Could I Separate Them?

[Kittiee Katt]

So the lfs has a breeding pair of geophagus tapajos, at around 3-4 inches. They've had one brood already so they're 100% a pair, and I need them.., okay, so I don't need them but I really super duper want them. If I got them they would be housed in a 350ltr tank for a year or so, until we buy our house (our current floor is not the best) then they would get a 500ltr, 6 foot tank.. Anyways now for my questions are, can I separate them (in the same tank) without messing up their paring? And would 175ltrs each be enough for 12-15 months? I don't want her breeding heaps while she's so small, but don't want to ruin their 'relationship' as such either. Any suggestions for what to do?

I don't want to buy them if I don't at least have a vague idea about what I'm doing. I've never had a 'pair' of anything other than my SDs, which aren't really a "pair" as they would happily breed with someone else of their species.. Any personal experiences people have had with these guys would be great to hear about.
Thanks in advance.

Edit: I've only ever kept brasiliensis before, and I only had one large male.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I just finished reading a thread describing how a fellow "rescued" a small arrowana. He/she has it in a 55 gallon with four angel fish and has plans to put it in a bigger tank some day. I have known of such plans several times and made a few myself. Someday often does not happen.

My working plans now are to have the proper place to put a fish before I even consider getting it. The first rule of picking up something heavy is to already have a place to put it down before you pick it up. Too many things can and do go wrong with future plans.

My thinking is do not get the fish until the setup is ready and in place for them. I have a friend who bought a tandem axle trailer a few years ago. We used my truck to go fetch it. He did not have a truck capable of towing the trailer and years later he still does not.

As for your other question, my guess is that a mated pair will be compatable after a separation. I use to raise kribensis cichlids. I separated the pairs from time to time. Sometimes to try to get batches from different pairings. Sometimes to prevent having a new batch of fry until I could deal with a current batch. Best as I can recall there was not an issue when putting a previously mated pair back together. Different fish from yours.