get a lot of babies even without a male but I wouldn't worry about overpopulation because most will be eaten..


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

I know they can have babies up to 6 months after mating, but that's 6 months I deal with, not until they die


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