[Peacock88]

In my 55 gallon i have 5 lab. hongi with some other africans. They are getting bigger (1 1/2in) and just want to know the average size of maturity, basically how big do they have to be before they can start producing? I might also try to find more but 5 is all i got right now. I think my females are outnumbered too.

 

[xclub]

In one of the tanks I had the case of having too many males, the result was "sudden death" of several males

First of all try to balance male/female ratio in order to avoid case mentioned above.

I don't have too much experience with Hongi, but I know that they are ready to spawn from 4-5cm and that they can get aggressive, no matter what studies (books) say…

 

[cichlidaholic]

Realistically, I would expect them to be closer to 3 inches before consistent spawning occurs.

They may spawn earlier than that, but don't be discouraged if they don't. And, sometimes first spawns aren't successful with inexperienced parents...The male may not be fertile, the female may not hold full term, etc...

You do want to remove extra males as you can identify them. Having too many males will cause the boys to fight non stop rather than breed. They're so busy trying to show each other who is in charge that they can't see the forest for the trees. :wink:

Kim