honestly they were only separated for about a week cuz at first when i bought my 29 i had left him in the tank with the others for 3-4 days while the 29 is getting ready and letting the sand settle then once it was ready i put him in , i did then i found out it had a leak so i returned it to the petco and put him back in for about 4 or 5 days then i jus got my new 29 like monday or tuesday. i was talkin to my friend who breeds gts when i first got my male and i told him that my male was chasing all the other gts around the tank and he told me since he was the dominant male to put him in a different tank so i did , and everything i've read online about breeding gts it says to raise the males and females in different tanks